Hi' can anybody here please give me some advice.

One of the wesites I run has been ripped off by some other lowlife site (they just copied my html)

I did a whois on the site and the nameservers were NS1.MEGAGIGA.COM & NS2.MEGAGIGA.COM

I sent a complaint to megegiga.com and it would appear it was forwarded to admin@***************

admin@*************** then forwarded my complaint back to the owner of the site I was complaining about, the owner of the site then mailed me back (answering his own complaint) and told me it was legal to copy other peoples HTML .... yeah right :(

I mailed admin@*************** and told them that they had forwarded my complaint to the webmaster I was actually complaining about, after reviewing the case they agreed that the site they were hosting was indeed breaking the law and sent them a 24 hour notice to remove my content or they would close his site.

5 days later and they are STILL hosting the site that has stolen my content and have since ignored my mails complaining about this.

I should point out that the owner of the site I complained about owns a string of adult paysites and freehosts (52 in total) and apparently has an income of 1.2 million a month, I guess *************** don't want to upset him.

Who do I complain to about *************** , they are knowingly hosting stolen content and refuse to do anything about it.
Regards Steve

Hmmm seems they are banned here too :)

*s*e*x*p*l*a*n*e*t*s

Anybody know how to find their upstream provider so I can send them a complaint.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Try abuse@hostcentric.com and good luck :eek:

So wait, does that mean that your website is an adult site?

If it is, then chances are that it's a profitable and popular one if another webmaster has found it and stolen HTML. He is liable for any damages to you, and is also required by law to pay you his profits.

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#504

How much was, infact, copied?

Originally posted by anon-e-mouse
Try abuse@hostcentric.com and good luck :eek:

Thanks for the link :)

I'm not quite sure what it has to do with sex*planets.com but I'm looking into it.

Originally posted by Trollger
How much was, infact, copied?

Quite a large chunk of my main page has been copied and placed inside a different HTML table.

The site is quite new and gets about 4,000 hits a day (that's not many in terms of adult traffic) and I'm not really seeking any type of compensation I just want my stolen work removed.

The webmaster who stole my work e-mailed me laughing because my attempts to have his site removed had failed (that was right after he had intercepted my complaint mail and answered it himself)

This whole thing sux, sex*planets.com is knowingly hosting stolen content, ordinarily you would just complain to the webhost about stolen content but when the webhost itself refuses to take action!!!

Go to xbiz.com and gfy and start exposing him by naming his site and your stuff he stole that is the only real resort is to shame him into taking it down.

If he has lots of porn sites some of them being hosts then how do you know he doesn't own and run sex*planets ?

Just a thought
Max

Originally posted by arpmn
Go to xbiz.com and gfy and start exposing him by naming his site and your stuff he stole that is the only real resort is to shame him into taking it down.

I'm curious, considering the kind of sites your talking about how could you appeal to their shame?? There doesn't seem to be a great deal of interest in not ripping of peoples content (much less their bodies) for profit in this industry so why the surprise and horror??

What does the content of the site have to do with anything? I know of a lot more non adult sites that have been ripped than adult ones.

Originally posted by blue27
What does the content of the site have to do with anything? I know of a lot more non adult sites that have been ripped than adult ones.

but of course the point (at the moment) is not content. But if its copyright then its fairly well known that the industry has a lot of ripping of in it. Hence why the surprise?? Or do you think that the perpetrator here (that ripped off the site design) pays close attention to the copyright of the images he uses in the site? if not how would you shame him to change??

Originally posted by Yoman
I'm curious, considering the kind of sites your talking about how could you appeal to their shame?? There doesn't seem to be a great deal of interest in not ripping of peoples content (much less their bodies) for profit in this industry so why the surprise and horror??
Hmmmmm :o

Not everybody in the adult business is some kind if rip off artist, most are perfectly respectable law abiding people, it is the minority that gives the majority a bad name.

But yes I probably will end up posting this to GFY and similar places, you would be surprised just how many people will refuse to deal with known crooks.

I'm no genius when it comes to the workings of the internet but it looks like anon-e-mouse was right with hostcentric.com being the host for sex*planets.com & megagiga.com so I will send them a mail with all the info and see if they can sort it out.

