Unbelievable - Theft continued !

[MTDesigns]

Deb,

They're now taking the image for the counter...http://www.yzweb.net/afl.htm[nbsp][nbsp]- it's gone now...but when the counter did show up on their page, it was screwed up on mine.

Email sent this am, they've got until tomorrow morning....a cease and desist letter is being prepared....lawyer has been contacted....

Now I'm MAD.....

Joi
[This message has been edited by MTDesigns (edited 10-02-00@5:25 pm)]

[Tatu]

I can't believe the blatant theft!!! I mean EVERYTHING is copied!

Do a whois on their domain so your lawer or you can call them... I'd think that would tend to spook them a tad?

-Tatu

--
The nerve of some people astounds me...

[MTDesigns]

I did it already...they live near me!!

Talk about nerve...

Joi~

[YFS200]

Hmm, you could take a hint from the DSL commercials and spray paint "WEB HOG" on the back of their minvan. LOL :)

YFS200[nbsp][nbsp]

[Tatu]

I say you wrap some pantyhose around your head and set their lawn on fire.

:D

-Tatu

--
Just joking: Please remain calm and lawful...

[MTDesigns]

Too late, it's already done.

JK ;)

Joi~

[Maverick]

Wow, blatant thievery of the 1st degree. You really have to wonder what sort of grasp of reality those folks have. It's one thing to steal a design. However, it takes a great deal of chutzpah to stick your own copyright notice on the bottom of it.

[MTDesigns]

Tell me about it!![nbsp][nbsp];)

[Monty]

I just went through this, and it took me 4 days to get all our stuff down they had pirated.[nbsp][nbsp]In the end, calm, carefully worded emails did the trick.[nbsp][nbsp]I hope things work out for you as well.

Mont

[MTDesigns]

Thanx Monty...I hope this gets resolved soon ;) .

Best always,

Joi~

[gymshoe]

This is unbelievable.
There's a website out there....webpagesthatsuck.com i think that had an article about copied pages.
One of them was some guy had copied Eudora.com's navigation and overall site layout and even color scheme. This guy even had the nerve to advertise on his frontpage that he's a web designer/developor for hire.[nbsp][nbsp]Yeah...probably something more like...let me know which company's site you want to copy and I can do it for you!

You know...the funniest thing about this AFL page is at the very bottom, it starts to say Websites in the American Family Life: blah blah...and then it has a link...
and it goes to Parentime!

How do these people live with themselves?!!??!

-James

[Terra]

I'm out of my element here, but have you considered Licensing your design?[nbsp][nbsp];)

You very well could be the next millionaire...[nbsp][nbsp]:)

--
Terra
--Royalties and Franchises--
FutureQuest

[MTDesigns]

That's the thing -- all the links go back to my site![nbsp][nbsp]I really think this person has no clue as to what she's done.[nbsp][nbsp]She probably wanted to use the layout as a template for this other site (don't know why she'd want my design...not that it's the best thing out there!), and didn't use her brains when she uploaded it.[nbsp][nbsp]Especially didn't think when she clicked on one of the links back to my site!

Update: I've been in touch with Verio's legal dept, and just faxed a letter in accordance with the DMCA...balls in their court for now.

have you considered Licensing your design? isn't it too late to do this...and doesn't this cost $$ ??[nbsp][nbsp] ;)[nbsp][nbsp]

Joi~
My luck, if we end up going to court, she'll remove the offending page just before anyone involved gets a chance to see it...
[This message has been edited by MTDesigns (edited 10-04-00@8:54 pm)]

[MTDesigns]

Deb,

I thought that their counter couldn't work unless their site was actually on FQ?[nbsp][nbsp]Am I wrong?[nbsp][nbsp]The counter does work on their site on some visits to their site, and when it works on theirs, it doesn't work on mine...which annoys me even more.[nbsp][nbsp]Isn't there anything to be done about the counter at least?[nbsp][nbsp]I mean, that large black box with "Host:www.yzweb.net is not authorized" totally messes up the beautiful wanna-steal-it layout ;)[nbsp][nbsp].

Joi~
[This message has been edited by MTDesigns (edited 10-04-00@9:08 pm)]

[Phil Chaney]

My luck, if we end up going to court, she'll remove the offending page just before anyone involved gets a chance to see it...
Joi,

If you believe you will need some sort of proof in the future, you may want to get some screenshots of the copied pages - I don't know if it will hold up in court, but it could be worth a try.

Phil

[MTDesigns]

Thanx Phil![nbsp][nbsp]Already got some ;) ,

Joi~

[MTDesigns]

Well, it's finally gone ;)[nbsp][nbsp]...took them a whole day, but the page has changed.[nbsp][nbsp]I guess they were ignoring my emails ;)[nbsp][nbsp]...

Joi~
[This message has been edited by MTDesigns (edited 10-09-00@9:15 pm)]

[MTDesigns]

I made a mistake!![nbsp][nbsp]It's STILL there!!![nbsp][nbsp]When I typed in the URL I forgot to add the .htm and it's still there!![nbsp][nbsp]yzweb.net/afl.htm -- can't believe it.

I called Verio's Associate Counsel (whom I faxed the DMCA compliant letter), and she said she would speak to the legal dept..[nbsp][nbsp]She said to call back on Thursday if it's still there, and believe me, I will!!

