The Great Bitacle Debacle

Update: For those of you who are convinced Bitacle is doing something illegal I've got a tried and true, free way to find out and bring it to a halt, but rather than repeat myself I'll simply point you to my comments at Frenchy's Fracas so that you'll know what to do. I've used this technique to bring down several scrapers and it's never failed me. That said: I think a lot of bloggers would do well do follow my advice below and realize you too are responsible in-part for protecting your Intellectual Property before it is stolen.

Begin original post:

Because of the recent SPIKE in traffic due to Google and searches concerned with Bitacle trackbacks I've decided to re-address the Bitacle issue.

For starters, I created a Bitacle user account this morning but was unable to figure out how it works. It might be that Bitacle could use some help in translating Spanish to English. It might be a browser/OS issue (I use Firefox on OS-X) or it might be I'm simply too dumb to understand.

Secondly, despite the fact that Bitacle seems hard to use, there must be quite a few users as I've been getting 20-30 Bitacle referrals daily for several months. For some of you 20 hits a day would be considered a gold mine of traffic-- for me it's a very welcome addition. The Bitacle referrals started long before the recent Bitacle trackbacks. It is in-fact, more traffic than I get from Technorati or Google Blog Search, though far less than I get from Google, Yahoo, or MSN.

For those of you who are concerned by Bitacle's use of a Creative Commons license-- two points: 1. The license displayed by Bitacle ONLY applies to Bitacle as Bitacle has no legal control over the content of others, and 2. Creative Commons, while a nice idea, IS NOT LAW and DOES NOT CIRCUMVENT United States and international copyright conventions.

Personally, I don't use the Creative Commons License because some of my publishers aren't exactly comfortable with the idea.

As for the Bitacle trackbacks: I've yet to determine if they're generated by robots, Bitacle administrators, or if perhaps they're user generated. Bitacle trackbacks of my blog contain only the content of my RSS feeds and nothing more. That's because I control the content of my RSS feeds instead of allowing RSS to syndicate my entire post. Those of you who choose to use full-feeds are simply giving away your content not only to Bitacle but to any of the millions of people who use their own desktop or online RSS readers.

Again, set your RSS feeds to short and enjoy the increased readership Bitacle and other RSS applications can bring you. I know, I know, the big dog "A listers" of the Blogosphere have been screaming for a couple of years for everyone to syndicate full-feeds but the fact is: My own experiments proved to me that full-feeds will REDUCE your readership and for those of you who happen to be aspiring to become a full-time blogger a reduction in readership does not pay the bills. Bitacle may or may not be a bandit but content thieves come and go every day so why make yourself a sucker target? After all, you do lock the doors when you leave home, right?

My advice: Do your own experiments before crying wolf. Or, block Bitacle from your blog and prevent what might be hundreds or thousands of Bitacle users from reading your blog.

Comments

[Joyce Schwarz]

Well, I got bit by BITACLE this morning too -- they appear to have cloned 390 posts from my blog www.hollywood2020.blogs.com on Typepad. I immediately emailed Typepad to see what I could do to stop this or eliminate the problem -- and got no response. I then called the PR department at SixApart-- owners of Typepad -- and the gal Kimberly was very nice but clueless about Bitacle. I guess I have no choice now except to go back and close down my blog if I don't want Bitacle to have it. Unless, I can find out how to adjust the feeds on Typepad. Thank you for your information. js

[frenchy!]

Hi there,
This stuff concerning bitacle got my attention yesterday and I kinda see the mini-revolt starting up against this site with mixed feelings.
I understand your arguments why you consider this site not to be that big an issue. You even state what counter-measures can be used, helpful and correct.
But what I'm missing in your post is why some people are making a big issue out of it: the site uses Google Ads on other people's content. It could be viewed as a fair exchange: the author gets more traffic and bitacle gets some revenue out of it. But this has been done without the author's consent. And that's why some people are really annoyed.
I don't mind people scraping my stuff, ultimately, my blog isn't a cure for some deadly disease ;o) But the fact that people make money from it without checking with me first: not nice.

[Billy The Blogging Poet]

Joyce,
Typepad is one of a few blogging programs I haven't tried so I can't be of much help but I would DUMP any blog software that doesn't allow me complete control of my RSS feeds, ASAP!

Frenchy,
Google, Yahoo, Technorati, and a hundred other websites are using RSS aggregation to make money from your content-- why is no one complaining about them? And that's not to mention the real scrapers that pop-up on an almost weekly basis. No matter how you feel about Bitacle, I can see no evidence to suggest they are scraping sites for content and so far every complaint I've heard about them comes from bloggers who are publishing full RSS feeds. A certain amount of responsibility rests on the creators of content and if one is publishing full-feeds then he or she is not assuming their full responsibility.

I left a bicycle laying in my driveway once, but going without that bicycle taught me to put my toys safely away. And believe me, I learned about the pitfalls of RSS the same way.

[Amy Gahran]

Hi, Billy


As far as I can tell, despite the "registration" feature, Bitacle is just another splog — maybe more sophisticated and ambitious in terms of whose content, and how much content, it steals — but otherwise, just another splog.

The more I think over this splogger problem, the more I think it’s futile and even counterproductive to try to hunt down and shut down individual sploggers.

They’re not the real problem. They’re just opportunists. The REAL problem is that Google, Yahoo, and other online ad network providers have their programs set up in such a way that actively *encourages* sploggers.

It does no good to stamp out a few cockroaches. You have to stop them from breeding.

I just wrote more about this at Contentious: http://tinyurl.com/rvp7t

Thanks,

- Amy Gahran

[frenchy!]

Billy, good points. I have sort of the same opinions, bicycle-wise ;)
Still, I understand that people are caught off guard by the way this has happened to their content in this case. The fact that Google and others do (almost) the same thing isn't correct IMO: there's a difference in business models between Google as an SEO and an aggregator (Netvibes) or in this case a possible splog/scraper site. We don't have to agree on this, just thought I'd give me 5cents (or 3.89 eurocents).
The interwub is a great place for curing people of being too naive, that's true and maybe people should wake up and smell the decaf.
I'm getting a cup of tea..

Thanks,
frenchy!

[Ian Delaney]

Hi Billy,

The same thing is happening to me, and I'm upset, like you, because my content is mine, and other people taking it to earn money isn't right.

My work is under a CC Non Commercial Attributable license, will let you know any ideas I am given about this. Please let me know the same.

Don't want to go down to a limited RSS feed, because spreading information is good. Just hate parasites, though.

Cheers,
Ian