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Content Theft Is Wrong
By Marisa | February 5, 2008
I’m not a homeschooler. I wish I’d known about homeschooling, the fact that it was an option, way back when my 29 year old son started to school. That was 23 years ago and pre-internet; I never realized that I could teach my kids myself instead of sending them to a public school. Since gaining internet access, I’ve learned quite a bit and I know many homeschoolers. Let’s call that the good side of the internet.
And then there’s the bad side of the internet. No, I’m not talking about porn. I’m talking about theft. Specifically, content theft. As a blogger, I know that some of my posts have made their way to “scraper” sites. As a webmaster for over 10 years, I’ve had my graphics stolen and used elsewhere. Those of us with limited financial means have little recourse when we are the victims of content theft.
This post is my way of fighting back, even if it’s just one little attempt. The editor of Secular Homeschooling Magazine, Deborah Markus, wrote and published “The Bitter Homeschooler’s Wish List” in the magazine’s Fall 2007’s issue. An exerpt:
4 Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a “reality” show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
The owner of another site published the entire list, didn’t give credit to the author and derived quite a bit of traffic from it. Markus found the list on Fark, asked that it be credited to her (it was) and then proceeded to have other mentions of the list at other sites point to her site rather than to the site of the content thief.
Eventually, Deborah Markus contacted the owner of the site where her list was published and the exchange between them is just unbelievable. This thieving site owner refused to remove the list and link to the original because the list was generating traffic!
Okay, here’s the deal. Content theft is wrong. Let’s fight this together. I’m asking all bloggers to blog about this and link to Deborah’s blog post as well as the original list. And then, please Digg the story, too.
It really doesn’t matter if you’re a homeschool parent or not. What matters is that theft is a crime and in this case, the best way to fight back is to send as much traffic as possible to the original content. You’ll note that I did not link to the thief and I’d suggest that you don’t either. Just let Deborah know in her comments that you blogged about this.
Topics: Blogging |
2 Comments
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Needless to say, I agree completely. THank you for addressing this issue and giving it additional exposure. If there is anything I can do to help in this area, please let me know!
Thank you, Jonathan. I saw that you posted at Deborah’s site. I think we caused enough of an uproar to get the stolen content removed, but that guy still did wrong by not directing his readers to Deborah’s site.
By the way, nice site you have! Thanks for putting all that information out there. I’ve bookmarked it.