News on Sites Scraping Content

1. 95

   wildernessposted 10 years ago

   In reference to another thread, http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/111298, some news.
   
   I filed a DMCA with ixwebsites.com with two copied hubs on http://  www.  politics-socialissues.com site.  They requested personal information, notably my physical address, which I declined to provide.  Yesterday I received an email from hd@ecommerce.com, saying my claim had been upgraded to "on-hold" and requesting another email verifying my electronic signature.  I provided that, along with a separate email describing the level of theft throughout several sites, and today received the following email:
   To: xxxxxx
   
   Dear xxxxxx,
   
   The status of your ticket (2219737) has been changed from On-Hold to Answered by James M.
   
   This update was added:
   Hello xxx,
   
   We have reviewed your complaint regarding the URLs below and your request to remove the content allegedly infringing on intellectual property rights by using legally protected content without permission from the holder of those rights.
   
   politics-socialissues. com
   
   We will comply with your request.
   
   Sincerely,
   
   James Mcghee
   Ecommerce Inc.
   Legal Department
   
   
   
   My emails were sent to: legal@ecommerce.com, with attention to James Mcghee.
   
   As of right now, the offending website, politics-socialissues. com, shows that Your website is NOT AVAILABLE   This account is currently suspended. 
   
   One down, 17 to go (I think).  Neither google nor adsense as ever replied to my DMCA's, but neither is necessary to get this guy off the web.
   
   A request: if anyone files and gets an entire site taken down, not just their hub, please post it here.  Might save someone else a lot of trouble.

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   1. 95

      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      From the other thread, Judi's list of thieving sites:
      FinanceForPeoples
      Familywithparenting
      FoodforCooking
      EverythingAtHomes
      GenderRelationships   
      Games-Toys-Hobbies
      BusinessEmployment
      EntertainmentwithMedia - a couple of mine here
      EducationforScience - lots of my history hubs here!
      CelebrationforHoliday - Christmas, Halloween and Easter
      Pets-and-Animals (can't actually find this site)
      artswithdesign
      religion-philosophy
      travelingandplaces
      
      And I know there are a couple more as well.  Perhaps someone can add those with a reply to this post?

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      1. 88

         Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I filed and Adsense complaint with Google but have not heard zilch. Is Google ignoring this or maybe they are swamped with complaints?

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      2. 89

         TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         You are missing:
         healthforpeoples
         fashionandbeautiful
         
         pretty sure there is one or two we are still missing. ..

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         1. 95

            wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks, meow - I knew there were a handful more.

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      3. 57

         path-finderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Here is the site Pets and Animals: www(dot)pets-and-animal(dot)com/
         They copied one of my hubs. Maybe perhaps the entire Pets and Animal section from Hubpages.

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         1. 89

            Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            You might want to edit this to break the link, so you don't give them a backlink?

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               path-finderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Yeah Done. Thanks. had an uneasy feeling after the link showed up.

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                  TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  +1

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         2. 89

            TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, I am sure it is too late now, but in the future try writing the link with a space between words or perhaps leaving out the .com

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         3. 89

            Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            These are all the sties that were scraping hubs months ago. They were all brought down after numerous DMCA complaints by hubbers. I sent in 60 some myself! Why are they back up again???

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            1. 91

               Judi Beeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               His last host shut his sites down, but he's just got a new host and put it all back up - plus he's adding to new stuff every day.

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            2. 89

               Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Of course, if you type in a search for your hub, and it comes up before the copycat, I think you're okay. I don't even see the pets site, for example, when I search for the hub they scraped. I remember one of the HubPages staff talking about this the last time this happened.

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               1. 57

                  path-finderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  I don't know why Hubpages staff is not giving much attention to it. It could affect majority of the hubbers, and thereby affect the whole site really.

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   2. 89

      Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      What is ixwebsites.com? I typed it in and it came up as "unable to find." I'm glad you met with some success. I filed 66 DMCA complaints and haven't heard a word. I'm sure Google is swamped.

