reprint

Lavern, it was moved to pic1.playcomet.com. By moving ip however they are now out of the search engines so they should be hurting for traffic.

they changed IP. I filed another DMCA since it only takes 2 seconds. The better way longer term is to fax a complaint to google adsense as above. Then they cant make money from our photos no matter what their ip.

The site is down because photo.net members served them notice of violation of copyright. GoDaddy took the site down. I know it is a long thread but all the info is there.

As for the website, it has about 38,000 page views a month so they probably were making some money from our photos.

I also received the notice of suspension of the site from GoDaddy. Hopefully people understand the steps that can be taken. It wont always be successful but sometimes it is. You have to decide if it is worth the effort.

Prevention of theft is another story and one that does not have a good remedy. Disabling right click affects critiques and the odd copy made by people who do not know better but it wont stop people like we encountered here at all.

You can reduce the size of the photo you up load but often this doesn't dissuade thieves unless they are printing your material.

Watermarking can help you trace your image but it doesn't stop people copying. I believe someone said their watermarked photo was copied along with the rest here.

Registering with the Library of Congress allows you to claim major damages. If you are a pro or have valuable photos, registering them allows you to pursue the offenders for damages in court.

In summary you can take action if you like against blatant violators as seen here. In the end though, it shouldn't stop you enjoying your hobby or profession.

FYI, I got a reply from Google Adsense asking me to file a DMCA by fax or by mail, not by email. The draft I put above of a DMCA fulfills their criteria.

 

Send the written communication to the following address:

 

Google, Inc.

Attn: AdSense Support, DMCA complaints

1600 Amphitheatre Parkway

Mountain View CA 94043

 

OR Fax to:

 

(650) 618-8507, Attn: AdSense Support, DMCA complaints

Michel: For Google follow Bobs instructions in this thread. Look for the post above marked Bob Atkins Feb 09, 2008; 01:56 p.m.

 

For GoDaddy:

File a DMCA at CopyrightClaims@godaddy.com. It should include the following. Replace capitals with your info.

 

NAME ADDRESS DATE.

 

GoDaddy.com, Inc

14455 N. Hayden Rd.

Suite 219

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

1. The copyrighted work at issue is the photo that appears on http://pic.playcomet.com/EXACT ADDRESS

 

2. A public WHOIS resolves playcomet.com to be hosted at GoDaddy.com as shown at http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIsVerify.aspx?domain=playcomet.com&prog_id=godaddy

 

3. My Contact Information: YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

 

4. Infringer?s Contact Information:

Administrative Contact:

Private, Registration PLAYCOMET.COM@domainsbyproxy.com

Domains by Proxy, Inc.

DomainsByProxy.com

15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353

Scottsdale, Arizona 85260

United States

(480) 624-2599 Fax -- (480) 624-2599

 

 

5. I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

 

6. I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

 

Sincerely,

 

YOUR NAME

 

NAME EMAIL ADDRESS PHONE NUMBER

 

Email that and you are done.

Joshua,

Typing your name is your electronic signature.

I am a little concerned about how people are reacting. Posting on the web entails a risk of being copied. Crossing the street entails a risk of getting run over but the benefits outweigh the risks.

For me the benefits of posting an image on photo.net or elsewhere outweigh the risks.

Simple steps can be taken as were outlined here and hopefully that will remedy the situation. However my life will go on as normal and i will continue to post.

The expense and inconvenience of watermarking etc is not worth it.

I see this thread as an education on how to file a complaint, not as a warning and I certainly won't stop posting and learning.

For those who don't report it, don't worry. Plenty of others are and if we get a result, thats great. If we don't, then thats how it goes but life shouldn't stop for this.

Allowing this or other copyright violators to spoil your enjoyment is allowing them to control your life and enjoyment of your hobby.

Bob,

 

GoDaddy's business address is 14455 N. Hayden Rd.Suite 219 Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Domains by proxy is 15111 N Hayden Rd, Scottsdale, AZ ( a block away)

Wild west domains address is 14455 N Hayden Rd # 219, Scottsdale, AZ

The place to start is definitely GoDaddy.

Pete, No. If they used your photo without your permission, then its a copyright violation. There are a few exceptions but none of them apply here

Juergen, Matt is right. The information provided at the link is required to be in their policy by the DMCA. Those steps are a DMCA filing exactly - no registration of photos needed.

Godaddy is the place to start and if they determine that they are not the host, they will say so in response to the filings.

The only part i am unsure of is the anonymous registration i.e. domainbyproxy. I am not sure if they are required to reveal the registrants details.

If it does turn out to be hosted in china, then Bob is right. There is often little that can be done. Google adsense would be the fall back position though it can take time. If enough people file though it might catch their attention.

