[Tfug] OT : Site Scaper

[keith smith]

--- On Mon, 5/18/09, Joe Roberts <deepspace at dataswamp.net> wrote:

> From: Joe Roberts <deepspace at dataswamp.net>
> Subject: Re: [Tfug] OT : Site Scaper
> To: "Tucson Free Unix Group" <tfug at tfug.org>
> Date: Monday, May 18, 2009, 5:27 PM
> On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 2:12 PM,
> James Hood <ebenblues at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> On the other hand, keep in mind that anything you
> put online is liable
> >> to be stolen. I'm not saying you shouldn't defend
> your IP, just that
> >> if it really means that much to you, don't put it
> online in the first
> >> place.
> >
> > Maybe this was just meant to be a troll, but this was
> such a
> > ridiculous comment. The reason things get put online
> in the first
> > place is because the owner deemed it not only valuable
> to himself, but
> > potentially valuable to others as well. Why should
> everyone else miss
> > out on valuable information because a few people don't
> respect
> > copyrights? I think Keith's doing the right thing in
> successfully
> > pursuing the copyright infringement.
> 
> Because the question of whether or not someone is violating
> copyright
> is irrelevant to the basic reality that when you put data
> online, it
> will be duplicated, whether through google's caching system
> or by
> someone else.
> 
> The age of copyright and the control of information is
> coming to a
> close, whether people like it or not.  Certainly
> people mirroring or
> copying a site should ask permissions as a matter of basic
> manners
> (and respect the feelings of the owner), but the comment
> about not
> putting it online if you can't tolerate it being copied is
> a sober
> one.
> 
> Once you put it on the web, you cannot control it. 
> Even if you manage
> to get things taken down here in the US, good luck trying
> to get
> someone else in another country to take it down.
> 
> Just ask the Church of Scientology.  Or the movie
> studios.  Or the
> music studios.  Or anyone who had a sex video or
> photograph posted.
> 
> If you put it up, expect it to be copied.
> 
> 

I spent a lot of time learning what I do and how to market myself online.  A lot of time. 

I created a unique site and content and then spent a lot of time doing the Search Engine Optimization.  Because I have a site that shows up under a few search terms some of my peers copy all or large portions of my website and put it up as their own.

What does that make them?  Lazy thieves.

Because of what has happened 3 times now I have begun my copyright education and now know the law provides for up to $150,000 for each offense.  Yes you read it right One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars per offense.

Where is the pride in stealing someone else's work and passing it off as your own?