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      1. 95

         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         That is "whois" reports as the host.  Probably wholly owned by ecommerce, but in any case ecommerce is the place to file.  Judibee has verified that legal@ecommerce.com is the address given to her by ixwebsites.com as the correct address to send a DMCA.

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   3. 58

      nufoundgloryposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Going to the website's webhost is probably the best choice. Best if you check the host's TOS first, so that you could point it out to the host and if the host takes the offense seriously, the scraper probably will have a tough time hosting his other stuff there.
      
      Another choice is to go to the domain registrar. Go to their support, worth a try at least.

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   4. 89

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      YOU GO GIRL!!!  Great job, Marcy.

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      1. 89

         Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Wilderness, JudiBee and several others have been the leaders in tracking down these jerks - but thanks for the kind comments!  If we all band together, we can (I hope) eradicate them.  Please pass the word to anyone who writes recipes, in particular.  I just sent a message to one writer who has a series on "My Mother's Cooking," - a ton of their hubs were stolen.

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         1. 91

            Judi Beeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I'm seriously frustrated that these sites are still up, still putting up new hubs each day and yet most hubbers seem unaware of their existence.  I sound like a nag, but really, people need to check these sites - the guy hasn't copied a select few hubs, he has scraped whole topics.  Google aren't indexing him (apparently) at the moment, but that doesn't affect Yahoo and Bing.
            
            I don't know if other people have contacted the host (I have asked before, but no response) - I've drawn a blank, there have been no replies to my emails over a period of three weeks.

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2. 95

   wildernessposted 10 years ago

   Cardisa, I'm sure google is swamped with complaints.  Either way, though, google cannot take it down - that requires either the site owner (fat chance!) or the hosting service, who has now taken the first of the sites down.

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   1. 88

      Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I was hoping they would lose their Adsense account first so they would have little chance of making money from other people's work in the future. If they get to keep their Adsense account they can easily buy a new domain and build a new site with stolen content and the cycle continues.

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      1. 95

         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I was (am) too.  I was having real trouble locating the host, though, so filed anyway just to verify that I had finally located them.
         
         Judibee commented the other day that HP contacts adsense with something like this problem - hopefully they will have some luck in getting them to act quickly.

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      2. 60

         jezebellaminaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Me too. That is why contacting Google directly as well as the Adsense department was my first line of defense. This is clearly a strategy to defraud on a grand scale rather than a one-off 'maybe I can make a few bucks' scheme...

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3. 60

   Nicole Winterposted 10 years ago

   Hey, guys, instead of filing a DMCA complaint with Google, (yes, they're swamped,) you've to file it with the site host.  Many of these article farms have a link to file a DMCA on them, though often it is really tough to locate.  (Get your bifocals out, folks
   
   I've had nothing but luck so far with filing DMCA's, thankfully.
   
   The only one I couldn't get down was that lady some time ago who actually stole my "online identity," I sent her numerous e-mails and she eventually closed down her website claiming she was "going back to Hub Pages."  Uhm... yeah, I never left Hub Pages.  That was super-creepy.

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   1. 89

      Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The site host? It's on the actual copycat site?

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         Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         And how do you do it? DMCA complaints are easy to file through Google, although nothing has been done yet. Maybe that will change.

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            Nicole Winterposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Try this:
            
            "That is "whois" reports as the host.  Probably wholly owned by ecommerce, but in any case ecommerce is the place to file.  Judibee has verified that legal@ecommerce.com is the address given to her by ixwebsites.com as the correct address to send a DMCA." --- wilderness

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      2. 89

         Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I can't find anything on foodforcooking.com except an email. I certainly don't want to email the copycat, as he will probably then hack into my email. I heard that happened to a hubber.

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         1. 95

            wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Whoishostingthis.com reports that ixwebhosting is the host.  Same as for the site in the OP, and probably all of his sites.
            
            File as indicated in the OP.

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4. 96

   theraggededgeposted 10 years ago

   Good work, Wilderness.
   
