Another Rant, already??
WOW, people can really suck!
I have been working hard on CD completion and monitoring Christmas activity in spare time so I can get orders out before Christmas. Today I was looking at traffic meters and noticed one of my Christmas sites was gone on GOOGLE again.
Quick story is, I found a site with all my content on it listed page 3. I went to the link and indeed, that was my site but there was 4 lame pictures at the top of the page and all the content, visual and type was intact with all the links and urls changed to getwall.com/ a ton of letters.
I am SOOOOO tired of people stealing content. Aside from the misdirection it leaves a visitor with, content thieves use this tactic on sites that rank very high in search engines for many reasons. You might ask why I care or what does it really matter? It could even be a compliment since the content was worth stealing.
The issue is search rank. When a search engine finds numerous sites with identical content, it will either drop both or choose one to be listed high on the search returns. This site had taken my place on the GOOGLE with my content; a Christmas site, during the Christmas Season, now gone. It also loaded very slow and would likely loose visitor for the slow load response. They had stolen everything including all my sound clips, links, and content. The clips took forever to load but did eventually play.
SO, I did some research and a few minutes later was on the phone with the jerk that owns the site. Yes the web is pretty amazing when it is not being used by jerks. I told the guy to pull the site and called him a few names in the process. He told me it was a service and was a proxy site for people trying to search for my site that had it blocked, so they could still go to it.
What the heck is that? He told me none of my content was actually stolen but it was a service. I told him to get my content off his 'service'. I did some research into his claims and found definitions of 'stolen content' and 'fair use' that made it clear that he had stolen my content.
I then found a site with many suggestions on shutting these people down by reporting them to major search engines, sending them 'knock it off' letters, and contacting their service providers with a demand to remove the content from the server. AS I understand it, it is illegal to steal, and the service providers can loose their license for having stolen content on their equipment.
So, I will be having to add a few new tasks to an already busy schedule and burn this guy for stealing content, and I will.
Now, one might ask, "Why is this one guy got you so bothered?"
I have a lot of top ranked sites online. You can see many of them in the right column of this page. I have found dozens of people using my titles, tags and actual content, often hidden on the page but available thru viewing the page source. I have taken the time and fine tuned content and tags over years of research and development. These jerks are walking in and just stealing other peoples work and using it without any permission, and often with malicious intent.
I actually got a virus last week from a site that stole content for high rank in Christmas CDs. I have reported the site but have yet to contact the service provider to attempt to shut them down.
I would say, there are dozens of thieves online that have stolen content from my sites now. Many I have shut down just by contacting them. Over the past 6 months it has gone totally out of control.
SO, I have a CD to get finished. And once it is done I will be working a new side crusade - To SHUT DOWN these lowlifes and help other do the same.
I don't know how many of you are really visible online like I am. I own, work with and manage dozens of sites online. This BLOG alone had 96 spam messages on it from pharmacy sites, spamming the site with ads for every lame drug one can imagine. I get 300-400 spam emails everyday in my primary box. I have a dozen email addresses. I spend so much time reporting spam it is silly. I waste time everyday logging onto my sales sites to check sales because I have reported so much scam from these same URLs that I don't even get the real orders anymore. Wasted time at every turn, thanks to idiots trying to beat the system and steal.
Get a job. You can probably work the same hours and not have to go to jail for doing it, while making the same money. If you take the same time and effort, you can probably make more money in the honest world. It might look like stealing pays better but think about it like this.
You steal for 2 years and make, lets say 200,000 dollars, and end up doing 10 years in jail; or, you take the same 12 year period and at a modest 36K you get 432,000 and no jail. Add to it the fact that every dollar you have when busted gets taken from you so you really didn't make the 200,000 in the first place.
Who am I talking too here?? Sorry. I guess the point is - it makes no sense and it is wrong. I only digress because I do have searches from people wanting to 'learn how to steal' on a page I wrote about stealing the cool stuff from musicians you love. "Stuff" being licks, performance ideas, entertainment, musical styles, ideas and what-not.
SO, spam and crooks are bumming me out again today. I have to get over it and finish tracking some flute right now, but we will see this again I'm sure.
SAXBOY
I have been working hard on CD completion and monitoring Christmas activity in spare time so I can get orders out before Christmas. Today I was looking at traffic meters and noticed one of my Christmas sites was gone on GOOGLE again.
Quick story is, I found a site with all my content on it listed page 3. I went to the link and indeed, that was my site but there was 4 lame pictures at the top of the page and all the content, visual and type was intact with all the links and urls changed to getwall.com/ a ton of letters.
I am SOOOOO tired of people stealing content. Aside from the misdirection it leaves a visitor with, content thieves use this tactic on sites that rank very high in search engines for many reasons. You might ask why I care or what does it really matter? It could even be a compliment since the content was worth stealing.
The issue is search rank. When a search engine finds numerous sites with identical content, it will either drop both or choose one to be listed high on the search returns. This site had taken my place on the GOOGLE with my content; a Christmas site, during the Christmas Season, now gone. It also loaded very slow and would likely loose visitor for the slow load response. They had stolen everything including all my sound clips, links, and content. The clips took forever to load but did eventually play.
