Friday, August 12, 2011

Things that Make My Ears Steam

There are lots of things that make me mad. Things like cruelty to animals, parents not taking care of the their children, child abuse, social injustice. They are important things to be made about because they impact all of us in big ways. There's more but those top the list.

There areother things, bugs in my life, that make my ears steam, too. Theft. Vandalism. Littering. Lack of respect for personal property and space is wrong. Ask an author who has had a book pirated. Theft of their written word is wrong. And so is the lifting of a blog post and reposting it without the author's permission

That's what happened to me. I wrote a funny, cute post about how our underwear tastes change for my group blog PETIT FOURS & HOT TAMALES. You can read that post here. If you have read the post, you'll know there was nothing scandalous or titillating in the words. Well, nothing that is unless you find Spanx and Days of the Week panties fit either of those categories.

Me? Not so much.

But some trolling spambot looking for general posts, probably computer driven software, found my post and reposted it without my permission on a very disgusting website--a PORN site!! Now at first glance I was mildly amused. I mean really, Spanx and this site don't belong together. The women on this site won't need to wear Spanx for many years. And they certainly do not wear them now. Who knows? Maybe they might like to read a nice romance. Just because they've chosen to do a job that I personally find degrading to women doesn't mean they aren't potential readers, right?

But then, the more I got to think about it, the angrier I got because this site is using my innocent words to trick people, men and women, to go to their site expecting to read a funny post written by a PETIT FOURS & HOT TAMALES blog author. When they get there, they find my post and their product. Their product may not be illegal, but I sure as heck do not want to be associated with that site. I don't want my words used to get them customers.

What could I do? I posted comments all over the site in which I demanded that they remove my post. Last time I checked, the comments were awaiting moderation. I really don't have legal recourse. I'm sure that over time this too shall pass, but I'm still mad. I feel violated. And I don't like that feeling at all.

Do I regret writing my post? No. I wrote a funny post and gave everyone a chuckle. That was my intent. I would write it again. I just wish this site hadn't taken my post and made it part of something ugly. And that makes my ears steam. It also makes me want to censor myself. And I don't like that feeling because I didn't do anything wrong. The site that stole my words is at fault for violating me.

Have you ever had anything like this happen to you?

18 comments:

Pepper Phillips said...

No, thank heavens. But I have seen where another blogger lifted something and posted the whole thing on their blog. Since I admired the author, I did email her to inform her of that violation. It was removed immediately.

A good reason to have the Google thing where anything with your name on it is culled and sent to you immediately. I forget what it's called, but it's nice. (Not if you have a common name however.)

Christine said...

Hi Pepper: Thanks for the advice about the Google thing. I will ask my blog sisters about it. I think we found out about the theft via a trackback on our PFHT site. I have no idea how to track back anything. I'm lucky I have a blog that works LOL.

I'm praying that this site will delete the blog.

Thanks for popping in and saying hi!

Alicia Hunter Pace (aka Jean Hovey and Stephanie Jones) said...

Disgusting. It's wrong, wrong, wrong to to take someone's work. Wrong to copy a CD you didn't buy, buy a knockoff designer bag, pirate a book, or take someone's blog post. It's all the same.

Christine said...

Thanks for your support, Jean. I think what made it worse for me was the site was just filthy. I won't even post the link to it. Ever. I went and checked it out and it doesn't show up anymore. So maybe it's gone for good due to my comments to yank it or else!

Carol Burnside aka Annie Rayburn said...

I'm glad they took the post down. One less thing to worry with. Great job defending your work!

Christine said...

Thanks Carol/Annie. I owe YOU a huge TY cause you discovered it! I would never want anything to hurt my blog/blog sisters! So I'm glad we got it taken care of.

:-)

Katherine Bone said...

The fact that this was done reveals a great deal about the Internet institution. It's a cautionary tale that we should all take to heart. Piracy is wrong. Period!

I agree with Jean, knocking off someone else's creative work is wrong. I won't buy it! I don't approve of it! Something happened with one of #2's fashion designs and because she was an intern, she couldn't say anything about it.

I'm so proud of you for making a stand against this site. Your blog posts are always entertaining and informative. No one should have their name linked to something like this without their permission.

Blessings to you!

Louisa Cornell said...

This is horrendous. Some kid sitting in his Mom's basement poached your work? Unfortunately the law has not kept apace with the technology. One can only hope it will eventually come up with ways to prevent this and to prosecute it when necessary! Glad you stuck to your guns!

Gwen Hernandez said...

What a shock! I'm glad they finally took it down.

Christine said...

Hi Kathy: I'm sorry your dtr. had to experience larceny as an intern. That is awful. The best way to combat this kind of thing is to keep vigilant and remember my adage: DO NO HARM.

Christine said...

Hi Louisa: I know. I was very miffed about this situation. But I believe it is off and that's what matters. But be vigilant. Very vigilant. I'm doing searches of my name on a regular basis to double check. I need to learn how to use the google site that pings me if my name is used in a blog or a blog is reposted.

Christine said...

Hey Gwen: I know! I just was floored. Absolutely floored. But it's fixed. For now.

:-)

Cheryl said...

Sorry this happened to you Christine! It must have been horrible! How did you find out? Speaking from a purely legal direction, maybe we should all copyright our blogs then we would have teeth to sue these idiots (assuming we could find them). The Internet is just full of people who have no ethics!!

Glad it's been fixed.

Anonymous said...

I know it's been a nightmare for you this week. I'm so sorry for that.I agree with everyone, stealing is plain wrong. I think with the animinity of the internet, people don't see it that way. By standing up for yourself, you've taught a lesson. I glad they finally took your post down.

Sia

Christine said...

Hi Cheryl: I'm not sure how to go about what you are suggesting, but I would love your legal expertise. Seriously you're right. Some people don't have ethics. How do we protect ourselves?

Christine said...

Hi Sia: I thank you for your support. I was embarrassed for my PFHT sisters that this happened. But I wasn't embarrassed about my innocent post. So you all understanding makes me smile and be happy. I just told a friend today that I love PFHT because you all are just so nice to me!!!! And yes, I am so glad they dropped the post!

Sharon Wray said...

I've been heads down with a sick child and just read your post--I'm shocked and so sorry this happened to you! How terrible. I'm glad they dropped the post, but I still can't believe that happened. When you find out how to do that google thing where you get alerts about your name, please let me know. Again, I'm so sorry this happened--it makes me furious!
xx
Sharon

Christine said...

Hi Sharon: Thanks for popping in and supporting me. I really appreciate it. I am investigating the google alert thing this week.

I hope your sick child is better soon!!

Hugs :-)