Thanks for the help its appreciated :)

Originally posted by Yoman
but of course the point (at the moment) is not content. But if its copyright then its fairly well known that the industry has a lot of ripping of in it. Hence why the surprise?? Or do you think that the perpetrator here (that ripped off the site design) pays close attention to the copyright of the images he uses in the site? if not how would you shame him to change?? I have seen MANY sites closed down just for using non licensed thumbnails on their site, my case smells of FISH especially considering the fact that sex*planets forwarded my complaint to the owner (at a completely different domain)

Steve, have you asked a lawyer to send an official C&D order to them?

Originally posted by blue27
Steve, have you asked a lawyer to send an official C&D order to them?
I wish I had that kind of money to throw around :)

I guess that's one reason why the webmaster who stole my page (earns 1.2 million dollars a month) and the webhost thinks they can walk all over me.

For what its worth over time I will get my own back, every single chance I get to sling mud in their direction I will.

Even posting for advice here will have further damaged their reputation, hopefully hostcentric.com will play the game according to the law and not $$$

Just for the entertainment value have a read of the following e-mails

When I sent the complaint to sex*planets.com they forwarded my complaint to another freehost (the freehost also OWNS the site I'm complaining about) and this was their official reply.

--------------------------------------------------------
Sorry, we don't see any violations of Copyrights.
It's not illegal do link Free Forum Links.
All thoose links can found at the ForumHoster.
It's also not illegal to copy and paste a html code from other sites if
there are no hotlinking or image abuse.
We can't see anything like that in your case.
By the way - http://www.******.org/ has been one of our best business partners
in the past, so we won't for sure close down This Site.

Sorry we can't help you,

Best regards
--------------------------------------------------------

Once he had sent me that e-mail as a reply to my complaint he then sent me another separate mail to my hotmail account.

--------------------------------------------------------
Huuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh :):):) I'm Still here :):):) .... but I'm really scared, becaurse you will bring my site down ! .......... LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL You must be the InternetGOD, everyone Told me about you :):):) LOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL uahhhhhhhhh - well this is real funny and you know why ??? Becaurse you can't do nothing ...and you know that :):)
--------------------------------------------------------

As you can see I'm not dealing with rational people.

As you can see I'm not dealing with rational people. Nor are the people you're dealing with....and I base it on the following statement you made....

For what its worth over time I will get my own back, every single chance I get to sling mud in their direction I will. Even posting for advice here will have further damaged their reputation, I fail to understand how posting here has impacted their reputation with their customers at all.

As to your problem with them stealing the content, what real damage have they done to you? How have you been harmed? You might well be in the right, but I don't see the damages.

Last, you are dwelling in the underbelly of the internet, mucking around in an industry which at best has questionable morals and ethics. That being the case, why does this surprise you? Furthermore, from your threats in your last post, it looks like you will fit right in.

As to the actual material alledged to have been stolen, none of us can reasonably pass judgement on what has or hasn't been done unless we were to see the sites to compare. On that, I shall pass.

Originally posted by blue27
What does the content of the site have to do with anything? I know of a lot more non adult sites that have been ripped than adult ones.
Right ripping is ripping and just as people at wht get pissed when someone rips a site and they start a mini campaign of sending emails and spreading the word same concept happens when it's adult material. The horror and shock isn't that the rip occured the goal is to expose a theif and get him to take down the stolen material. Just as I've seen wht people start making waves and then the rippers bring down their site I've also seen it happen at xbiz. So he shouldn't let him get away with it tell everyone the domain name the whois and tell everyone this guy is a thief and then maybe with enough pressure of he will take down the stolen material since the host doesn't seem to care.

Originally posted by Incognito
Nor are the people you're dealing with....and I base it on the following statement you made....

I fail to understand how posting here has impacted their reputation with their customers at all.

As to your problem with them stealing the content, what real damage have they done to you? How have you been harmed? You might well be in the right, but I don't see the damages.

Last, you are dwelling in the underbelly of the internet, mucking around in an industry which at best has questionable morals and ethics. That being the case, why does this surprise you? Furthermore, from your threats in your last post, it looks like you will fit right in.

As to the actual material alledged to have been stolen, none of us can reasonably pass judgement on what has or hasn't been done unless we were to see the sites to compare. On that, I shall pass.