SO, I did some research and a few minutes later was on the phone with the jerk that owns the site. Yes the web is pretty amazing when it is not being used by jerks. I told the guy to pull the site and called him a few names in the process. He told me it was a service and was a proxy site for people trying to search for my site that had it blocked, so they could still go to it.
What the heck is that? He told me none of my content was actually stolen but it was a service. I told him to get my content off his 'service'. I did some research into his claims and found definitions of 'stolen content' and 'fair use' that made it clear that he had stolen my content.
I then found a site with many suggestions on shutting these people down by reporting them to major search engines, sending them 'knock it off' letters, and contacting their service providers with a demand to remove the content from the server. AS I understand it, it is illegal to steal, and the service providers can loose their license for having stolen content on their equipment.
So, I will be having to add a few new tasks to an already busy schedule and burn this guy for stealing content, and I will.
Now, one might ask, "Why is this one guy got you so bothered?"
I have a lot of top ranked sites online. You can see many of them in the right column of this page. I have found dozens of people using my titles, tags and actual content, often hidden on the page but available thru viewing the page source. I have taken the time and fine tuned content and tags over years of research and development. These jerks are walking in and just stealing other peoples work and using it without any permission, and often with malicious intent.
I actually got a virus last week from a site that stole content for high rank in Christmas CDs. I have reported the site but have yet to contact the service provider to attempt to shut them down.
I would say, there are dozens of thieves online that have stolen content from my sites now. Many I have shut down just by contacting them. Over the past 6 months it has gone totally out of control.
SO, I have a CD to get finished. And once it is done I will be working a new side crusade - To SHUT DOWN these lowlifes and help other do the same.
I don't know how many of you are really visible online like I am. I own, work with and manage dozens of sites online. This BLOG alone had 96 spam messages on it from pharmacy sites, spamming the site with ads for every lame drug one can imagine. I get 300-400 spam emails everyday in my primary box. I have a dozen email addresses. I spend so much time reporting spam it is silly. I waste time everyday logging onto my sales sites to check sales because I have reported so much scam from these same URLs that I don't even get the real orders anymore. Wasted time at every turn, thanks to idiots trying to beat the system and steal.
Get a job. You can probably work the same hours and not have to go to jail for doing it, while making the same money. If you take the same time and effort, you can probably make more money in the honest world. It might look like stealing pays better but think about it like this.
You steal for 2 years and make, lets say 200,000 dollars, and end up doing 10 years in jail; or, you take the same 12 year period and at a modest 36K you get 432,000 and no jail. Add to it the fact that every dollar you have when busted gets taken from you so you really didn't make the 200,000 in the first place.
Who am I talking too here?? Sorry. I guess the point is - it makes no sense and it is wrong. I only digress because I do have searches from people wanting to 'learn how to steal' on a page I wrote about stealing the cool stuff from musicians you love. "Stuff" being licks, performance ideas, entertainment, musical styles, ideas and what-not.
SO, spam and crooks are bumming me out again today. I have to get over it and finish tracking some flute right now, but we will see this again I'm sure.
SAXBOY
Posted by Greg Vail at 12/7/2007 10:47 AM 
Categories: Personal, RANTS
Tags: internet copyright rant scams online theft
Categories: Personal, RANTS
Tags: internet copyright rant scams online theft
Although it seems to take up much of your time, if you feel strongly about pursuing these "internet thieves".....then it's not a wasted effort. These people are affecting your livlihood and if they're doing it to you, they are doing the same thing to others in your industry.
I admire people who stand up for themselves and what's right. Just make sure you take care of yourself in the process.
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Thanks Marisa,
I did do some research last night and found some time effective responses to thieves online stealing site content. It took a minute but I found where and how to log complaints with GOOGLE, the internet and cease and desist letters for the thief and the service provider for the stolen content. There is much you can do to shut these guys down. Many log the GOOGLE complaint and that's it. I found stories of people doing the letter to providers and the internet licensing agency place (?) and 12 hours / 24 hours = done. That was encouraging and I will be testing those waters and monitor the time involvement. Cool thing is the help there is available from GOOD PEOPLE on the internet. It's not all crooks and jerks - at least not yet!
I totally agree with you! Some things we need to engage because they are wrong and should be exposed and made right. For me the issue is letting it go and not missing life in the name of a cause.
I am getting older and better at these things, so I will finish this little thanks for posting comment and get back to work.
Thanks again Marisa,
Greg Vail
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Greg,
I'm glad to hear that you were able to find the complaint centers and the cease and desist template letters, that will save you alot of time.
I think once you develop a system of how to deal with these people who are causing you problems, you will be able to take care of them fairly quickly without exhausting yourself.
Good luck to you, and please keep us posted.
Marisa
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Greg,
I thought you might find this information helpful in your quest.The following paragraphs are from www.iconinteractive.com :
Copyright your original articles:
Did you know you can have the Library of Congress copyright your entire website or webpage? You may register your content with the US copyright office and the Library of Congress by providing them a copy on CD-Rom. You will receive a seven digit number to place at the bottom of your website. More importantly you will have date-verified and registered your content with a federal agency should any legal questions ever come up.
