I just did some searching, and it seems that singlehop has a very good reputation of handling these sort of things really fast.
If they dont respond to Andy, they have a forum we can post to, and a phone number to call, and they also respond to messages on some web hosting forums
I'm sure the SmugMug staff already knew about this, but in case other people haven't seen it, Google just released this statement about (in part) sites that duplicate content and search performance:
The part most relevant to this conversation is where they say:
"
This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.
"
Here's hoping that this makes things a little better, too, in addition to the complaints to SingleHop.
Please send us a properly filed DMCA complaint http://www.singlehop.com/legal/dmca_notices.php in order for us to be able to investigate this further.
--
Thank you for cooperation.
SingleHop Team
So, only those with stolen images etc. can complain...
My understanding is that Andy (or someone in charge) can send one DMCA notice for the whole forum, since they are copying the whole site.
Technically, if I sent a DMCA for my photos, the infringing website only needs to remove my photos, and everything else can stay.
Dgrin is not the copyright owner of the text and images you post here--you are.
I just sent my own complaint. If you use jo1jo's search supplying your photo host site name, it will give you a list of all the threads of yours that it has copied. Looks like it started in mid-November of 2010, and it had 15 of my threads.
Dgrin is not the copyright owner of the text and images you post here--you are.
I just sent my own complaint. If you use jo1jo's search supplying your photo host site name, it will give you a list of all the threads of yours that it has copied. Looks like it started in mid-November of 2010, and it had 15 of my threads.
As evidence in the DMCA complaint, how did you show the copied images? Did you just list the thread, or the search URL?
I have never sent one of those before, so would like to know how to go about it.
Yep... I am on there as well. Guess what I have learned tonight is. I won't start any new threads for the foreseeable future. It looks like ADVRider is being spammed as well. Probably goes the same for any popular forum for that matter.
I emailed the abuse contact that ANDY posted. Not sure what good its going to do as the post that BEND THE LIGHT shared links back to where you must send a certified letter to "formally" complain. Uggh, How much more complicated can this be. Surely it doesn't take a 8th grader to see that this is a scammer of some type.
to me
</td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="gH">show details 3:48 AM (2 minutes ago)
</td><td class="gH">
</td></tr></tbody></table>Greetings,
We have warned the server owner.
Please get back to us if you believe the reported abusive activity/content is
still present/issue is not resolved within 24 hours. --
Thank you for cooperation.
SingleHop Team
I gave them a list of the URLs on jo1jo.com. All of my images have my copyright in the EXIF data, which is intact on jo1jo.
That is what I described in my email to them too. I also embed my copyright in the EXIF. Who knows, maybe enough of us raising a stink is getting the providers attention?
Yep... I am on there as well. Guess what I have learned tonight is. I won't start any new threads for the foreseeable future.
I think you might be overreacting. They aren't selling prints and in any event they only have access to the smallish jpgs that we post here. Someone could just as easily steal your work from Dgrin--or SmugMug, Flickr, Photobucket or anyplace else on the web. I think what they are doing is nasty and that they should be shut down, but they're not going to stop me from posting here. I do encourage everyone to check to see whether their stuff has been copied and file a properly completed takedown notice. SingleHop will get the message and conclude that it's less work for them to shut down jo1jo than to process all of the complaints. Mind you, jo1jo will probably just set up shop again on another ISP, so perhaps we ought to think about the best way to get Google involved as well.
That is what I described in my email to them too. I also embed my copyright in the EXIF. Who knows, maybe enough of us raising a stink is getting the providers attention?
I just received an automated response from SingleHop:
To Whom It May Concern:
This e-mail is to confirm the receipt of your DMCA complaint by the SingleHop Abuse and DMCA Compliance team.
We will evaluate your complaint and process it according to the DMCA guidelines set forth by law.
Please note that SingleHop provides Infrastructure as Service solutions for many resellers. If your complaint is in reference to a resold account, we will forward your complaint to the reseller in question for compliance action.
SingleHop takes DMCA infringement complaints very seriously and all complaints submitted will be resolved expeditiously. If you have any questions, or any follow up information that may assist SingleHop personal in investigating and responding to your complaint, please reply to abuse@singlehop.com and keep the subject line intact for tracking purposes.
I got a response saying that my complaint was a duplicate, and to please not file duplicate complaints as that slows things down. I wrote back saying that I only filed one complaint.
I agree that we should file a complaint with Google; the way to do so is listed in the links I originally posted. I also agree that this could have somewhat of a chilling effect on Dgrin activity. I will think twice before posting more images, even if they are only small versions.