I can tell you do like to pass "judgment" (even though you can't spell it)! There are just as many shady characters and shoddy hosting companies ripping people off in this industry as in any. Adult entertainment is legal and just because its against your morals doesn't make it ok for people to steal content.

Originally posted by arpmn
I can tell you do like to pass "judgment" (even though you can't spell it)!

Merriam-Webster Online: (www.m-w.com)

Main Entry: judg·ment
Variant(s): or judge·ment /'j&j-m&nt/
Function: noun

Last, you are dwelling in the underbelly of the internet

Your opinions about the content of a site shouldn't cloud the fact that there was a theft of copyright material. You should be above that.
People here at WHT are so quick to jump all over a site rip of a conventional site, even when 9 times out of 10 it's a template, but suddenly it's an adult site and it's their fault because of the content they choose to host. Talk about a double standard.

As you can see I'm not dealing with rational people.

It sounds like you are dealing with minors here and should do what you can to expose them. Good luck.

Originally posted by Incognito
Nor are the people you're dealing with....and I base it on the following statement you made....

I fail to understand how posting here has impacted their reputation with their customers at all.

As to your problem with them stealing the content, what real damage have they done to you? How have you been harmed? You might well be in the right, but I don't see the damages.

Last, you are dwelling in the underbelly of the internet, mucking around in an industry which at best has questionable morals and ethics. That being the case, why does this surprise you? Furthermore, from your threats in your last post, it looks like you will fit right in.

As to the actual material alledged to have been stolen, none of us can reasonably pass judgement on what has or hasn't been done unless we were to see the sites to compare. On that, I shall pass.

You call my behavior irrational because I would like revenge!

You ask what damage it does me personally? Give me the links to some of your sites and I will duplicate the pages on my own domains so you can watch your Google PR drop like a brick, ever heard of page jacking? (get a clue)

As for your remarks regarding the seedy underhand nature of porn, its the oldest profession in the world and I don't force people to come to my sites they seek me out.

I am an honest webmaster, I am the victim and as far as I'm concerned I have every right to complain about the way I have been treated regardless of what type of site I run.

Originally posted by arpmn
There are just as many shady characters and shoddy hosting companies ripping people off in this industry as in any. Adult entertainment is legal and just because its against your morals doesn't make it ok for people to steal content.

I seriously doubt that (unless you don't think the people behind the images never get ripped off or aren't shady or both) but you are correct it is legal thats why it could be pursued in a court or in a legal fashion.

Those of us who can't muster up a whole lot of outrage do so because we have no idea (and don't want to find out) if what we're talking about here is legally copyrighted anyway. Besides, outrage should be reserved for morally wrong issues and its hard to get going on that when you're exploiting the bad judgement of women and men (many of them still in their teens or early adulthood) who wish they could make the decision to have their personal images back.

outrage should be reserved for morally wrong issues

So are you saying that stealing someone's copyright material isn't morally wrong.

Originally posted by blue27
So are you saying that stealing someone's copyright material isn't morally wrong.

Nope, made it perfectly clear. I have no idea whether it is copyrighted material or not. I do however have a strong reason to believe that the "material" on both sites violates someones present wish for privacy and making a buck off that kind of "material" IS morally wrong. but do you really want to talk morality? I think its better as a legal argument.

I find it incredible the way the content of my sites has blurred the visions of some people as to what is right and what is wrong.

Porn is legal, deal with it.

Theft of copyrighted material is illegal, I expect to be treated the same as anybody else.

As for the beliefs that all adult webmasters are low down canniving individuals feel free to mail me and I will post you a link to my sites, you won't find a single popup fake link or dialer, you will find well over a gig of free content , 10,000+ free pictures and many galleries with over 100 pix each.

Not all adult webmasters are bad people I simply provide an honest service for people seeking adult entertainment, if a surfer lands up on one of my sites they are VERY lucky.

Originally posted by Steve S
feel free to mail me and I will post you a link to my sites, .

Since no one has questioned the quantity of porn at your site and you know full well that those who so far have raised reservations about your plight have no interest in visiting your site it is obvious that you are now attempting to advertise your site plain and simple. (is that the real reason for this thread? getting alot of emails?)