Best always,

Joi~
[This message has been edited by MTDesigns (edited 10-10-00@1:52 pm)]

[Tatu]

For all web designers: USE THE POOR MAN'S COPYRIGHT! :P

I am not sure on the specifics and I am not a lawer, but here is my comprehension of the matter: I will poor man copyright any work publicly posted in the future. What you do is you print out all of your work and text, put it in a US Postal Service Overnight envelope that has to be registered and receipt requested. Now address it to yourself. When it arrives don't open it! Save it around until you go to court. WHen opened in court you will have a date of proof of your work that will hold up in court because the USPS is a government organization.

Again, if someone has the specifics about the poor man's copyright please post.

-Tatu

[MTDesigns]

Who's secretly hoping that she didn't keep hard copies of her work![nbsp][nbsp]OOPs, did I say that?
Why does she need hard copies of the work? As long as your site is up there's another copy available
This is WAY too funny!![nbsp][nbsp]Thanx so much for the laugh :D!!!

Best always,

Joi~[nbsp]

[MTDesigns]

LOL....the whole site's down -[nbsp][nbsp] yzweb.net/[nbsp][nbsp] well, served her right!

Thanx for all your support during this time :).

Best always,

Joi
Who's secretly hoping that she didn't keep hard copies of her work![nbsp][nbsp]OOPs, did I say that? ;)

[Maverick]

Joi
Who's secretly hoping that she didn't keep hard copies of her work![nbsp][nbsp]OOPs, did I say that?

Why does she need hard copies of the work? As long as your site is up there's another copy available ;)

Seriously, glad things worked out for you. That was one of the worst cases of design stealing that I've ever seen.

[Tatu]

I was elated their whole thing was taken down...

Congrats :)

[PaulKroll]

Again, if someone has the specifics about the poor man's copyright please post.
Unless a lawyer were to tell me that had a chance in h-e-double-hockey-sticks of working, I'd assume it was under the general category of urban legend, but then, I Am Not A Lawyer.[nbsp][nbsp]Go to http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ for far more information than anyone cares to have about copyrights. :)[nbsp]

[jmarella]

On the Poor Man's Copyright: I think Tatu's post was correct on this. I ran across this topic in a legal forum a long time ago and it basically advised the same thing. Print, mail certified and do not open until it's time to go to court. Apparently from what I could find out, this has been a very cheap and effective way to protect your work.
I had content stolen recently and would like to add that you shouldn't forget to take a screen shot/s of the offending site, save and print that too.
I'm very glad to see this case has worked out. Kind of makes you want to choke the offender. ;-)

[MTDesigns]

She now wanted to get her site back up and running, without "my" copyrighted page.[nbsp][nbsp]Verio called and spoke to my "acting" legal counsel, and told her that "She was just using it as an example.[nbsp][nbsp]That she had only had it on her message board...( huh?)"

So now it's back online...and she has until tonight to remove the offending page.[nbsp][nbsp]I just spoke with Verio's legal counsel myself, and she was very nice.[nbsp][nbsp]She told me that if it's still there in the next day or so to call her back...that they do permanently disable infringing sites. Talk about nerve...so the game continues...

Joi~

[Bob]

Joi,

This is about where I would gather a few friends and ....................[nbsp][nbsp]
Uhh[nbsp][nbsp]Just looked up at the name here,[nbsp][nbsp]Hmm it's not wolfstalks and there's this FutureQuest thingy under my name, and all of a sudden there was this Purple Burst from the Heavens, and I'm inside????

Well anyway Joi, I think you get my drift about where this was heading.

Have a Good One and Good Luck
Bob

- Yes Ma'am I'm heading back to support right now ! -

[frankc]

That pup's still there but the links on the left are a little different.[nbsp][nbsp]Dey got brass'ns, folks.

[nbsp][nbsp]Frank

[MTDesigns]

They're lookin' quite the same to me Frank ;) ...it's exactly how it looked when I first saw the page (that design is how I had it back in June!)

They've got until tonight to remove it -- then I's a callin' the cops to get her site off for good...(ok, Verio) ;)

Joi~

[Tatu]

I found some info/proof!!! :P

Paul Kroll: Nope. Not an urban legend I am sure of that. ;)[nbsp][nbsp]

Found very nice info about copyrights at:
http://www.powers-court.com/copyrights.html


With the copyright laws of the Internet in disarray, to secure rights to your site, print each page before putting it on the Internet, and send the pages certified to yourself and/or get the site on disk and do the same.

Do NOT open the letter when it arrives. It is a time-stamped "proof" it belongs to you and was certified by the U.S. Post Office, an official
administration acknowledged world wide. This is commonly known as the "poor man's patent." It will hold up in a court of law. For the cost of $1.52 or so, you have tangible proof.

The above also applies to any musical work, put the music on cassette (disk in the case of midi) and follow the same procedures.

Also, any written matter should be e-mailed to one's self and then printed. The certified letter scenario can follow.

In a court of law, your advesary must prove your charges are false. If the Internet matter is truly yours, there will be no way he can produce a prior dated official copy of your work.
[This message has been edited by Tatu (edited 10-15-00@2:43 pm)]