I’d like to introduce you to one of the most phenominally stupid people on the internet. But first, a little background…
In 2005, I wrote a review of the Rich Jerk ebook. I then split that article into two parts, and submitted the first part to the major article directories. In the resource box was a link back to my full review, (which you can view here: My Original Rich Jerk Review)
I’ve gotten some good traffic and some good sales from that one article…
Fast forward to today:
I stumble across this page: http://www.itsmyjourney.com/Reviews/TheRichJerkReview.aspx
(go ahead and follow the link - I want the moron to see traffic from here and come back to investigate who’s linking to him)
It’s pretty amazing how similar that page is to my review… with a couple exceptions. Instead of using the article I wrote and maintaining the link in my resource box, this buffoon has copied my whole review, removed all mention of me, and placed his own affiliate links into it.
Now, I’m not pointing this out to you as an example of blatant copyright infringement (which, of course, it is)… no, copyright infringement occurs all the time on the internet, and I’m sure there’s 10 other sites just like his that are illegally using my content.
What’s so monumentally stupid about this guy is that he actually copied and pasted directly from my website to his own website, grabbing the gif smiley image I was using. Yep, that’s right - the smiley image on his page is coming from my page (go ahead and check the source… I’ll wait)
Note: I’ve decided to replace the smiley image with something a bit more… interesting
So, because this guy apparently doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together, every time someone hits his Rich Jerk review page, MY webstats tell me, and provide me an exact link to where he’s placed the illegal content! Talk about stupid with a capital S!
That’s akin to breaking into a store, and not only not wearing gloves to mask your fingerprints, but also leaving a DNA sample and a photocopy of your driver’s license there for the cops.
Anyway, thanks to this dumb ass, now I have to type up a letter to send to Domains by Proxy to complain about copyright infringement (I guess he was smart enough to pay Godaddy the $8 to mask his identity), talk to my lawyer and pay him to write up a cease and desist letter, and jump through all sorts of hoops to get this guy to stop breaking the law…
If only the idiot had removed that image… I would have been blissfully unaware, and life could have continued as normal…
Ah well - his visitors will get quite an eyefull when they read that article… let’s see if he removes the article, or if he just removes the link to the image…
And, to the owner of ItsMyJourney.com (assuming he locates this post and reads it) - all I ask is that you remove my copyrighted content from your site. If you don’t, then I’ll have to pay my lawyer to deal with you, and that’ll just piss me off more. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
14 Responses
Jake
August 25th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
1OMG! That is TOO FUNNY!
Charles
August 25th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
2love your new “smiley” image. lol
Jim
August 26th, 2006 at 1:21 am
3Hahhahaa!
Nice RED WARNING Letter!
Don’t mess around with Super Coder; you will LOSE…
Jim
Lawrence
August 26th, 2006 at 2:50 am
4OMG. That is so cool. What a warning. And you forced the screen to scroll left right on top of it.
I bet it’s months before he realized his oops. Doesn’t seem bright enough to stay on top of it.
Lawrence
Saumil
August 26th, 2006 at 4:43 am
5Crazy dumbnut !!
I bet it won’t be too soon until he realises what’s going on … perhaps he is too busy copying other people’s content right now !
Ohh, and the image bit … sheer brilliance … lol !
Nice post Marc, I just woke up to a nasty bee-sting and now I feel lighter !
~ saumil
Owen
August 26th, 2006 at 9:13 am
6As sad as this is, I have found folks who use CURL to scrape my pages so that they get my updates too!
Owen
August 26th, 2006 at 9:14 am
7I suppose using CURL is OK if they are “Scraping” an affiliate page, so they can keep their content current, but still get paid if someone decides to buy.
Heath
August 29th, 2006 at 12:16 am
8That is absolutely brilliant. I’ve got 2 cracked ribs and it hurts to laugh but that was worth it…I would love to see his face when he finds out.
John
August 29th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
9You called me out and I’m here to apologize for using your article and altering its contents without your authorization.
Second, in order to repair your ill-will towards my site and myself, I’m replacing the article with your original article. Nothing has been altered and it includes your affiliate link and acknowledgment to its source.
You can call me whatever you want, but I’m not here to defraud anyone of anything. If I had made any money off the altered article I would send you that money. But the fact is I have not made one sale from that article. But now, if anyone reads the article and decides to buy The Rich Jerk, you will get the credit.
Marc, if you wouldl like to contact me, you should have me email address.
Sincerely,
Monumentally Stupid Buffoon
ItsMyJourney.com
Kudos to John - Marc Quarles
August 29th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
10[…] Kudos to John, the owner of ItsMyJourney.com. He posted a comment apologizing for using my content without authorization, and has corrected the situation. […]
Mary
August 30th, 2006 at 9:16 am
11Yeah well he only apologized because he got caught … he’s probably **only** sorry because he got caught not because he stole what wasn’t his.
Shame on you John for stealing people’s content. May karma bite you in the ass .. and soon.
jamie
August 30th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
12LOL
I missed the action… can you post a screen shot or the image you posted.
Marc
August 31st, 2006 at 1:24 pm
13Jamie,
I replaced the standard smiley graphic with this: http://netprofitreport.com/bsblog/wp-images/smilies/icon_smile_old.gif
Marc
Richard Hill
September 8th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
14Marc,
Way to go! It’s too bad the “smiley” came down so fast. If only there was a way you could have frozen the page, say, for about a year, or 10.
Even the ‘apology’ was, well, we all saw it and know what it really is…
Take care, have fun, be safe!
Richard Hill
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