I guess one good thing about this whole experience is that it's making me think harder about what I want Google to know about my images, as my entire SmugMug site is password-protected. I know that what I post to Dgrin is being spidered, but I hadn't thought about that in detail before. I guess the price of public community is visibility.
I know, I know. It's not going to stop these folks from doing it, but if Google's change makes it not profitable to take the content, they won't have any reason to continue.
I know, I know. It's not going to stop these folks from doing it, but if Google's change makes it not profitable to take the content, they won't have any reason to continue.
Dgrin is not the copyright owner of the text and images you post here--you are.
I just sent my own complaint. If you use jo1jo's search supplying your photo host site name, it will give you a list of all the threads of yours that it has copied. Looks like it started in mid-November of 2010, and it had 15 of my threads.
Thanks. We need to keep complaining until this is resolved to our satisfaction.
Yep... I am on there as well. Guess what I have learned tonight is. I won't start any new threads for the foreseeable future. It looks like ADVRider is being spammed as well. Probably goes the same for any popular forum for that matter.
I emailed the abuse contact that ANDY posted. Not sure what good its going to do as the post that BEND THE LIGHT shared links back to where you must send a certified letter to "formally" complain. Uggh, How much more complicated can this be. Surely it doesn't take a 8th grader to see that this is a scammer of some type.
Thanks for sending the e-mail. The formal DMCA complaint just gives the web hosting company the legal ammunition to do the deed. It's not a big deal type of form.
They may not be selling images, but I noticed a couple of mine on the site with what looks like some sort of adsense type advertising indicating that they might be profiting from our images.
Yes, and I don't care for that much either. All the more reason to do your research and take the time to file a takedown notice. But my point was that it's not likely to impact anyone's sales. So let's keep it in proper perspective.
Agreed. My intent was not one of over reaction, more of just "talk out loud" kind of thing. In the last 12 hours I knew ZERO that this "spidering" / "mimicking" / "content fill", was even a thing. Much less how rampant it is across the internet, and has been for some time. It is true, you learn something new every day.
I am satisfied that I was able to be acknowledged by the hosting provider, and am going to take the stance that it is out of my control. I freely posted 1's and 0's on the web for all to see, albeit not there, but I did post for mass consumption so to speak. At least the links are whole, and I we can take down our images via the site we host them on if we so wish.
Thanks for teaching me something new Richard / Andy et al.
Response from singlehop was as stated above...let them know in 24hrs if the stolen links are not removed....have you all been checking back to see if your posts and images are removed???
Mine have not been so far......so I am replying to singlehop email with a still there message.
I received a note from SingleHop this morning saying that my content had been removed, and it has been. However, content farming from Dgrin appears to be ongoing, so if you haven't complained yet, please do so. Be specific about which posts infringe on your copyrights, or they may ignore your request.
I didn't complain, and my threads are still there. I think I'm going to leave them there as my shots are watermarked with the name of my website. Free advertising!
Regardless, that's not what is happening. Your watermark means very little to them. What they are doing, is stealing your whole post, photos included, and posting them as there own, so the google results sends traffic to there site. Watermarked or not, every time someone clicks on a photo that they have stolen, they are making money from your image. If this is allowed to continue, this means less traffic goes to your website, and they make more money off of you.
Not only that, but they are pretending to be the author of that post, and pretending to own those photos. They are directing people away from your site, with your own images
Since jo1jo.com is getting more hits total then your site, I imagine that if this continues, it wont take to long for there copies of your images to rank higher then your copies on your site. I imagine over time all there copies will rank higher then any of your photos, pushing your images to the back of google
i HAVE SEARCHED GOOGLE AND ALSO THE OFFENDING forum and cannot find the post you linked above.....I am doing something wrong...
how did you find that post you linked above?? Thanks
.....Vbulletin does not allow words of 3 letters (art) to be searchable, which sucks and it gives erroneous results when it tosses out my first name and only uses scott.....also always no results to Art Scott Fotografie......I know there has to be more but I cannot find them yet....
i HAVE SEARCHED GOOGLE AND ALSO THE OFFENDING forum and cannot find the post you linked above.....I am doing something wrong...
how did you find that post you linked above?? Thanks
.....Vbulletin does not allow words of 3 letters (art) to be searchable, which sucks and it gives erroneous results when it tosses out my first name and only uses scott.....also always no results to Art Scott Fotografie......I know there has to be more but I cannot find them yet....
You could try, "artscottfotografie.com" or "artscottfotografie", "Scott fotografie", "Scott fotografie dgrin", any combination with words longer then 3 letters.
