Tuesday
26Sep
An Easy Way To Stop A Splogger
Sep 26, 2006 at 02:30PM
Because of the recentBitacle Debacle I thought it time I tell you how I have secretly and successfully dealt with sploggers on several occasions but please allow me to preface with a few thoughts.
Writers from all genres need to learn a proactive method to deal with copyright infringement and theft of other intellectual properties instead of waiting to get ripped-off and then start screaming about it. Sites like StopBitacle.org can help with reactive enforcement but to date they have done nothing to curb the next splogger who will no doubt pop-up in the course of the next seven days. That's right, there's a new splogger born every week, maybe more.
One proactive method that protected me from Bitacle and others was the fact that I control my RSS feeds. This not only protected me from Bitacle but it also meant that Bitacle users were forced to click through to my website bringing me 20-30 readers daily for almost a year now. StopBitacle.org is suggesting you install something called Bitacle Blocker which blocks Bitacle altogether but I have to question the logic behind blocking access to 20 readers daily when I could have those 20 readers and protect my copyrights as well.
Do you understand the reason I had over 1 million page views in the last 12 months was in-part because I make it easier, not harder for them to access my blogs?
Now for those who may not know, as a co-founder of Poets101.com, a user of Greensboro101.com, and the person who assembled the largest list of local blog aggregators in the world I do know a little bit about aggregators. Thankfully, Roch Smith Jr-- another co-founder-- knows a whole lot more. The difference between the aggregators we run and sploggers is the fact that bloggers give us permission to aggregate their RSS feeds and display them to the public.
I think it's time we challenged StopBitacle.org to either put up or shut up. Either become proactive in the fight against copyright violations or pull the plug and quit your bitching simply because you got caught with your heads in the sand. Bringing Bitacle down may make you feel good in the short term but in the long run you've done nothing to prevent the next Bitacle from coming along tomorrow.
Now, as I promised, an easy way to shut down a splogger:
For starters: Sploggers almost always use a bot or some other form of automated collection. Few crooks are industrious enough to constantly search the Blogosphere searching for content. That's to our advantage.
The next step is to understand that most bloggers ("A listers" included) are really nobody in the minds of crooks. A splogger will rip-off Instapundent just as quickly as he'll rip-off Robert Scoble, Stewart Pittman, Frenchy, or Allan Jenkins That's also to our advantage if we know how to play our cards but we still need a card to trump the splogger.
Here's your trump card, your ace in the hole: Bots and automation recognize an RSS feed when they see one but those evil little bots have no idea who that feed belongs to. Like wild animals the bots gobble-up every little RSS feed they can find and squirt out their feces for all to see. What do you think would happen if say for instance, the New York Times, Washington Post, the BBC., or the big media giant in France (I still don't know the name.) happened to find out their copyrighted content was being pirated?
Look, I don't know about you but as a starving poet I don't have an overpaid full-time legal department full of drooling law dogs anxious to attack the next splogger and I doubt the rest of you do either, but a simple polite e-mail to the editor-n-chief of a big name media company informing him or her that their RSS content is also being stolen has worked wonders for me over the course of the last few years.
As a rule you'll find the splogger gone in 24 hours, perhaps 72 on a weekend. Now was it really worth all that screaming when it could have been resolved so easily?
This post was brought to you by BillysToyStore.com
Writers from all genres need to learn a proactive method to deal with copyright infringement and theft of other intellectual properties instead of waiting to get ripped-off and then start screaming about it. Sites like StopBitacle.org can help with reactive enforcement but to date they have done nothing to curb the next splogger who will no doubt pop-up in the course of the next seven days. That's right, there's a new splogger born every week, maybe more.
One proactive method that protected me from Bitacle and others was the fact that I control my RSS feeds. This not only protected me from Bitacle but it also meant that Bitacle users were forced to click through to my website bringing me 20-30 readers daily for almost a year now. StopBitacle.org is suggesting you install something called Bitacle Blocker which blocks Bitacle altogether but I have to question the logic behind blocking access to 20 readers daily when I could have those 20 readers and protect my copyrights as well.
Do you understand the reason I had over 1 million page views in the last 12 months was in-part because I make it easier, not harder for them to access my blogs?
Now for those who may not know, as a co-founder of Poets101.com, a user of Greensboro101.com, and the person who assembled the largest list of local blog aggregators in the world I do know a little bit about aggregators. Thankfully, Roch Smith Jr-- another co-founder-- knows a whole lot more. The difference between the aggregators we run and sploggers is the fact that bloggers give us permission to aggregate their RSS feeds and display them to the public.
I think it's time we challenged StopBitacle.org to either put up or shut up. Either become proactive in the fight against copyright violations or pull the plug and quit your bitching simply because you got caught with your heads in the sand. Bringing Bitacle down may make you feel good in the short term but in the long run you've done nothing to prevent the next Bitacle from coming along tomorrow.
Now, as I promised, an easy way to shut down a splogger:
For starters: Sploggers almost always use a bot or some other form of automated collection. Few crooks are industrious enough to constantly search the Blogosphere searching for content. That's to our advantage.
The next step is to understand that most bloggers ("A listers" included) are really nobody in the minds of crooks. A splogger will rip-off Instapundent just as quickly as he'll rip-off Robert Scoble, Stewart Pittman, Frenchy, or Allan Jenkins That's also to our advantage if we know how to play our cards but we still need a card to trump the splogger.
Here's your trump card, your ace in the hole: Bots and automation recognize an RSS feed when they see one but those evil little bots have no idea who that feed belongs to. Like wild animals the bots gobble-up every little RSS feed they can find and squirt out their feces for all to see. What do you think would happen if say for instance, the New York Times, Washington Post, the BBC., or the big media giant in France (I still don't know the name.) happened to find out their copyrighted content was being pirated?
Look, I don't know about you but as a starving poet I don't have an overpaid full-time legal department full of drooling law dogs anxious to attack the next splogger and I doubt the rest of you do either, but a simple polite e-mail to the editor-n-chief of a big name media company informing him or her that their RSS content is also being stolen has worked wonders for me over the course of the last few years.
As a rule you'll find the splogger gone in 24 hours, perhaps 72 on a weekend. Now was it really worth all that screaming when it could have been resolved so easily?
This post was brought to you by BillysToyStore.com
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