   I'm pretty perplexed as to why the Adsense is still running. I have filed several complaints directly from the sites. Yes, to your mention of HP and Adsense... how easy would it be for HP to complain directly to Adsense because of real and potential revenue loss?
   
   Anyone done Amazon yet?

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5. 95

   wildernessposted 10 years ago

   And four more sites are "currently suspended":
   
   Everythingathomes,
   familywithparenting,
   foodforcooking, and
   educationforscience.
   
   that's 5 of them, 11 to go.
   
   *edit*  My mistake.  Not one of the sites listed in the OP, nor the two added by theKatsMeow, can be visited.  Two say they are for sale, one is a blank screen and all the others say the site is suspended.
   
   Either other hubbers have been filing or the host took a look at the one I did today, with 14 stolen hubs over 4 sites (plus the one yesterday with 4 hubs and one site) and decided their customer was a wholesale thief.
   
   It will need checking, of course, to ensure that the sites stay down.

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   1. 90

      Just Ask Susanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      

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   2. 89

      Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yay! I know several hubbers that have been filing complaints like crazy. I had about 30 some alone of my 66 that were copied on that foodforcooking site alone. It was still up this morning, so I'm thrilled that it's suspended. I'm betting that the rest will soon be down, too. Thanks for the update!

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   3. 91

      Judi Beeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Excellent news - well done to everyone who made complaints

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   4. 89

      Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      What's the 5th one that's down? I just checked the pets-and-animal one. It's suspended, too! I had several on that one.

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         Judi Beeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I believe that they are all down now.

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            Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Cool! I just checked a couple more: financeforpeoples and the holiday celebrations one. They're down, so maybe you're right in that they all are. Good news!

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            1. 95

               wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Yes - I went to another site I hadn't filed on to check on adsense ads and couldn't get in.  Checked further and every one is down.
               
               I edited my post, but must have been to late for you to see it.

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               1. 88

                  Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Wilderness you are a lifesaver, I was really depressed and sorta gave up.... Yes I am so ashamed but I don't know how much more of the scraping BS i can take. I am thinking of just forgetting the content business and just freelance. At least that way I get paid upfront for my hard work.

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                  1. 95

                     wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     I can only give you my take on the whole thing. 
                     
                     Theft is a part of being in this business - something we have to work on to stay on top of.  It is no different than buying locks for your home except that the cost is in terms of time as well as money.  I now use copyscape once every month or two, for instance: my cost is $10 to copyscape and a few hours filing claims.
                     
                     That's going to set a limit on much content I can have out there - for me probably around 400 hubs.  I'm just not willing to put more effort than that into it at this point in my life.
                     
                     Yes, you can freelance, but the returns over years time are going to go way down.  At least I could never have sold my hubs for what I earned even just last year.  So - either spend time writing for someone else or spend time protecting your work (and earn considerably more by doing so).  For me the choice is pretty obvious.

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                     1. 88

                        Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        It's my depression talking Wilderness. I was about to delete a couple of low performing hubs and ended up editing them instead. Goes to prove I am not ready to give up...lol

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            2. 60

               duffsmomposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               financeforpeoples.com is back up. I just found one of my hubs there last night.

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   5. 89

      TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Best news ever, huge smile on my face and my headache is gone WOOHOO!!!!

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   6. 92

      rebeccamealeyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That IS good news, and many thank for being "the bearer of good news". Yahoo! I t sounds like things are looking up for this latest "blog theft ring".

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   7. 87

      sholland10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      This is GREAT news!! :-)

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6. 90

   Just Ask Susanposted 10 years ago

   I'm doing a "Happy Dance" ..... All the hard work of filing and complaining paid off

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   1. 89

      Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It sure did! Can't bring us hubbers down!

