I just got a few trackbacks from a site that is using the same theme I’m using, and he is duplicating my content!

I emailed the lamer listed on the whois, Ricky Ford, and told him that the DMCA prevented content theft. I also emailed his host and GoDaddy, his registrar. GoDaddy is the only one who has responded.

Here is my email to him:

ATTN: Ricky Ford
808 W Mackenzie
Hobbs, NM 88240
505-631-9815

I don’t know why, but you seem to have stolen a few pages of my content for your site at ***(don’t want to link to the stolen content).

According to the DMCA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA) you are breaking the law by stealing my intellectual property.

I am also sending this to your host DimeNoc because DMCA Title II states that they will not be held responsible for theft if they, “promptly block access to allegedly infringing material (or remove such material from their systems) if they receive a notification claiming infringement from a copyright holder or the copyright holder’s agent.”

I will also send this to GoDaddy because I am sure they are not aware that you are using them to register domains in an attempt to steal content. Since they are an online service provider, they also fall under DMCA Title II and will be exempted from any further actions if they remove the content.

I hope this can end without further actions needing to be taken.

Brandon Hopkin
s

GoDaddy (whom I’ve already expressed my dislike for) emailed me their response:

Thank you for contacting the GoDaddy.com Spam and Abuse Department.

We are not the hosting provider for this site. We are the domain name registrar only. We have neither access to, nor jurisdiction over the content on this site.
The web hosting provider for this website is the company responsible for policing this content and is required to respond to Copyright complaints as outlined by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

And then some more blah blah blah. Of course I responded (because I read Title II of the DMCA) and told GoDaddy:

The DMCA reads, “DMCA Title II, the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (“OCILLA”) creates a safe harbor for online service providers (OSPs, including ISPs) against copyright liability if they adhere to and qualify for certain prescribed safe harbor guidelines and promptly block access to allegedly infringing material (or remove such material from their systems) if they receive a notification claiming infringement from a copyright holder or the copyright holder’s agent.”

GoDaddy is an online service provider, that is now allowing the site *** to steal content.

Is GoDaddy not an online service provider?

So in my opinion anyone who is an online service provider is required (in order to hide behind the “safe harbor” guideline) is liable for “blocking” access or “removing” such material. GoDaddy could block that material by changing the nameservers.

GoDaddy has yet to respond and so has Ricky Ford and his host DimeNoc. His email address is listed as sales@vernalhost.com which seems to be just a hosting template.

We’ll see how this ends up, I really don’t want to have to get a lawyer to figure all of this out, but theft is theft.

Then again, as my wife reminds me, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Then I remind her that theft is, “Illegal taking of another person’s property without that person’s freely-given consent.

UPDATE: All stolen content has been removed.  He is using someone elses RSS feed to duplicate their content, but that isn’t my issue anymore!