WKDU Philadelphia, 91.7 fm: let me start by saying that I love you. I’ve been an active DJ with multiple shows for over three years. I’ve seen people come and go, I’ve even applied to executive positions multiple times because I wish to get involved (admittedly, no success). When Wall Street Journal remarked that a reason we reached our top 10 college radio station position was due to the amount of local interactions and instudios, I attempted to book further instudios of local, marginalized acts. When there were silly ‘activities unlimited‘ events or other school activities which needed volunteers, I volunteered. And, perhaps most importantly, when there were discussions on the development of a WKDU blog, once more, I wholeheartedly endorsed it and wanted to get involved (even making both executive speeches on the exact importance of the launch of a WKDU blog.)
Well it’s over two months since my last bid for executive office and a couple of days since the launch of “Communiqué“, the long anticipated WKDU Philadelphia, 91.7 fm blog revamp from previous attempts. My thoughts? You copied my exact layout, not just meaning the theme but also where links are located, where Recent Posts/Comments are located, color scheme, even where the ‘home’ page is and how articles are displayed. Dissociative Identity Productions‘ website has been up for over two years, paid for, and owns its own domain. WKDU Philadelphia, 91.7 fm cannot nearly say the same thing, only the desperate excuse by current General Manager, Jake, that the WKDU blog once existed and therefore is fully allowed to copy a DJ of WKDU‘s personal blog design which has been refined and developed for over 2 years.
Let us be clear: WKDU Philadelphia, 91.7 fm has done nothing legally wrong. After all, our current website design is a free theme which is available to anyone who registers to WordPress (I do this for fun, so no: I have not hired a professional web developer, something WKDU with it’s vast connections, really should’ve done). However, morally, it’s hard to sympathize. Let us keep in mind that this ‘revamp’ of the blog of WKDU has been in the works for nearly two years (I know this because both times I have run for executive office, this exact issue has been a primary point of interest). During the entire time of this ‘revamp’ process, my website has been up, with the exact same design. So the question becomes: was this accidental or purposeful?
Both arguments are fairly sad to view. Let us suppose it is accidental because, admittedly, this is the answer I tend to lean towards. This would mean that despite over two years of openly promoting my site, posting links within every playlist on WKDU for this time, establishing this site as D.I.’s official site on the WKDU site, the members in charge of the development of ‘Communiqué‘ never noticed. That is not just rude but a horrible procedure of due diligence: if you’re a radio station starting a ‘revamp’ website (because even that comment is a stretch, to say the least), you’d think you’d be sure to check out your own DJ’s blogs in order to see if you can incorporate them or at very least to see how they would interact with your own. This, if we are to assume the ‘we didn’t know’ argument, is pathetic.
Now let us assume the more unlikely option yet final option left: that members of WKDU responsible for the site blatantly copied the aesthetic of this site, a site which has served to try to and diligently support WKDU Philadelphia, 91.7 fm. I dislike this belief because I personally know many of the executive board members and don’t find them nearly sinister enough for this BS. Still, when the General Manager decides its fitting to say my complaints are not important enough to discuss in person because there’s “real shit to do’“, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
In conclusion: get your shit together, WKDU Philadelphia, 91.7 fm. You’re acting like a massive douche who appreciates legal justifications opposed to moral justification, something not exactly popular. Michael Sandel, author of “Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do” can maybe provide some assistance: you’re welcome, from a freedom perspective, to do a lot of things. Yet unless you’re a radical libertarian, it is certainly not the ‘right’ thing to do. Morality is not ‘what you’re allowed to do’, it’s ‘what you should do’ (think Kant Categorical Imperative). WKDU: I tried to help you as much as possible and you see fit to screw me over. If you don’t see what’s wrong with that, I just feel sorry for you.
Dissociative Identity Productions 