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   2. 87

      sholland10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Me to, Susan!  :-)
      
      Vicki, we hubbers are made of good, tough stock!! :-)  Let it be known, don't mess with hubbers! We travel in packs and are an unbeatable team!! :-)

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7. 60

   Nicole Winterposted 10 years ago

   Congratulations, guys... keep up the good work and due diligence, I'm very proud of you all and your hard work in keeping HP articles where they belong: on HP's!

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   1. 89

      Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yee haw!!!!

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         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Yee Haw! indeed.  Don't mess with the hubbers - it doesn't pay!

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            Victoria Lynnposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yep! We're a tough ole bunch!

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8. 89

   TheKatsMeowposted 10 years ago

   YES! YES! YES! this makes me so happy! Good job everyone!

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9. 77

   jacharlessposted 10 years ago

   B O O M!  Power to the writers for working together and for going right to the source.
   Good work friends!
   
   James.

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10. 89

    Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

    This is good news, certainly.  I've heard this group is good at moving their content to other domains, so I hope they're thwarted from that as well.

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    1. 95

       wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Truthfully, he probably will move and crank right back up.  It's happened before.
       
       It gets easier, though - file the DMCA with a side to check with the prior host - the new host does, finds out what's happening and he has to immediately move again.  Won't be the first time hubbers have seen that scenario - we just have to find the new sites.

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11. 60

    jezebellaminaposted 10 years ago

    Such great news!!! This is so awesome.
    
    Thanks so much to everyone for your help and support. I have learned SO much from you all and am relieved that banding together got the job done. I'll be ready next time and will know exactly what to do.
    
    Group hug??

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12. 75

    Jenn-Anneposted 10 years ago

    Hooray!  So glad to know all our hard work paid off! A huge thank you to everyone who posted information on the various sites, links on where to file DMCAs, etc.  I never would have known my hubs had been copied if it wasn't for other people speaking up so let's keep spreading the word any time we come across situations like this one.

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13. 95

    FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

    Looks like "entertainmentwithmedia.com," which had sniped a bunch of my music and movie Hubs, is also a goner. I just checked it and got a screen that sez "NOT AVAILABLE - this account is currently suspended."
    
    Booya. The system works!

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    1. 92

       spartucusjonesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Awesome! They have sniped a number of my hubs as well. I am glad that the bastards are getting shut down.

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14. 85

    suziecat7posted 10 years ago

    Thank you all. Such good news. I have so little time though I was slowly filing DMCA's about mu own copied Hubs. Yay!

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15. 89

    Victoria Lynnposted 10 years ago

    I hear ya, sholland!

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16. 96

    theraggededgeposted 10 years ago

    Oh, blessed relief Thank goodness.

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17. 76

    luisj305posted 10 years ago

    I'm not sure if anyone is aware, but these sites are back up and running. I typed in a few randomly just to see what was up, and they are back. I did not notice any google ads. Did they all have them up before? I know a few did (I refused to give them traffic so did not look). Looks like now they are only using Amazon ads to try and profit.
    
    I have no right of filing complaints without any of my personal content being on these sites and I remember Hubpages staff stating authors must file complaints themselves. However I also noticed that the huge number of complaints that were filed is the reason the sites went down. So it's like every one adds up in the end.
    
    I kept up with the discussion, although I was not a victim of the stolen content (maybe because I have very few hubs). It was awesome that working together brought the ring of sites down. But now, why are they back up?

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    1. 89

       TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       yes, I just noticed this too. Some of my content is no longer up, but some of it is back up there. I don't get it.

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       FatFreddysCatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Seriously??
       
       (Checks site that stole a bunch of my Hubs last time out)
       
       SonofaBITCH!
       
       (facepalms) Thanks for the heads up ...  but I refuse to spend hours filing DMCA's all over again, I don't have the time or the patience... f**k it!!!!

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          TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          all I can say is after dealing with this last month and going through the stress of it and then having it finally be taken down, it's a huge blow to see that everything is back up again. very sad

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          1. 95

             FatFreddysCatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             All *I* can say is f**k this guy in the ear with a railroad spike!!
             
             I'm so mad I could spit rocks!!
             
