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
505-631-9815I 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 Hopkins
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!
He seems to also be leeching your images – have you thought about setting up your .htaccess to serve him a “custom” image rather than the stuff he’s stealing?
In the past I’ve fed scrapers large block images that mess with their themes and provide a clear warning that the site is doing something illegal. A big image with his personal info and a note stating that you’ve contacted DimeNoc about his account should help him get the message.
As for GoDaddy – you’re right, there’s no reason they can’t shutdown his domain name. Anyway, good luck and please keep us updated.
Brandon,
Good luck with this. I’m battling my own case of theft right now. I thought I’d be nice and just send the site owner an email, asking him to take it down. I didn’t even cite the DMCA. I heard nothing back. Now it’s time to take it up a notch.
If your tactics above don’t work, some people have suggested contacting search engines to get the infringing site/page removed. Also, I’m going to contact Google to get his AdSense account disabled.
I hope you get results,
Andrew
First off, I have to correct you on this matter, GoDaddy, as registrar, qualifies for protection under section 512(a) of the DMCA. They are considered a “Transitory Digital Network Communications” provider and are completely exempt from cropyright infringement that passes through their servers.
Their ownly responsibility as far as data transmission goes is pointing to DNS servers and that does not qualify under 512(c) or 512(d), the elements where the notice and takedown provisions lie.
That being said, the site appears to be hosted by Hostdime.com, an American company and they are protected under 512(c) and you can file a DMCA notice with them. It is something that will be very trivial to do.
If you want my help with that, just send me an email with all of the information that you have and I’ll gladly look it over and help you prepare a notice, it shouldn’t take any time.
However, it’s unfair to blame GoDaddy for not doing something that the law doesn’t require them to do. Though it is frustrating, if you were to be lying about this and got their domain cut, GoDaddy could be held liable for interfering with the person’s site and business. They are protecting themselves.
Hostdime will do the same and, thus, a DMCA notice to them will almost certainly result in the shut down of the site. As I said earlier, I will gladly work with you on this. I have filed over 300 DMCA notices and will be more than gladly guide you in any way that I can.
I am not a lawyer, but I am very familiar with the DMCA.
Please, let me know if I can help.
Sorry about this guy stealing content. What a jerk.
I have to wonder: what is he getting from doing that? Certainly he still has to build traffic in order for him to make it worth his while.
BTW, I’m glad you didn’t post his URL.