Website copyright infringement is a nightmare. It costs money (in time and/or tools) to chase down the perpetrators, it is potentially a business killer if the theft results in a loss of reputation and loss of sales or clients. Recently, during a two-week period, my website was either completely copied, or, portions of the copy was lifted.
The person who stole the site said it was simply a sample, and would be taken down and destroyed. My question to him was “When is it acceptable for him to have ‘borrowed’ it without my permission?” His reply can’t be repeated.
And the second instance was just a week ago, when a fellow virtual assistant had a client comment on her site identical in all but name, to the one that’s been on my site for years. When I contacted her to let her know that her client had ‘borrowed’ my copy, and that she should reach out to him before I did, she replied that she was unsure how it could have happened and would contact him immediately. When last I checked, the offending comment was gone.
What does the word ethics mean to you? To me, it means not stealing another’s content, pictures, and so on. It means not undercutting a fellow virtual assistant on purpose to ‘land the deal’. It means not contacting another virtual assistant’s clients and trying to lure them away. It means that confidentiality is paramount. It means always trying to under promise and over deliver.
Many years ago I was proud to be among the first Ethics Checked Virtual Assistant, (Verification # 01-02-00109 by StaffCentrix, former provider of Ethics Check for VAs). It was designed to help strengthen the virtual assistant’s credibility and trustworthiness to potential clients. I’ve lived by this since then. I’m a fanatic about security and confidentiality. To this end I have numerous safeguards in place, such as fingerprint access to my computer, encrypted drives and heavy duty fire proof safes.
I would no sooner steal someone’s website copy or an image from their site than I would steal from my clients. It infuriates me when someone steals from me! Did no one ever tell them that to steal is wrong?
- If you are in any doubt as to internet copyright laws, here’s a great resource.
- Information from the US Copyright Office.
The company that swiped my entire site was out of Singapore, but that doesn’t mean they are exempt from the law. There is still the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and also the fact that most web hosts will not tolerate their users committing copyright infringement and can be a valuable resource in resolving your case.
Most of the time, people cooperate when I contact them about the infringement. Sometimes, such as the company in Singapore, I’m forced to take further action such as contacting their web host and proving my case so that they take down the stolen material.
Tools that helped me discover the theft are:
- Copyscape.com: I pay for the service to check my pages on a weekly basis.
- ProvideSupport.com: I pay for website monitoring and interactive chat on my site, which has helped find a thief more than once. Plagiarism checker is the tool that helps me identify the authenticity of the content.
When in doubt, just don’t do it!
Thanks, Kathy McCabe
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I also like using the ‘charms’ to the right of the screen. A quick swipe from the right will bring them up, from there you can pick the start screen, settings and more. What I quickly realized is that if you choose settings from anything other than the desktop, you’ll get settings that are relevant to the screen you’re in.
We got the new computer the day before hurricane Sandy was due to hit. I have to say that thankfully, by time the power went out, it was already late for us and we just went to bed and tried to sleep. But since then, I’ve been blessed to be able to help several temporary clients with their office services while they were waiting for power, phones, internet or waiting to find temporary office space. As a result, I’ve been pretty busy and haven’t had the luxury of really playing with and getting to know the new computer. I still have my phone system on my old Windows XP laptop, and haven’t had the chance to try it on the new system. Will have to do an update once I’ve tried that out. I will have to replace that old laptop at some point but for now, it will do.
Between the laptop, the TV Michael gave me for Christmas last year, the new computer and the second monitor, then the iPad also on the desk… I think that when someone coined the phrase “Screen Real Estate” he wasn’t referring to that! Nope… I’m NOT posting a picture of that – until I’ve put the mountain of CDs and DVDs away from reloading my software. 🙂
Right now I’m on the iPad writing this with my leg propped up like a good girl. And remotely controlling the new computer upstairs. I’ve discovered it doesn’t really like the 
new start menu, but, still controls the desktop and second screen with no problems. The screen shots in this article were taken logged into the desktop from the iPad.
I love technology… 😉
Kathy McCabe
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