Pages

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Stealing PoliTits


Updated: I'm happy to tell you that the blogger at the new Politits has deleted my content although I'll be keeping an eye on this because I also notice from my statcounter that they've been crawling the archives to the tune of 40 entries in a day. What they can see or retrieve by doing that, I have no idea, but it makes me wonder what they're up to. They're also deleting my and your comments with no response.

Anyway, I appreciate their quick response to my request to delete the content.

Also, if you still have a link to politits on your blog, you may want to delete it because it will now go to this new version, unless, of course, you like what they're doing over there which is  up to you obviously. Could I sound any more Midwestern?

Well, here's something odd. I visited my Google Reader to see what was new in the rss feeds and my old blog PoliTits' feed was bold like it had new posts. I nearly choked on my martini. How could that be? That blog has been deleted for quite some time. I've begged Google to show mercy and let me have it back to no avail. So here it is and someone else is posting there.

What the?

Naturally, I left a hysterical comment or two because not only did this person swipe the PoliTits name, but they're using my old content including words and images. Again, I'm left wondering what the hell?

Here's one of my mistakes - I let myself wonder what's wrong with people? I mean, I've made a cottage industry out of telling you what's wrong with me, my husband, my kids, my extended family, the Pussies for Peace, random neighbors, assorted boyfriends, and a a few friends with excellent senses of humor, but really? What would compel someone to steal a blog - lock, stock and photos of things on the backs of trucks? Shit. This is irritating.

Mostly it's irritating because if I'd known the PoliTits name was up for grabs again, I would have snatched it up and recreated it with the old posts using my rss feed just like this thief appears to have done. Plus I'd use the PoliTits name correctly. It was and will always be PoliTits not Politits. And I would never call myself PoliTits. I was DCup and then (.)(.) and then The Blogger Formerly Known as DCup and then back to DCup until finally I decided the whole pseudonym thing was too ridiculous to maintain and I started blogging using my real name.

And also - a pink template? Sheesh. 'Tits hasn't been pink in years.

I've contacted Blogger to see if this can be fixed. What a pain in the ass though. It makes me rethink the whole idea of blogging and writing online. If it's that easy to steal, how does anything ever belong to anyone? Maybe it's time to hang this up and keep my writing to myself until it's published for real either through traditional methods or by self-publishing with a reputable company.

The upside is that this proves once and for all that I'm taking some pride and ownership of my work because if I ever get my hands on the person who's done this, I promise you they'll be sorry. I'm a pincher and have awesome thumbnails suited for the purpose.

Learn a lesson here - protect yourself. Put some protections on your content and photos. If you deleted a blog and don't want the name reused, be sure to go back and see if you can get the name back. Even if you don't plan to blog there, you can tie up the name so someone else can't. Now I have to figure out how to lock down content, if possible so this stealing can't continue. I think I can fix my rss feeds so that they don't give full content. I'll be setting that up right away.

How stupid is this? A complete waste of my time except that it's going to drive me crazy if I don't get this resolved. The idea that someone is using my content - largely drawn from my life - without my permission is a violation and beyond annoying.

And if you're reading this, politits, do the right thing. Stop stealing and get your own blog. You might be surprised at how much fun it is to create your own content.

41 comments:

  1. I've also had blog photos and text stolen ... That's why I now use copy protection services and I generally don't blog about overly personal items or about things connected to my self-employment... Why give away career opportunities?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Holy shit. That's terrible. Thanks for the warning, though. I went and got an old domain name that I had deleted and used it to point back to my real blog. What a sorry thing to do, stealing a blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UGH! you're like that episode of seinfeld when kramer sold his stories, only you didn't even sell yours! they were stolen.

    YES, POLITITS BURGLAR--GIVE BACK WHAT'S NOT YOURS!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I saw your request over there. Let your fans know if or when to post similar requests.

    Best,
    George

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's horrible, Lisa. I hope you get your hands on this jerk.

    ReplyDelete
  6. How completely fucking bizarre. I paid to register my Domain name and even if I take the blog down at some point I'll continue to renew the registration.