             ARRRRRRRGH!!! HULK ANGRYYYYYYY!!!!!

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             1. 75

                Jenn-Anneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                Are you SERIOUS?!?! I am really ticked off!  That was a lot of time and effort on the part of a lot of people and now this guy is allowed back up again despite all the complaints?  His sites were nothing but hubpages stolen content!  Grrrrrrrrrr!

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18. 94

    Susana Sposted 10 years ago

    I know it's frustrating when this happens peeps - but you've got to keep going! Don't let this guy win ok? He will get fed up in the end!
    
    He's just changed hosting company/companies.
    
    So if you find your page on one of his sites, check who's hosting the domain name here: http://www.whoishostingthis.com/
    
    ....then file a DMCA with the host.

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19. 95

    wildernessposted 10 years ago

    I rather expected this.  Working from memory, those sites look awfully familiar; obviously the same site moved to another host.
    
    I've filed with: hostmaster@ripe.net  on the following sites:
    
    everythingathomes. com
    familywithparenting. com
    foodforcooking. com
    educationforscience. com
    
    with multiple instances of my work being copied on their site.  Just one email.
    
    I also included the following statement:
    
    "Every one of these sites was hosted by someone else until recently: about one month ago they were discovered by the authors of HubPages and several of them, including myself, began filing complaints.  We succeeded in having some 17 sites, all operated by the same owner, removed from the internet.  They are obviously back up and running, now with RIPE.  If interested, the forum thread on HubPages, http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/111525#post2395256, can provide a list of other sites that were removed but that now appear to be back up.  I would ask that RIPE please consider removing any site operated by the owner of those listed above, but if necessary those same authors of HubPages are prepared to file several hundred DMCA's as necessary to protect their copyrighted work."
    
    We'll see what happens, but it probably wouldn't hurt to get a few more hubbers to quickly file.  I cannot file on every site because he doesn't have my stuff on each site.
    
    Side note: I'm seeing a large traffic drop today.  Wonder if this is why?
    
    *edit* - the email was returned unsent.  I'll have to sort this out.

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       TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       sounds good, I am off to file with RIPE.
       
       so far I have only found my work on: 
       financeforpeoples .com
       foodforcooking .com
       games-toys-hobbies .com
       
       I had work on some of his other sites before, but it looks like some of my articles are no longer there ( I suppose that's a good thing, but I worry that I just can't find them and that they are still there)...
       
       edit: this is the message I got back from them:
       We only accept messages from RIPE NCC members in this mailbox. Please. add your RegID to the message and resend it.

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          wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Uh oh.  Wrong place, apparently.  I just filed with crazy domains - my second choice for the host.  At least the email went through this time - I got a notice right back that it had been received.
          
          I just copied the email sent to RIPE, changed a few words and sent it to Crazy Domains.
          
          I will keep this thread posted when I know for sure who the host is.

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20. 91

    Judi Beeposted 10 years ago

    I've found my articles on educationforscience, entertainmentwithmedia, familywithparenting and pets-and-animal.
    
    Filed DMCAs for the first three sites with the host Webexxpurts but can't find a contact for the host of the pets-and-animal site.  If anyone else can find it, please let me know, otherwise I'll file with Google.

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    findwholenessposted 10 years ago

    How are you guys finding your content on other sites? Are you running your articles through copyscape or something?

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       Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Hi, FindWholeness -
       
       Try putting a small phrase from your hub into quotes and run a search through Google.  The quotes will bring up exact copies.  Use an internal phrase rather than the lead sentence - scrapers are pretty good at rewriting the first sentence or two.

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    luisj305posted 10 years ago

    All they have to do is change hosts? That sounds easy. It seems at least Adsense is no longer a money maker for  he / she / those responsible. So that's a step forward.
    
    I've also suffered minor traffic loss yesterday and today, enough to make me think I am being robbed of my nickels. Could not find anything of mine though.
    
