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ALERT: Copyrights are being violated


paulstenquist

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I stumbled across a rather distasteful internet site called PlayComet that my be

taking photos from photo.net without the photographers permission. I searched

the site under my name and found that quite a few of my photo.net pics had been

posted. I searched a couple of other names from photo.net and found the work of

these photographers as well. I recommend that all photo.net members check this

site for their work and send a cease and desist notice if it's found. I have

already done so. The url is http://pic.playcomet.com/

 

By the way, their "use agreement" gives them a lot of rights to the work posted

on the site. Something smells very bad here.

Paul Stenquist

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It appeasr that "playcomet.com" is owned by "bitcomet.com" The whois for Playcomet doesn't turn up much other than a "private" listing and the info for the registrant. The whois for bitcomet shows it as being a site based in China. Since the images are not being hosted from our servers, there isn't a whole lot we (meaning photo.net) can do at this point. Which sucks.

 

It is situations like this that are the reason I encourage everyone to watermark their images and/or only upload low resolution images if they want to maintain some semblance of control over how your images are used.

 

I'll ask the lawyer if she can think of anything to do. But I'm not particularly optimistic.

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Disrespect for intellectual property in China? No, I won't believe it.

 

By the way, Josh, the domain's registration IS being handled by a domestic US company (GoDaddy.com). I don't know whether there's a DCMA-based way to get the registrar to delist a domain that's being flagrantly used to pirate IP. It might also be worth dropping a note to Google... I'm sure that PN has a contact there, given your traffic. The site in question is making money off of all sorts of prominently placed Google ads. They (Google) can pull that plug if they're alerted to obvious violations. Good luck. Sic 'em!

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<i>I'm just not sure even that will keep these thiefs away.</i>

<br><br>

No, it won't. You have to make your image so distastefully marked up that no one will want to run off with it... which also makes it unpleasant to gaze upon for the reasons you'd post it in the first place. So the other choice is to not post it in the first place. *sigh*

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It is a sad fact of "internet life". But for me (speaking as a photographer, not a photo.net admin), the benefits of having images on the web outweighs the annoyances.

 

Matt makes good points about godaddy and google. Like I said, I'll shoot an email over to our lawyer. But I'm not going to hold my breath.

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Their namservers (DNS.BIZCN.COM DNS.CNMSN.NET)

suggest that besides the company being based in China, the images are also being hosted and served from a machine which is also in China.

<p>

Administrative Contact:<br>

Bizcn Bizcn postmaster@bizcn.com<br>

+86.5922577888 fax: +86.5922577111<br>

<1F - 4F>, Software Technology Service Builing, Xiamen Software Park

Xiamen Fujian 361005, cn

 

<p>

Apart from sending them email compliants I'm not sure there is much to be done.

<p>

BTW BitComet is a C++ BitTorrent Client for file-sharing, think of it as a Napster for images. As such any image sharing done using it may well be done via a distributed network of hosts.

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Right, Bob. But the whole thing is all about the ads they've got plastered all over the site. That's where the action is, and that's where their weak spot is. Larger corporate ad providers can be talked into pulling their accounts. That leaves only the very marginal, low-paying, mostly ignored ads... and that takes all the fun out of running a piracy-oriented site. Hopefully there's some traction there. Otherwise... oh well.
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Some of the guys on the PDML traced the url. It's hosted by godaddy.com. I sent them a takedown notice. Everyone should do the same. Here's the ISP info:

> White:~% nslookup pic.playcomet.com

> Server: 192.168.1.4

> Address: 192.168.1.4#53

>

> Non-authoritative answer:

> Name: pic.playcomet.com

> Address: 72.167.47.18

>

> ARIN Registry info:

>

> White:~% whois -h whois.arin.net 72.167.47.18

>

> OrgName: GoDaddy.com, Inc.

> OrgID: GODAD

> Address: 14455 N Hayden Road

> Address: Suite 226

> City: Scottsdale

> StateProv: AZ

> PostalCode: 85260

> Country: US

>

> NetRange: 72.167.0.0 - 72.167.255.255

> CIDR: 72.167.0.0/16

> OriginAS: AS26496

> NetName: GO-DADDY-SOFTWARE-INC

> NetHandle: NET-72-167-0-0-1

> Parent: NET-72-0-0-0-0

> NetType: Direct Allocation

> NameServer: CNS1.SECURESERVER.NET

> NameServer: CNS2.SECURESERVER.NET

> NameServer: CNS3.SECURESERVER.NET

> Comment:

> RegDate: 2007-07-05

> Updated: 2008-01-18

>

> RAbuseHandle: ABUSE51-ARIN

> RAbuseName: Abuse Department

> RAbusePhone: +1-480-624-2505

> RAbuseEmail: abuse@godaddy.com

>

> RNOCHandle: NOC124-ARIN

> RNOCName: Network Operations Center

> RNOCPhone: +1-480-505-8809

> RNOCEmail: noc@godaddy.com

>

> RTechHandle: NOC124-ARIN

> RTechName: Network Operations Center

> RTechPhone: +1-480-505-8809

> RTechEmail: noc@godaddy.com

>

> OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE51-ARIN

> OrgAbuseName: Abuse Department

> OrgAbusePhone: +1-480-624-2505

> OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@godaddy.com

>

> OrgNOCHandle: NOC124-ARIN

> OrgNOCName: Network Operations Center

> OrgNOCPhone: +1-480-505-8809

> OrgNOCEmail: noc@godaddy.com

>

> OrgTechHandle: NOC124-ARIN

> OrgTechName: Network Operations Center

> OrgTechPhone: +1-480-505-8809

> OrgTechEmail: noc@godaddy.com

>

> And a traceroute showing the connectivity to QWest:

