Stolen Content

Debbi · Post by **Debbi** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:50 am

AB,

Can you explain that in a little more detail? Were the articles stolen after they were bought? Was the buyer buying them fraudulently? I don't quite understand.

Debbi

audrabianca · Post by **audrabianca** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:53 am

There was a batch of articles stolen on Saturday referenced somewhere else here. The second one, today, was sold to a customer, but the customer found the article posted on a site (for which the article was stolen and posted about a month ago).

Constant · Post by **Constant** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 12:38 pm

To be clear and to try to add some context to Audrabianca's assertion that we are simply 'working' on this, which seems to suggest that we are NOT working on it; technology that protects, banks, credit cards, DMV info, FBI files, airport security and finally, down the wrung of security needs, content sites, is NOT foolproof. There are lots of committed people out there with resources and intelligence perpetrating this type of violation. To think somehow that there is a panacea to this type of digital theft is simply naive. The only way to address the vulnerabilities on the site is to do so carefully, thoughtfully and with huge time and resource expenditures. To do this quickly, assuming that brute force will fix the problem, is to sow the seeds for future problems to grow from the unyielding soil of the internet.

We appreciate the frustration that authors experience, and encourage you all to share with each other and us when you find your materials that have been stolen and placed elsewhere. We understand that hard work goes into your work and to have its value compromised by thieves, can be devastating. But we do encourage restraint from indulging on histrionics and hyperbole.

We most certainly are working on this problem, but solutions are hard fought and do not yield themselves by virtue of our asking. We are looking to create long term solutions that will give us the ability to address site vulnerabilities as they come up.

We appreciate your patience.

David Kool

Debbi · Post by **Debbi** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:03 pm

David,

Thank you for the reassurance

I was once Director of Operations at a start-up ISP and worked closely with the sysadmins and web techs, so know the frustrations of always trying to build a better mousetrap. I think I mentioned in another forum topic how hackers can wreak havoc if they've a mind to. Witness the occasional theft of millions of credit card records from banks, online sotres, etc. The Internet is challenging and promotes the evolution of both sneakier mice and more creative mouse-catchers. And aside from hackers, there are always going to be people like those who steal other people's idenities to purchase work or just outright steal our work and put their names on it. So it has been since the world began.

I appreiciate the hard work and diligence CC's Support team puts into safeguarding our intellectual property. I doubt any other writers' site puts anywhere near the effort and thought into security.

Debbi

audrabianca · Post by **audrabianca** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:05 pm

Lysis · Post by **Lysis** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:40 pm

My article was one of the ones stolen on Saturday. Can you link the site? I want to see if mine is up there too.

audrabianca · Post by **audrabianca** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 2:04 pm

Miracle Content . com

Lysis · Post by **Lysis** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 2:44 pm

thank you

Lysis · Post by **Lysis** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:06 pm

Well, I went to check for the tech articles (including mine) that were a part of the scammer purchase and found nothing. It looks like he's taken down all his content that was posted after July. I copyscaped some of his stuff and it's not indexed, although this doesn't help CC people.

If our stuff was up there, thanks to support for having it removed. I understand audra's frustration. This stuff really gets to me too and losing a sale over it would definitely infuriate me.

To David:

Have you considered creating a directory that you can NOINDEX or block using robots.txt so Google does not spider it and then use that directory with your copy program to monitor content? It's just a thought. Maybe you already have that, but it's just something I thought could be used. Block Google from indexing it, and then write an app to go through available content and check it for plagiarism like once a night.

Anyhoo, thanks again for getting our stuff removed.

Debbi · Post by **Debbi** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:53 pm

I understand audra's frustration. This stuff really gets to me too and losing a sale over it would definitely infuriate me.

Oh, absolutely. I would probably be in tears if I had two sales and then they went poof, especially because of thieves.

Debbi

Constant · Post by **Constant** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:20 am

DMCA paperwork has been a stumbling block for us as we have filed numerous times and had no response from Google, even after repeated attempts to contact them. Audrabianca - I apologize for coming off too harsh, but we are trying, so implying that we aren't gives other writers a negative feeling towards the work of people who stay up late, hammering away at code, contacting websites and stomping our brains to squeeze out ideas to protect your work. We are very diligent about supporting our writers. We do not index anything, and prevent any bot from crawling our database. That only works so much, though, and to be honest of the over 20 000 articles on the site, this problem only affects roughly 1% of our authors. We are doing a good job and will continue to be vigilant, but we need your support, not your criticism. If we stop being responsive and don't do our jobs then I will welcome any and all critiques, but until then, constructive suggestions will work better than innuendo at our expense.

David

Lysis · Post by **Lysis** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 12:10 pm

> DMCA paperwork has been a stumbling block for us as we have filed numerous times and had no response from Google,
> even after repeated attempts to contact them

Wow, David. That really surprises me. I received a response from them over a Suite article of mine after 2 days. Incidentally, Google is known not to respond if they don't side with you. Actually, Google does not respond much at all. When filing a reconsideration request, the only way you know that Google has sided with you is if your rank improves. LOL I'm just shocked that nothing has happened, mainly because I've seen people complain that their content was in fact their own, but someone filed a DMCA and the URL of the original writer was banned.

Have you considered dating the articles or stamping a copyright with our names on them? A comparison of Suite articles to our CC articles is that the article is dated with our real names on it. That's just a suggestion. I'm not trying to be pushy. I'm just trying to help. I imagine it's just as frustrating on your end.

Constant · Post by **Constant** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:04 pm

All your articles are digitally stamped with copy right and date images.

Lysis · Post by **Lysis** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:32 pm

Constant wrote:All your articles are digitally stamped with copy right and date images.

Ah, ok. I must have missed it. More ideas shot out of the water. Story of my life. LOL

Constant Content

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