    Is there a way to contact Amazon or Ebay directly and try to cut those out of the picture? There will not be a reason to continue scraping if there is no profit involved for them.

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    Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

    A new twist on the copying - (this probably isn't the best place to post this, but I wanted to put the word out):
    
    I did a Google search for one of my most popular hubs, and sure enough, another link popped up.  But it is not one of the 'scraper's' sites.  It's a site that has somehow hijacked the front webpage of a legitimate company, and it pops up when you search for my hub (by exact phrase).  I tracked the site (through whois) to someplace in Czechoslovakia, and the ID is masked.  So, I contacted the real company to alert them - they've been really nice, and will let me know what they learn.

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    moonlakeposted 10 years ago

    I found a photo on a political site and I have tried to get it off through Google and through contact with the website, hasn't worked. I put the site in whois they had no information on this site though it starts out from blogspot. This is a pretty popular political couple in Conn. the way it looks to me. You would think they would hire someone that would use their own photos. I don't know what else to do.

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       Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Moonlake - is there a contact number for the political organization or affiliation?  Maybe you can go that route?  This is infuriating, isn't it . . .

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          moonlakeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          I looked around last night for awhile trying to find a phone number and didn't find one. When I get time again I'm going to search again. I can't figure out why Google is doind nothing about it.

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25. 88

    Cardisaposted 10 years ago

    My most popular hubs have been stolen, all of them! My traffic has reduced by about 40%.
    
    The trouble is I am exhausted and depressed and don't care right now......I look on my HP account and wonder if it's worth all the trouble. Sorry to my friends who get motivation from my DMCA hub, but I am too exhausted to fight right this minute. I am going to lay down and cover my head with my pillow and forget the internet!

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       Jenn-Anneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I don't blame you for feeling this way at all. I only have a few hubs to keep an eye on - I don't know how those with hundreds of hubs do it!  Anyway, I really just wanted to offer up some words of encouragement. Hang in there!

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    2. 89

       Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I hope you get over the fatigue and the discouragement, Cardisa - I absolutely know the feeling.  We spend weeks battling one attack from scrapers, and in just a short time, it happens again.  I start wondering if it's worth it, too.  My traffic is down by at least 40%, too, and my revenue is down by the same ratio, or more.
       
       Worse than that, it angers us to see our work stolen. One person not only stole a very high-traffic hub of mine, he sold it to some unsuspecting person who had a website related to the topic!  Then he got rid of the Skype account he used to make the transaction.  I am worn out from it, too.  But I don't know what to do - should I keep my hubs here, and keep writing?  Should I ignore it and hope the people get caught and go away?  Should I spend hours (again) filing DMCA complaints?  Do I continue to spend hours, with increasing regularity, looking for stolen content?
       
       Hang in there - maybe we can all get through this together.

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          Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Oh Marcy, you are mirroring my thoughts exactly! I have four unpublished hubs which I am thinking of deleting and taking to Squidoo. It's just that I spent two years of my life dedicated to writing here and instead of getting more traffic as my hubs age, I get less traffic than before I joined the AP program.
          
          I used to do better with publishing my poetry and creative writing. My traffic was much better then. Now I only have four poems, no fiction and my traffic is now what it was in 2011.

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             Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             I hope you can give serious thought before you jump to another site, Cardisa. I have a lot of respect for our colleagues at Squidoo, but they've had the exact same problems we have had with scrapers (including, it appears, some of the same scrapers taking their content).  And there have been a number of forum topics here on HP about the flux they're in.  I hope Squidoo survives and overcomes the issues; we need more strong and viable sites where users generate the content for our 'industry' to gain the page rankings the good work deserves.  Unfortunately, the bad writing and the scrapers are drowning us.
             
             If you're finding more copied content, I need to start searching again.  Sounds like the same decline I am seeing, and rather than the Panda update some have thought to be the cause, the drop might be due to scrapers.  Again.
             
             *sigh*

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    brakel2posted 10 years ago

    Don't give up Cardisa. What goes around comes around. I know it is discouraging. Take a break. Hugs.

