Recently while searching links related to my own Website, I came across a strange but familiar URL. It was the URL of my website, except it had a dash (-) after the word job, and in front of the word site. I do these Google searches from time to time by simply entering my website name minus the www., and so forth. This gives me a reasonably accurate measurement of who is linking back to me, and the Sites I get my traffic from.
After clicking on this link my brain went numb. Some total Jerk had apparently copied my whole Site, except for most of my adsense, and top header Logo. All my pages where there, from just over 2 months ago, when the culprit put his foul deed into action. The discovery of this was more than a shock, and a bitter realization that nothing is sacred and completely vulnerable to anyone with an Internet connection!
To the time of this writing, I have always heard of Web content and articles being copied. But never a whole Website!
Foul balls lurk everywhere, and it is up to the Site owner to make sure their copyrights are safe. I never thought this happen to me, it is kind of like winning the lottery, or maybe not, as I do have a popular Website with good rankings. Being preyed upon is very upsetting indeed. Also the ruling and repercussion aspect of nailing these headaches is very vague. So what did I do about it?
I first did a whois check of the URL to find out exactly who or what was behind this morbid injustice.
After finding out who or what owned the Site, (and probably a fake name, and no proper contact except in Chinese) I tried to contact the hosting company by email. I got sick of waiting so I went in by phone. This action produced results. I am not going to name the hosting company, as I am sure this happens to many of them, but after a short conversation with one of their representatives, the culprit’s account was suspended! At least for now I feel a bit resolved.
The Web host I dealt with told me that this has happened before, (obviously,) but I do wish Web hosting companies would take better measures in their approach to Plagiarism. It is within their terms of service to suspend accounts related to Spam, or this type of conduct, but no one will know unless it is reported. This means that this is up to you, the Website Publisher, to discover the atrocities laid out in your pathway to success. I have better things to do with my time than chase after Idiot’s.
It is hard enough these days to keep everything in check, including the home business update, and your Website is something that you hopefully take pride in. It is time consuming, and a lot of work to create original and thoughtful content, but every bit worthwhile. If you are an original content Website owner with concerns about Plagiarism, here is a handy tool I now discovered, that will help eliminate the thieves!