Spare us if we find it hard to believe that most adult sites have double and triple checked the copyright of these tens of thousands of images and checked each license (if they exist) on their use. But please most of all spare us another attempt at advertising

I do however have a strong reason to believe that the "material" on both sites violates someones present wish for privacy

And what are your reasons?

but do you really want to talk morality?

You were the one who brought up the morality issue.

Since the original reason for the thread was to find out how to lodge a complaint against a company who was stealing content and you don't seem to have anything to offer Yoman, maybe you should leave this thread to the people who are trying to offer some help and restrict your pornography issues to another thread.

Originally posted by Yoman
Since no one has questioned the quantity of porn at your site and you know full well that those who so far have raised reservations about your plight have no interest in visiting your site it is obvious that you are now attempting to advertise your site plain and simple. (is that the real reason for this thread? getting alot of emails?)

Spare us if we find it hard to believe that most adult sites have double and triple checked the copyright of these tens of thousands of images and checked each license (if they exist) on their use. But please most of all spare us another attempt at advertising

Yoman I was not the one who started the debates as to the morality of my sites and have done little more than defend my position as being an honest person.

If you can find a SINGLE image on ANY of my sites that I don't hold a site license for I will give you the domain, I am not a thief or a crook I take copyright issues very seriously.

And you think I post here for traffic!!!!!!!!!!! your kidding me right?
Of my own free will I send around 1,000,000 hits (for free) to other peoples sites every single month, if every single person on this forum were to visit my site you wouldn't even show up in my webstats.

Give me a break.

Yoman after reading this whole thread again to see where it turned into a morality issue I see it was YOU that started it.

You comments only prove to those in the know that you are clueless and should keep your uninformed oppinions to yourself.

Originally posted by blue27
Since the original reason for the thread was to find out how to lodge a complaint against a company who was stealing content and you don't seem to have anything to offer Yoman, maybe you should leave this thread to the people who are trying to offer some help and restrict your pornography issues to another thread.

Actually theres been little by way of how to file a complaint. There was a mention of shaming the alleged perpetrator into removal Which I thought was and has proven to be useless. Every webmaster has the issue of design theft to look at so it is of interest to me.

There does however come a point when threads like this become "how could they do this to me?" which is an appeal for sympathy. Given the nature of the site there will always be less sympathy. Get over it. but you are right in one sense it is more functional to discuss concrete ways for webmasters to combat theft (whether this one was real or not). Does anyone have any other concrete suggestions?

if not we can just close out the thread because its had a few violations already.

if not we can just close out the thread because its had a few violations already

Since most of the violations are yours maybe they could leave the thread open and just delete your input.

Originally posted by blue27
Since most of the violations are yours maybe they could leave the thread open and just delete your input.

Lets see.... bypassing the board filters by using asterisks, putting up what to anyone would appear as ad copy and inviting them to email you, stating that anyone who comes to your site would be lucky. as compared to my backing up a view stated by someone else that the industry invites certain problems.... sorry you might not like it but thats not a violation whereas the first three are.

Alas Blue, if only you were a moderator........

Originally posted by Yoman
Lets see.... bypassing the board filters by using asterisks, putting up what to anyone would appear as ad copy and inviting them to email you, stating that anyone who comes to your site would be lucky. as compared to my backing up a view stated by someone else that the industry invites certain problems.... sorry you might not like it but thats not a violation whereas the first three are.

Alas Blue, if only you were a moderator........

You just don't give up do you, your almost as bad as the webmaster and host I'm complaining about.

Of course I had to use *** to display the domain name how else was I supposed to let people know the host I'm complaining about, I would guess that domains are banned to prevent spamming of url's but the way they were used was hardly promoting them for the good.

You would have it that I came here to advertise my site but the truth is I was drawn into a defensive conversation regarding the ethics of my site, your claims that I want traffic from this forum to my sites are absurd it may well be worth it weight in gold if you run a webhost but to a porn site it would just be a waste of bandwidth.

I guess everybody here who uses this forum can be thankful that your not a moderator and based on his impartiality blue27 would get my vote over you any day of the week and probably so would most other people who have read this thread.

When you sober up just read the whole thing again and you will realize what a dumb ass you've made yourself look.

I'm out of here folks I only came here because I couldn't figure out who hosted megagiga.com but now I know.

Peace all ... Steve