>

> White:~% traceroute 72.167.47.18

> traceroute to 72.167.47.18 (72.167.47.18), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets

> 1 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 1.274 ms 0.443 ms 0.436 ms

> 2 66.48.21.53 (66.48.21.53) 202.327 ms 59.330 ms 37.080 ms

> 3 242.atm4-0-0.hr1.tor2.alter.net (152.63.133.82) 24.140 ms

> 102.803 ms 63.750 ms

> 4 101.at-4-0-0.xt1.tor2.alter.net (152.63.128.130) 79.990 ms

> 44.196 ms 69.187 ms

> 5 0.so-6-1-3.xt1.chi2.alter.net (152.63.128.117) 111.625 ms

> 145.583 ms 108.148 ms

> 6 0.so-6-0-0.br1.chi2.alter.net (152.63.66.65) 129.496 ms 116.052

> ms 145.282 ms

> 7 204.255.169.46 (204.255.169.46) 90.967 ms 44.904 ms 126.331 ms

> 8 cer-core-02.inet.qwest.net (205.171.139.149) 118.652 ms 114.331

> ms 87.531 ms

> 9 phn-core-01.inet.qwest.net (67.14.19.30) 98.229 ms 151.561 ms 118.497 ms

> 10 scd-edge-01.inet.qwest.net (205.171.12.42) 141.181 ms 110.188 ms

> 88.745 ms

> 11 63.227.225.70 (63.227.225.70) 108.898 ms 87.223 ms 93.699 ms

> 12 ip-208-109-113-153.ip.secureserver.net (208.109.113.153) 81.492

> ms 114.415 ms 110.356 ms

> 13 ip-208-109-113-170.ip.secureserver.net (208.109.113.170) 85.576

> ms 91.388 ms 145.415 ms

> 14 ip-72-167-47-18.ip.secureserver.net (72.167.47.18) 85.411 ms

> !<10> 118.542 ms !<10> 102.595 ms !<10>

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Well now we have two bits of information that are conflicting. Bob is saying that he sees the host as being in China and Paul has information that he says indicates otherwise.

 

Can someone who is smarter than me (and there are a lot of you) figure out the real answer here?

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They got quite a few of mine, too! Not my best stuff, but pix of my family...I have got to get them out of there. Family should not be all over the 'net. They did not sign up for this crappola...neither did I! Is there a shorter url we can use? This is all very new to me, and extremely scary, not to mention disheartening. Guys...what's the best way to go at this point?
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The answer you need is here: log into your adsense account

https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=18386

 

I have used this in the past with good success with copied material. Hit them where it hurts i.e. their adsense account. Without a financial incentive, there is no reason for them to copy images and it doesn't matter where in the world they reside.

 

I have also filed a report through this.

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If you're going to display your photos on the Internet, and you do not register them with the U.S. Copyright Office (who can register all their work?), at least pay to register 2 or 3 which are displayed all the time.

 

Then if someone bulk downloads your images and starts using them you stand a much better chance of getting an attorney to take the case because of the much higher chance of recovering monetary damages, at least for the registered images.

 

If a few of these people got nailed for $300k per image it would certainly slow down this kind of infringement in the U.S.

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Daniel, that would work if the major issue was in the US but often online it is not the issue. I agree with you if work is important to you here in the US but in this case, removing their incentive through removing their adsense account is the best and in my experience the most effective move.
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The hostname of the server in question:

<BR><BR>

  pic.playcomet.com

<br><Br>

resolves to this IP address:

<br><Br>

  72.167.47.18

<br><br>

And a WHOIS look-up on that IP address (good ol' DNSSTUFF.COM) reports that it is owned by GoDaddy.com. So, this site IS indeed hosted here in the US, and GoDaddy.com happens to also be the registrar, and have the registrant's info hidden behind a proxy (which you can do for about $10/year).

<Br><br>

So, as has been mentioned above, it's off to GoDaddy.com with the take-down requests. This stuff is living on their servers. And those servers are in lovely downtown Scottsdale, AZ. Go, Daddies.

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I received this answer from Godaddy.com:

 

Dear Paul Stenquist,

 

Thank you for contacting the GoDaddy.com Spam and Abuse Department.

 

In order to ensure that your claims are dealt with in the most efficient manner possible, you will need to send your claim to CopyrightClaims@GoDaddy.com.

 

Please submit your copyright claim in accordance with all steps as outlined in our Copyright and Trademark Policy located at http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/legal_agreements/show_doc.asp?se=%2B&pageid=TRADMARK%5FCOPY. If all the policy conditions are met, and if we can verify that the material in question is indeed a registered and copyrighted work, then we will re-direct the site per the terms of this policy.

 

 

Regards,

Spam and Abuse Department

GoDaddy.com

ARID1003

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Sorry, don't mean to sound dumb, but most of these abbreviations are foreign to me...please, what does DMCA mean? Also, we've got several addresses and opinions as to what, where and how to get our pix back; who has used what, and what kind of response have you gotten? Which of the above do you think is THE most appropriate and effective way to approach these thieves? Daniel, you are so right...it's high time to register w/the copyright office! Thanks you all for your concern and help.
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Sorry, didnt mean to confuse anyone. DMCA is Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If you do a search online, you will find sample forms and how to send them. This applies to the US. I have had copyright material removed this way.

The other suggestion I had was to report them to Google adsense program (the ads they use to make money). The reason is that they can repeatedly violate copyright and change hosts etc requiring you to file new DMCA forms. An adsense account covers all websites held by the individual or company and prevents them from making money from the program no matter which host they use i.e. it removes the incentive to violate copyright. Yes they can try to apply to other company's ad programs but there are a lot fewer of those than website hosts.

 

I am not a lawyer so do not take this as legal advice but i have used this to good effect in the past.

I have filed a DMCA and a complaint with adsense.

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