    And did you notice they identified themselves as "conservative voices." Perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This kind of thing makes me want to throw up. It's in the same family as people who create malware. This kind of thief should be branded on their foreheads for public humiliation. People should point at them and hold their noses when they pass them on the street. Sales people should refuse to serve them. Police should pull them whenever they can and give them hell. Your average burglar is usually committing the crime because they need the money. What is the excuse for this kind of rip-off? What satisfaction can be taken in stealing someone else's creative output?

    ReplyDelete
  8. What an enormous violation. Hopefully because they're stealing your content, you can get the name back?
    What a waste of time for you, but if anyone can kill this for them you can. Bastards.
    You know, the thing that burns me is that is it personal information. It's not book reviews or music info, it's your life. No one has that right.
    I can't believe I'm saying this but, channel Dick Cheney and take care of this...

    ReplyDelete
  9. You wanna see something sad? Go here. I had purchased my domain name through Blogger and lost track of the renewal date (and received no notice of such), thinking, "Well, it reverts back to Blogspot....)

    Funnily, it used to have far more non-sequitor-ish links, but uggh.

    There ain't room for two PoliTits 'round here. Wait.

    ReplyDelete
  10. And they disabled the FluffPo link!? grr.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can't believe this! You know I think you have copyright on your stuff just because. Is there a lawyer in the house who understands our current convoluted copyright laws? Google this and see what your options are. I'm sorry yhis is happening to you. I hope you are able to get this resolved.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That's really terrible Lisa. I see that you getting on his ass made him remove all your content - good for you. And thanks for the heads up.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yuck. I hope this doesn't stop you from your personal journey. That would be tragic.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That's just wrong. If not downright illegal. I hope you get retribution.... WHat a horrible person doing a horrible thing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. That's what you get for not protecting all the photos you swiped from The Google & also not learning the magical arts of long-distance attacks of necrotizing fasciitis.

    What are you waiting for? Start smiting!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I did go and have a look even though I don't like the idea of giving stat counter clicks to thieves. It looks as though whatever personal information of yours there was displayed has now been removed but the idea it was taken in the first place is very disturbing. The posts I saw look boring enough never to be read by anyone so hopefully it will disappear soon. There was (and IS) only one PoliTits.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes, it looks like my request to have my content removed works. It's sad that politits will be just another blah advertising website, but the operators did honor my request to remove my content. I'll be keeping an eye on it.

    I've also changed my rss feeds to give just the headline so that no one can have the content without at least coming to the blog first.

    And Randal makes an excellent point, I have to be consistent in giving source credit to any photos that are not mine.

    ReplyDelete
  18. That's truly bizarre. I can understand someone using the same name, inadvertantly or otherwise, but hijacking content? That is really, really weird. I think the moral of your story is to never delete a blog even if you don't plan to ever post there again.

    It's just about impossible to protect content once it's up on the Web; all you can do is hope thieves are nice enough to credit where they've stolen stuff from.

    ReplyDelete
  19. First, that's just awful!

    Scary thing I read over on blogher...a mom who was contacted by the authorities in ITALY, telling her a picture of her child (posted on her blog) had been found on a sexual predator's computer when he was arrested. Argh! I don't have kids, but if I did, that would scare the heck out of me if I had their pix online.

    Glad you got the creep to take down YOUR content!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Holy crap, that is disturbing. I'm glad your content has been removed. And how smart to leave it on your RSS feed...

    ReplyDelete
  21. What complete and utter bullshit. But as Susan pointed out, your stuff is now down and what's left is about on par with watching paint dry in terms of it's boringness.

    ReplyDelete
  22. whoa.... ya, I checked it out.... seems like empty pages food for thought, though.... doing a copyright thingee.... not becazus you think you can make money.... but just to protect what you have done.... it's kinda like someone stealing your underwear... or beer

    ReplyDelete
  23. This totally sucks! Why in the world would they want to use PoliTits for such a dry, boring looking blog. Insurance on auto transport? Really?

    I'm going to go evacuate now.