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.

If anyone plans to contact GoDaddy, file a DMCA as most registrars and hosts require that. Cease and desist rarely works with them and are used to warn the original violator, not the host.

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.

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.

A couple more.

People who ask...

Why is my photo of a wonderful sunset behind a flower with a bug on it not on the TRP immediately?

People who commment...

Nice photo, bye

 

great thread

Josh,

 

Walter has a legitimate complaint. Accessibility for the visually impaired is a big issue in the U.S. at the moment. Target is being sued by the National Federation of the Blind and a Californian judge has ruled to allow a class action suit to proceed for their failure to render their website correctly for visually impaired people. While this is under California law, it may well extend to all of the U.S.

 

"but this is something like complaining to the screwdriver company that their tool broke when you tried to use it to hammer nails"

 

This is just not true. A web page should be accessible to visually impaired people and it is probably only a matter of time before that becomes law. I notice none of the pages on the site validate in W3C and while i know you inherited a lot of what you have, as you update, you need to take people like Walter into account when coding. What Walter is trying to do is find a workaround for badly coded pages. It would be good for you to read the W3C accessibility guidelines.

 

Having said that, I appreciate the work you are putting in and all the things that need to be fixed and upgraded. I just don't think Walter's problem can be classified as a misused tool.

To save Josh a post, the upgrade was never done.

 

Josh Rootphoto.net hero photo.net patron, Aug 31, 2007; 03:47 a.m.

Response to Photo.net will be 'read only' for 8 hours starting tonight...

 

Bob is right. a drive failure caused the whole thing to have to be aborted.

 

Jin and the other programmers are working on it. But I don't really have a solid timeline for when we will be back on track.

Patrick,

 

www.anysite.com versus anysite.com are always two different addresses. It hasn't anything to do with google. The usual practice is to 301 redirect from the one you don't want to the one you do. Google also allows you to set your preferred domain in its webmaster tools but thats just for google not any other search engine or any "type in"s so thats why 301 redirect is needed.

The google webmaster tools preferred domain setting may be set to the non-www address or not set at all. A simple redirect can be used to the preferred login address. A www and non-www are always seen as two separate addresses.

 

Nice job on the speed of the site and new layout. I am not sure its a good idea to be doing live testing on the community though. Gathering a group of testers from the community might be a better idea and then roll it out. You would have caught a lot of the issues I have seen posted here.

 

I know revenue from ads is important to you but i am seeing some unusual ad placement and formats. I am not sure who is advising you but you should try more conventional ad size and placement first.

 

Good luck with the project.

I think i figured out the problem. Apparently website filtering software has just been applied in work. Why it would select out the thumbs from that view i am not sure but the other url you posted i got blocked from viewing completely. Big brother is here. Thanks for your help.

The user gallery of photos show up for me with a red x in them. I can still

click on them to get to the photo. Example http://www.photo.net/photos/reprint

This happens for me with other users too. Anyone else having this problem?

 

thanks

 

Barry

Here is an interesting article that includes information on retinal damage and observing the sun.

http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/021204/text/eye-safety.html

A quick search of PubMed using "Solar retinopathy" yielded 110 papers some of which are case reports. I didnt see any that specifically referred to camera lenses but I didnt read each paper. One that caught my eye had this quote "Sun-gazing is the main cause of solar retinopathy. A 20-year-old inebriated man lying in a park gazed at the sun for approximately three hours at noon. Forty-eight hours after sun-gazing, the patient experienced the symptoms of blurred vision, erythropsia, and central scotoma in the left eye."

A warning to those who drink and photograph ;)

Douglas, one minor correction. I think you mean the Eos 20D not the 20Da. The 20Da is for astrophotography. Nothing like reaching to the stars.

Ok. since its my hometown i feel the need to say something. Dublin has a compact city centre therefore you are best walking around so comfortable shoes,clothes, rain gear and minimum photo gear. If you are taking indoor shots e.g. old pubs, historic buildings, you will need good low light capability and you may not always be able/allowed to use flash. As with any big city, bring your street smarts. Many many places to see. St Stephens Green/Grafton St/ Temple Bar - lots of people. St. Michans church - where handel play messiah for first time - crypts with preserved bodies underneath - plan this in advance. Dublin castle, national museum of ireland (bogmen, goldwork), DART (light rail) to howth or bray if weather is good. Daytrip to Newgrange (prehistoric burial ground predates pyramids). Pint of guinness at guinness brewery (essential). Book of Kells in Trinity college. Irish tourist board http://www.ireland.ie/. Go to St. andrews church which is now a tourist office. Lots of guides there and you can book tours. I could go on forever but i will leave it at that. Have fun. Go n'eiri an bothair leat.