If you use http://www.whois.sc/domainname.com It will return a lot of useful info, but what most people don't know is that if you register a free account you can reverse IP the server and see what domains are there. Usually with this cloners is they register several domains and install the same website. If you have three of four sites and file them with a DMCA then the host will usually be more eager to remove the content. This site is good also as it give you the IP address of the server and who owns it, so if it's EV1Servers.net then you know thats who you contact with your DMCA because Bob's Hosting who might be the registered DNS is probably just leasing the box. Always go to the source as 9 times out of 10 the offended IS the reseller hosting operator.
Thanks, I'd finally found all of this except the reverse IP on the server stuff. Actually, I got them shut down four times in five days, but they kept popping back up a few hours later --- rather like trying to find all of Count Dracula's coffins. Every single hosting service I wrote with the DMCA shut them down immediately, but I just gave up on squashing them permanently. It would be almost a full time job staying on top of it, especially with two clone sites to keep up with. My focus this week has been on Google. AdSense has told me not to worry. The Google servers won't serve any ads to those sites. I've filed a DMCA complaint to get them out of the index, also, and, if they don't believe me, I'm sure some of the government authorities who've taken an interest in this case can convince them real quickly what's up with this... Long as I can eventually get them kicked out of the Google index, I can accept the presence of the clones on the web. 99% of my search engine traffic comes from Google or Google Image search, so who cares? Actually, I've lighted up on the whole thing. This is far, far to murky a place to keep your head for long...
It's really frustrating when this happens. I had a mfa network scrape my site and put up thousands of pages scattered across hundreds of domains. I wasted a LOT of time fighting them, sending DMCA notices, complaining to Google, etc. and I eventually ran out of energy and emotion and just gave up. I started focusing on stopping them at the server and now have a pretty sophisticated scraper detection system that seems to block about 99% of the SOBs. These particular bastards were in another country so it wasn't worth pursuing via a civil lawsuit but have you considered that?
Well, you never know.. Most people are on proxies, and when you try to find them, they disappear and switch to another proxy, so it's almost impossible to find who stole your content. The best way to do things is to encrypt the HTML or something..
I wonder if there is a way to beat that by making a site using a pdf with some of those new readable but "not scrapable" programs I have read about to make a web page? They have them for people who don't want their ebooks and products copied!
I would be very interested in knowing more about any kind of "non-scrapable" stuff I could use. I have seen an HTML encryption program, but how would Google crawl the site? I wrote the vendor to ask them that question but got no answer. Mr Crow, I looked on ebay using a few different keywords, but could find nothing. I doubt if you remember the link, but if you have any keywords I could use to find it, could you let me know?
These people are definitely in another country. This article explains the "why" part: http://www.consumer.org.nz/newsitem.asp?docid=2325&category=Scams&topic=Mule. For some reason, fortunately, an investigative agency which is a household word has taken a huge interest interest in this --- something for which I will be eternally grateful. It must fit in with something they were already looking at, because their computer forensics team is on it. Heaven only knows what that kind of investigative expertise would have cost, and it probably could not be purchased, anyway. We'll see how that plays out. Every day I get new information requests from them. If anyone can do anything about actually catching these people, it will be this group. Still, I am not hopeful. Google will prove to be the key. These other sites must *not* be allowed to assume a presence in the search results. We will see how the DMCA complaint plays out, and, if no results, I may ask these investigators to send Google a letter. I can understand Google not taking action when the ownership is in dispute. But when there is no question of ownership (for reasons I can't state here), there is no excuse for letting a stolen site begin to drain traffic from the real one. We'll see how much the "Don't Be Evil" motto really means at Google.
I will look for you today on ebay ... I remember the that header cause I like it so much and I wondered how it was made cause I know nothing about graphics design.! I will do my best but the auction may be over and not renewed
Yeah, me neither, on the graphic design. My own always lack that final polish, no matter how long I work on them. That one was done by a lady in India who will give you three page designs to choose from. Once you pick the one you want, she turns it into HTML and sends it to you. The cost for page design is only $100. The cost of a banner only is only $40. Sometimes, this company is a bit slow, but their work has always been well worth waiting for.
Hello, I must say that this world-and-countries.com was one odd domain to try to look up. Whomever this is, seems to be going thru alot of trouble to hide themselves. Anyway pm sent this is what i came up with hope it helps. Good luck
Perhaps victory *IS* possible. I quit sending DMCA complaints last weekend, but neither one of these sites is active at the moment (knock on wood). Much as I hate to wish it on anyone else, I guess they went on to another victim. Anyone who has this problem should write me privately, and I will do all I can to help them. It's about the worst feeling in the world to pull up another domain name and see your own web site. No one except another web master could understand how we feel about our sites... Thanks to all.
I've sent a lot of DMCA complaints about illegally cloning my site xtrafile.com... and they've gladly changed it. At least when i have a problem like before, their ISP is more than happy to shut them down.. The thing is, a lot of people are stealing other sites, and it's almost impossible now to catch up with them..