    ReplyDelete
  24. CRAP... this is what drives me insane about blogger aka google and has for many months or perhaps years as time just seems to go... our content is not "ours" once we let it fly out there into the ethers and that's something we don't think much about.

    in reality, every single word, photo, painting, whatever any of us blogs becomes property of google once it's published. the only "protection" you have to keep at least partial control is to control the feed, as you are doing-i think... and NEVER delete a blog even tho it says you can because once you do, you cannot do a damned thing to change anything on that deleted blog and believe me, it lives on somewhere in google hell...

    too long comment short, i feel your pain. now off to shorten that stupid feed and don't forget to change your feedburner settings too or whatever feed server you are using while you're at it or what you do is for nothing.... feedburner/et all will over-ride the settings on blogger or at least that has been my experience...

    i have such love for google...if you look at my profile it says i have been blogging since 2007 but in reality, i slowly remove the old posts as i post new ones to keep the crawlers from ALL my stuff but there's a trick to it so email me and i'll tell you what to do.

    xoxoxox and enlightened hell-tacks in the bed pillow of the now pink politittyshitty...may she / he rot in google hell painted exactly that color pink. really, this just drives me so nuts, i want to not write another word anywhere online and go private in my blogging, not that i do that much anymore anyway... maybe not such a bad idea...privacy is, SO FAR, still private as i keep track of mine and my son's to make sure...never ever trust google. ever... xx

    ReplyDelete
  25. Huh! Weird. Glad they took down the things that belong to you.

    ReplyDelete
  26. What nerve! There will only ever be ONE PoliTits!! Hope they get the idea and come up with their own original name.

    ReplyDelete
  27. That sucks a dusty one, Lisa.

    So now it's "PoliTits - often imitated, sometimes stolen, never equaled."

    'S OK, Grrrl, you've gotten better since then. Leave the past in your tracks and FULL STEAM AHEAD!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Damn, that's really alarming. On the other hand, the world is full of cheats and creeps, and the Internet is yet another playground for them. People who want to live dishonestly will find a way to do it. Their dishonesty is what drives them. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. It's definitely an annoying way to spend one's time! Good luck filling the holes. And just remember: you are fortunate because you don't HAVE to steal. That's true for words, food, clothing...

    ReplyDelete
  29. What is the world coming to, when even our PoliTits is a victim of identity theft!

    As for content on the web, I work with an award-winning photographer who told me that he decided long ago to use these thefts to his advantage. He makes sure that every image he posts is embedded with his name and his own website so that at least if someone copies his images and doesn't give proper attribution, there are still links back to him. I think on Flickr there's a paid account option that lets you tag your images with your name and website. Not a perfect solution, but def turning lemons into, well, lemonade-like substance.

    ReplyDelete
  30. "Learn a lesson here - protect yourself. Put some protections on your content and photos."

    Yanno, I REALLY need to start doing that. Like, immediately.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I love that you're a follower of those jerks.

    ReplyDelete
  32. //Could I sound any more Midwestern?//

    sure you can... I do it daily... three leinenkugels help

    four or five in a real emergency

    ReplyDelete
  33. How strange and terrible of whoever is doing that. I have torches at the ready should you need help.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I am ready to give back your Poli TITS back. i am unable to sleep with your tits these days, feeling too much guilty HUH. And yeah your tits are not pink i was cheated :-)))))))))).

    How do i return your blog ? give ID to send invitation.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Well, Bob. You can email me at lisahgolden@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. Please tell me whether you are planning to use your blog again? Or we can just use it for it's popularity right? We can put a big banner on the homepage saying Lisa has moved to a new blog and will give a link to your new blog? What do you suggest? If you take back and delete again someone else will use it rather i can use it right? You can give some of your posts we can post it with your backlink is that OK? I can remove all current posts and post some that you give us let me know if it's OK. It has good Google link popularity that is why we took no other reason. Sorry if it troubled you.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Bob - If you're willing to hand over the administration of the blog to me, I'd like to repopulate it with the old content. I want to preserve the initial content under the old name. Otherwise, no, I'm not willing to have my content used there if I can't control all the content. The original blog PoliTits was about content not sales of any kind. If you're looking for SEO names that will draw lots of eyeballs, I might have some ideas for you. I assure you though, if you're not going to provide quality content that matches the expectations that PoliTits created, you're not going to be happy with the results of keeping the name.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hello Lisa i can handover the blog to you and you can administer it but can you put 2 of our site links in your blog. Let me know if that is Ok. We don't want to do any posts you can post your old stuff and keep it for you.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hello, Bob. Two links to your blog sounds like a good solution. Thanks. I'll wait to hear from you.

    ReplyDelete

And then you say....

(Comments submitted four or more days after a post is published won't appear immediately. They go into comment moderation to cut down on spam.)