How to get rid of rank08.com Rip Off site

1. 97

   chef-de-jourposted 10 years ago

   rank08.com is a rip off of HP, written in French. Many hubbers have tried to bring this site down but it's still there. When I go to Webmaster Tools - Links to your site - rank08.com has over 300 links. How do I get rid of these? Should I get of these? What to do?

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   1. 92

      Susana Sposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The site has been totally removed from google search so that's a great start!
      
      If you want to help get the site completely removed from the web, file DMCA's for any of your content you can find on the site, to the host Cloudflare using this form: https://www.cloudflare.com/abuse/form
      
      You may want to think about disavowing the links pointing to your hubs from rank08 but do some research on it first. It should become an non-issue if the site is removed from the web (which it will if enough people file DMCA's with the host).

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2. 94

   FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

   If the flood of DMCA's that have been filed by dozens of angry Hubbers hasn't done the trick yet, then the only way to put that site out of business may be to find out where the web master of rank08 lives, go to his house, and break his #$%@'ing knees.
   
   DISCLAIMER: I do not endorse vigilante violence, except when it works.

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   1. 32

      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Administrative Contact:
      Farris, Charles
      tobekhfl@msn.com
      1609 Vandalia St
      Collinsville, IL 62234
      US
      +1.6183431252
      Technical Contact
      White, Eric
      support@domain.com
      10 Corporate Dr., Suite 300
      Burlington, MA 01803
      US
      +1.8004033568 Fax: +1.7812726550

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      1. 96

         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I'm out of the loop on this one (gone for a week), but isn't that the contact for the site owner?
         
         That is almost certainly a lost cause if it is.  A thief knows what they are doing and although (s)he might listen to a hubber complaining is unlikely to do so.  Better to complain to the hosting service.  Or to google or anyone else monetizing the site.

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         1. 32

            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Fat Freddy wanted to know the guy's home address.  Susana S gave the only contact available to contact the host. (CloudFare, by the way, is a proxy host, not the real host. The real host is in Turkey.)

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            1. 96

               wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Gotcha.  I've felt the same way sometimes; a visit by a large, hairy man with a baseball bat might be the best approach.
               
               Actually, the last time I dealt with this (unresponsive host and owner) I wrote the Swedish internet authorities (the host was in Sweden) and within a few days the site was gone.  Who knows if they took action (or just dropped a question to the host) but it might have helped.  God knows nothing else did, including repeated DMCA's from multiple hubbers.

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                  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  The company in Turkey will respond, too, once it actually receives notices from the proxy host.

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                  1. 96

                     wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     Looking back over all the posts, it seems that they have had plenty of time to do that.  The host seems to be letting it slide instead of shutting them down as a responsible host site would.  Or am I wrong here - as I mentioned, I missed out on the early work with this particular thief as I was out of town.

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                        Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        Honestly, I don't know why HubPages doesn't step in to enforce its copyright over the entire website.  Most people who have Hubs never visit the forum and have no idea their work has been stolen.
                        
                        It would be so easy for HP to fire off a Cease and Desist letter and have it delivered to the guy's door by a process server.  They are so concerned over the appearance of a copyright notice but do nothing to enforce their copyright.
                        
                        And hang on, I just found another site that has scraped all of HP's content.  I'll post it shortly. (I seriously don't have time for this!)

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                        1. 67

                           Sue Baileyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           I agree.  Most of us don't have the know-how or the time to do all this.  I haven't a clue whether any of my work has been scraped!

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            2. 92

               Susana Sposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Where did the Turkey connection come from for Cloudflare?
               
               Are you getting confused with cararticle and turkishost?

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               1. 32

                  Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  I've traced an IP address to Turkey, but have found no other contact address besides CloudFlare.  But, we do know the guy's name who owns the site and his address in Illinois! 
                  
                  CloudFlare is pass-through host and its office is in San Francisco.  Paul Edmondson could just drive there and knock on the office door.
                  
                  This explains what CloudFlare does:
                  http://www.cloudflare-watch.org/twisted.html
                  
                  It's whole purpose is to disguise the real host of a website.
                  
                  Be sure to read this, too:
                  http://www.cloudflare-watch.org/cfs.html
                  
                  I also sent DMCA takedown notices by email to the owner of the site and the tech contact about two hours ago.

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                  1. 92

                     Susana Sposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     Ok that's interesting!
                     
                     I got an IP address in Puerto Rico.

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                        Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        Doesn't surprise me.  This guy's a real snake.

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                           Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           And remember, with a proxy in the middle, he can change hosts at any time and not miss a beat.  I'll repeat what I said before, HP needs to step in and deliver a message to this guy in Illinois.

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3. 97

   chef-de-jourposted 10 years ago

   I love your answers - from either end of the spectrum. I'll act on the first and maybe have a think about FatFreddy's advice. Many thanks for responding.

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4. 32

   Writer Foxposted 10 years ago

   I just located the real hosting company of Rank08.  I posted the email address and a template of what to send in your email on this thread:
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/115516

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