Comments
I just did some searching, and it seems that singlehop has a very good reputation of handling these sort of things really fast.
If they dont respond to Andy, they have a forum we can post to, and a phone number to call, and they also respond to messages on some web hosting forums
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/finding-more-high-quality-sites-in.html
The part most relevant to this conversation is where they say:
"
This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.
"
Here's hoping that this makes things a little better, too, in addition to the complaints to SingleHop.
Greetings,
Please send us a properly filed DMCA complaint http://www.singlehop.com/legal/dmca_notices.php in order for us to be able to investigate this further.
--
Thank you for cooperation.
SingleHop Team
So, only those with stolen images etc. can complain...
I just sent my own complaint. If you use jo1jo's search supplying your photo host site name, it will give you a list of all the threads of yours that it has copied. Looks like it started in mid-November of 2010, and it had 15 of my threads.
As evidence in the DMCA complaint, how did you show the copied images? Did you just list the thread, or the search URL?
I have never sent one of those before, so would like to know how to go about it.
Thanks
CRaig
I emailed the abuse contact that ANDY posted. Not sure what good its going to do as the post that BEND THE LIGHT shared links back to where you must send a certified letter to "formally" complain. Uggh, How much more complicated can this be. Surely it doesn't take a 8th grader to see that this is a scammer of some type.
That is what I described in my email to them too. I also embed my copyright in the EXIF. Who knows, maybe enough of us raising a stink is getting the providers attention?
I think you might be overreacting. They aren't selling prints and in any event they only have access to the smallish jpgs that we post here. Someone could just as easily steal your work from Dgrin--or SmugMug, Flickr, Photobucket or anyplace else on the web. I think what they are doing is nasty and that they should be shut down, but they're not going to stop me from posting here. I do encourage everyone to check to see whether their stuff has been copied and file a properly completed takedown notice. SingleHop will get the message and conclude that it's less work for them to shut down jo1jo than to process all of the complaints. Mind you, jo1jo will probably just set up shop again on another ISP, so perhaps we ought to think about the best way to get Google involved as well.
Did you do the official complaints thing, then? Or just an email?
I may send another email listing URLs and so on...EXIF should be present in my images on there, too. I have just found some of mine, too.
Craig
I just received an automated response from SingleHop:
I really dont think the owner is going listen to a "warning", so I really hope they follow threw with there next action after 24 hours.
I agree that we should file a complaint with Google; the way to do so is listed in the links I originally posted. I also agree that this could have somewhat of a chilling effect on Dgrin activity. I will think twice before posting more images, even if they are only small versions.
I guess one good thing about this whole experience is that it's making me think harder about what I want Google to know about my images, as my entire SmugMug site is password-protected. I know that what I post to Dgrin is being spidered, but I hadn't thought about that in detail before. I guess the price of public community is visibility.
http://mashable.com/2011/02/25/google-content-farms/
I know, I know. It's not going to stop these folks from doing it, but if Google's change makes it not profitable to take the content, they won't have any reason to continue.
SmugMug QA
My Photos
My Website
Facebook | Twitter | | VSCOgrid | Instagram |
Thanks. I think we are starting to get the desired responses.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Thanks. We need to keep complaining until this is resolved to our satisfaction.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Thanks for sending the e-mail. The formal DMCA complaint just gives the web hosting company the legal ammunition to do the deed. It's not a big deal type of form.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I am satisfied that I was able to be acknowledged by the hosting provider, and am going to take the stance that it is out of my control. I freely posted 1's and 0's on the web for all to see, albeit not there, but I did post for mass consumption so to speak. At least the links are whole, and I we can take down our images via the site we host them on if we so wish.
Thanks for teaching me something new Richard / Andy et al.
It is a bit disturbing to see your own posts, credited to a different username, and with a bunch of Arabic writing all over the page.
On the other hand, all my pictures are watermarked with my domain name, so it's free advertising.
Link to my Smugmug site
Mine have not been so far......so I am replying to singlehop email with a still there message.
Link to my Smugmug site
i HAVE SEARCHED GOOGLE AND ALSO THE OFFENDING forum and cannot find the post you linked above.....I am doing something wrong...
how did you find that post you linked above?? Thanks
.....Vbulletin does not allow words of 3 letters (art) to be searchable, which sucks and it gives erroneous results when it tosses out my first name and only uses scott.....also always no results to Art Scott Fotografie......I know there has to be more but I cannot find them yet....
You could try, "artscottfotografie.com" or "artscottfotografie", "Scott fotografie", "Scott fotografie dgrin", any combination with words longer then 3 letters.