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       Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks Jenn-Anne and Brakel2.
       
       I am tired due to work so this only serves to stress me some more. Thanks for the encouragement. Just when I thought the site was down it came right back up with more of my hubs, even ones published after the first debacle.

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          wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          The last time a major thief like this hit HP it took three times of shutting him down to convince him not to fool with hubs.  I look at this as no different than a brick and mortar store that has to have 24 hour security just to limit shoplifting.  We either protect our "store" or it will die from the thieves stealing us blind.
          
          On the plus side, the more I file the easier it gets.  I have a form all made up in word; just copy it to the email, stick in the address and URL's and hit send.

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    Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

    The food site is back up, too - I found a few of my hubs.  FoodforCooking is the site.  I saw other hubs there, too.

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    Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

    Check this out:
    
    http://74.125.0.39/transparencyreport/r … oking.com/
    
    The transparency report on the number of requests for that one site.

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       TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       whoa I had no idea about the transparency report. Marcy, you taught me something new today foodfor cooking only has 60 requests, which surprises me, you'd think more people would be requesting to have things removed, considering there are hundreds of articles on the site.

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          Judi Beeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Yes, it's depressing, but since so many still seem unaware of the sites, I guess it's not surprising.

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       savingkathyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Lucky me... I made the list of top copyright holders who have filed takedown notices for this site.

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       Susana Sposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Wow that's great! I've never seen this before.
       
       Thanks for sharing.

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    Millionaire Tipsposted 10 years ago

    I filed a few notices this morning.  Lovely way to start the day.

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    epsonok0posted 10 years ago

    could someone please fill me in? I get the general idea. But how on earth do you discover that someone has stolen your hub content?

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       TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       type in a few lines of text from your work into the search engine. See what comes back. If you find another site that has an exact match, you're in trouble. The content thief we are currently dealing with has about 17 sites up and a lot of work comes from Hubpages, you could always just go to one of his sites and see if you find anything that way.
       
       If you write online, you should be doing this every now and then to see if anything has been copied.

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    epsonok0posted 10 years ago

    Thats awesome, Thanks im doing it now. Good to know. I hate content theft.

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    Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

    It occurs to me that we should all find a way to tackle Google, aside from the DMCA red tape.  We are penalized for copied content.  Yet we are not the ones breaking the law.  Time after time, the same articles get stolen, and each time, traffic suffers.  And, possibly, the rankings of this site and our subdomains suffers.
    
    What I am getting at is that if Google's algo is designed to penalize content sites, and there are good writers on the site, then we are being penalized (as a class of writers).  I certainly agree that they (Google) needed to stop promoting junk on the Web, but if writers on sites are penalized simply for being on those sites, and (worse yet), theft of our content is rewarded, I feel we have a platform to pursue.
    
    The law protects us, it does not protect Google.  It also does not protect the thieves.

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       TheKatsMeowposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Well said Marcy Goodfleisch!

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    Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years ago

    I want to bump this thread with some good news.  I received an email from Google that they are taking three of my articles that were copied on the financeforpeople's site from their search engine.  I think it is time to file some more notices!

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       Judi Beeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Good news!  Hopefully if Google get enough complaints (and there should be LOTS of complaints - this guy has 16 sites all containing hundreds of hubs) they might just ban the sites, not just remove individual pages (they've taken off some of mine too).

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          wildernessposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Mine will be hitting google on Tuesday - 48 working hours after filing with the host.  Probably around 100 hubs to file on.

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    A Troubled Manposted 9 years ago

    I can't wait to start writing hubs so I can spend all my free time chasing down content scrapers.

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       Judi Beeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       You'd have to change your user name to A Highly Troubled Man

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       MindExplorer1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

       

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    Marcy Goodfleischposted 9 years ago

    I got a notice that they're removing some of my hubs that were scraped and put on the 'food for eating' or whatever site.  I hope they're taking a broader look at the site owner(s) and their patterns on the web.

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