Content being stolen from my site!!

[JaqiC]

Thank you for all of this information! I have had a difficult time with websites copying articles that I write and then placing them on their websites without any credit or reference to the author. It really chaps me with the sites that have stolen my articles end up ranking better than the original article. I tried contacting the owner of the last website, but haven't received a reply, so I have started taking the steps that you suggested in this thread.

Thanks again! You guys always seem to have the perfect answers to my questions!

[xecutable]

The last reply I got from some Paki guy, was a reply to my message which was something like "Next time when you copy someone elses article as at least for permission". And the dude replied on his website in the comment section "OK, I will ask you next time. Can I have your permission for this one" ... I mean what do you say to that... I just filled out the DMCAs and let it be.

People don't respect other people's work as long as it's freely published on the internet..... Luckily for me such people do not outrank me.

[Former Member 14]

People don't respect other people's work as long as it's freely published on the internet.

Without looking like I'm going for another trip down memory lane.., It used to be that most hosting providers used common sense once and if it was copied content (which ain't hard to figure out), they'd generally yank the page & or the site in some cases. A simple email is ALL it took.

What frustrates me is hosting providers have their T&C's, AUP and TOS which in most cases state this is a no no. Yet contact them and referrence a breach/s and (least what I've found) it's a case of get a court order and we will comply.

Having to file DMCA's is a PITA. It's especially painful when you finally get to the top of Google and every scum bag starts ripping your content.

NB - As a heads up to those who use WP...In regard to RSS. Under Settings > Reading you can set your aricles to show either Full text or Summary. To prevent sites which just scrap your RSS selecting Summary is best. Although they'll still be able to yank some of your article they can't display it all. And to further protect your site, implementing anti bot prevention into your htaccess file can keep a lot of the crap out too.

Cheers



Dave

[xecutable]

Without looking like I'm going for another trip down memory lane.., It used to be that most hosting providers used common sense once and if it was copied content (which ain't hard to figure out), they'd generally yank the page & or the site in some cases. A simple email is ALL it took.

Yet now most of them tell you politely to f* off and go fill a DMCA before they even consider taking down the site. I've seen some tricks that disable highlight and right click, but I've never tried them. " imitations is the sincerest form of flattery " or is it.

@Fergie did you get your problem sorted out?

[JaqiC]

In most instances, once I contacted the owner of the website, they apologized and removed the duplicate content. However, I have seen an increase in different websites plagerizing material and then forcing the authors to take steps against them. A pity, but I will do what it takes to keep these thieves from profiting from my hard work!

AussieDave- What is the process for implementing anti bot prevention into my htaccess file? I think that this could be very helpful for me.

Thanks again!

[Former Member 14]

AussieDave- What is the process for implementing anti bot prevention into my htaccess file?

Hi JaqiC,

I've been using the info from this page, has multiple solutions as some server set-ups require different coding for the htaccess - if what you implement returns a 500 error just try another solution on page:
http://www.askapache.com/htaccess/bl...-htaccess.html

The above doesn't stop everything but I have seen a big difference since using it.

Also implemented the following into htaccess it stops the majority of script kiddies trying hack site access.

SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^libwww-perl*" block_bad_bots
Deny from env=block_bad_bots



Cheers



Dave

[universal4]

You should understand that in cases where a web host requires a DMCA the host is just protecting their butt and requiring this so that the website client can't turn around and sue the host for removing pages or taking a site offline without cause.

When the content owner files an official DMCA, the host should then react and remove the offending page(s) and would have the needed paperwork if the client does turn around and sue.

It is not the host's responsibility to be judge and jury and they don't have time to try and determine whether a copyright claim is valid, however if a DMCA is filed there is a pretty good chance the claim is valid and once filed the host doesn't have to investigate further if they choose and can react based upon the claim

The host can then step back out of the situation completely and the fight is back to bewteen the alleged content owner and the site owner being accused of infringement.

An example of why this is needed is simple.

If I went to Dave's host and claimed 4 of his articles were copied from my site and I wanted them down. If Dave's host removed the pages without any proof, I am sure Dave would be highly upsaet that it took place and would likely immediately threaten to sue the host....however, if I filed a DMCA at least he would understand why the host had to react to the claim and the fight would be between me and him and any actions by his host (although unwanted) at least would be understood.

Granted in some cases this entire process is a PITA, but is needed at times to protect all 3 parties.

Don't forget, a host has contracted to provide services to their client to provide access to content they publish, and it takes docummentation to verify that the content the client published breaks the TOS.

Not trying to be argumentative here, just wanted to present the case for hosts and why many have this rule in place.

Rick
Universal4

[JaqiC]

AussieDave- Thanks for this very helpful information. I am in the process of making some very necessary changes, so I will incorporate these as well.

Rick, I understand what you are saying. Although it might seem unfair to have to file a DMCA, I can see that this process will help to protect me as well as my server. Thanks for this insight!

[xecutable]

Thank you for all of this information! I have had a difficult time with websites copying articles that I write and then placing them on their websites without any credit or reference to the author. It really chaps me with the sites that have stolen my articles end up ranking better than the original article. I tried contacting the owner of the last website, but haven't received a reply, so I have started taking the steps that you suggested in this thread.

Thanks again! You guys always seem to have the perfect answers to my questions!

I recently took actions against such thief, although they did not rank at all, I still filled Google's DMCA form found here

Within a week Google sent me an email, which came today saying this:

Hello,

Thanks for reaching out to us.

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have completed
processing your infringement complaint. The following webpages will be
removed from Google in a few hours:

SITE1 URL
SITE2 URL
SITE3 URL

Please let us know if we can assist you further.

Regards,

The Google Team

The form is very short and simple where you put your original content URL, the thief URL, in my case 3 URLS, i didn't link them on purpose, and an explanation what's being stolen. Once Google reviews it, they will delete those URLs from the searches to make sure they do not outrank you. This is the least you can do, doesn't involve a lot of writing and it's effective when it comes to ranking and search places in Google.