The definition of online content theft is extremely clear and without any ambiguity. For more information on online intellectual property theft, visit the computer crime and intellectual property federal website.
Happy hunting!
Marisa
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I have heard of this and have access to these features thru my host which is very cool. The issue is, a site that has a registered owner and date that the site went online, in addition to Alexa logging the site content with dates and backed up - it makes the need for an actual Copyright zip. There is cost to the process and it is already listed, registered and backed up as my site and my site content. Case histories show this being plenty to make a case of infringement or Copyright violation.
The other issue is site updates. If you are always changing a site to keep it fresh and current, it does not help you any more than the stuff already listed above.
So, I have not gone all official with that stuff, but might be considering it a lot more if it proves to shut down these little creeps.
Thanks again for checking into it and posting. Really appreciate you watching my back.
Greg Vail
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"You may register your content with the US copyright office and the Library of Congress by providing them a copy on CD-Rom. You will receive a seven digit number to place at the bottom of your website. More importantly you will have date-verified and registered your content with a federal agency should any legal questions ever come up."
I believe this service is free and I think you would be adding to your protection.In fact, I don't see how you could go wrong . I was looking at the United States Dept. of Justice website www.cybercrime.gov - there is a lot of information that you might find relevant in regards to filing complaints.
Greg, you are very welcome - I hope It's been helpful to you.
Marisa
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Thanks Marisa,
I did have a few minutes yesterday to figure out the login information for GOOGLE Web Tools. I got a complaint filed and feel good about that. I tried to get the DCNA forms filled in but that is a bit more complicated. These are the forms you send to service providers to inform them they are hosting stolen content. I will get back on that site and try again. It all looks pretty legal but I can figure it out.
Thanks for the encouragement,
Greg Vail
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Greg,
I hope you're keeping a log of dates/times and method of contact along with copies of whatever letters or emails sent. You may have to refer to them in the future.
In filling out your forms it would be a good idea to include not only how your rights have been violated but, how the service providers "service agreement" terms/policies were violated too.
Good Luck,
Marisa
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You may have already found this letter, it is a sample letter from a website called "plagerism today". I thought it might help you in filling out your forms. The author suggests that you edit it to suit your needs.
DMCA Notice to Search Engine
"To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to you to avail myself of my rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This letter is a Notice of Infringement as authorized in § 512(c) of the U.S. Copyright Law. I wish to report an instance of what I feel in good faith is an instance or Copyright Infringement. The infringing material appears on the Service for which you are the designated agent.
You are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office as the Designated Service Provider Agent to receive notifications of alleged Copyright infringement with respect to users of the Service for which you are the Designated Agent.
1. The material which I contend belongs to me, and appears illegally on the Service is the following:
<
2. The material appears at the website addresses:
<>
3. The material appears on my Web site at these addresses:
<>
4. The infringing material is available through the following search results and links
<
5. My contact information is as follows:
<
6. I have a good faith belief that the use of the material that appears on the service is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by operation of law.
7. The information in this notice is accurate, and I am either the copyright owner or I am authorize to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
I declare under the perjury laws of the United States of America that this notification is true and correct."
Take Care,
Marisa
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Hi Greg,
I just wanted to let you know there is a really good article called "How to protect you websites copyright when someone steals you content" by Joshua Dorking at www.timeforblogging.com/2006.
You're probably wondering where I get the time to research all this. I had a week off before I start my new job on Monday. Probably next week I'll be too busy to look on the web.
Anyway, have a great weekend.
Marisa
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I am unhappy to report that my ChristmasSax.com site is still in the trash can at GOOGLE after spammers stole my site and posted it with there own URLS and links. The report was filed and the spam site does not show a return for Christmas Sax at all now - good news. Bad news - I am currently ranked 723 on GOOGLE for search - Christmas Sax. There are only 2 pages after me so I am about dead last for no good reason other than JERKS!
I'm sure it will eventually go back to where it belongs on the index, but the loss of this site thru the Christmas Holidays was very lame and these guys really suck!!!
GOOGLE - Please deal harshly with thieves, and please please stop penalizing sites for having good, stealable content.
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I guess it never ends, huh? At least you have some new skills on how to deal with the jerks. I think your persistence will pay off in the end. 2008 is going to be a good year, don't get discouraged.
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Well, it's January 21st, 2008 and Christmas Sax is finally out of the mud at GOOGLE with a top 10 return for Christmas Sax! Problem is, no one cares about Christmas Music today and this jerk slammed my chances of a descent Christmas by trashing my rank thru the Holiday Season!
I have checked and his site does not exist for any return on my topics or the pages he stole, but it still took too long to right the wrongs. These guys suck!! I need to look him up again and post his personal information or something. Freaking butthead...
Thanks for the emails and posts with help on this one. It did actually help a lot! Thanks guys,
Greg Vail SAXBOY
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