[thelist] Site Copycat (Special Circumstances Involved)

Debbe Watson debbe1 at swbell.net
Fri Jun 20 17:45:09 CDT 2003


Gosh, my keyboard must need cleaning.  Half the letters I typed in this
first response are missing.

I meant to say discrediting here << I wouldn't go so far as to knock or
deface his sites, cuz really and truly it is your work and you would be
discreating your work.>>

And here should have said It will <<  I will all come out in the wash.
The best thing is to do nothing.  Really absolutely nothing!  No help,
no support, nadda.>>

-----Original Message-----
From: thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org
[mailto:thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org] On Behalf Of Debbe Watson
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 5:24 PM
To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
Subject: RE: [thelist] Site Copycat (Special Circumstances Involved)

My suggestion would be just to stop helping him... Period!  No more code
or support.  Eventually he will run up against changes that will have to
made or a client wanting more than he can handle and he is history.

I wouldn't go so far as to knock or deface his sites, cuz really and
truly it is your work and you would be discreating your work.  I would
place a disclaimer in small print on my own website possibly warning
clients and expressing your concerning of other developers copying your
material...but don't name names.

I will all come out in the wash.  The best thing is to do nothing.
Really absolutely nothing!  No help, no support, nadda.

The message will come across loud and clear.

Just my 2cents.

debbe

-----Original Message-----
From: thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org
[mailto:thelist-bounces at lists.evolt.org] On Behalf Of David Bindel
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 5:04 PM
To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
Subject: [thelist] Site Copycat (Special Circumstances Involved)

Hello thelisters,

I know that this topic comes up here every now and then, and it can
sometimes be annoying and get off-topic, but I believe my case is a
little bit out of the ordinary as far as site copying goes, so if you
will, please hear me out (and respond if you have any advice!)

My site (www.DavidBindel.com) has been copied by Kevin Naia
(www.KevinNaia.com), a friend of mine.

At first, I was trying to teach him how to use CSS, and I told him it
would be OK if he used the same general layout from my site and changed
certain aspects of it so it would not look like mine.  I worked with him
some trying to get it looking dissimilar to mine.

Then he decided to copy all the content from my website as well, as you
can clearly see on all the pages of "his" site.  In a few places he has
changed the wording slightly, but from reading most of the text you can
see that it is generally precisely the same.  I've talked to him about
changing all the text on his site to something *original* that he wrote,
but that has worked to no avail.

So what is so unusual about this?  Well, he's 12.  And he knows (next
to) nothing as far as web design/development go.  He has made a single
website for a client (www.greatlakehosting.com), and it is very obvious
that the design was copied from not only my website, but also a design
that I had made to demonstrate to a potential client
(http://customleader.davidbindel.com).

A few people have told me that "imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery", but the big problem is that he does not how CSS or PHP works,
so whenever he gets a new project he comes running to me for help
because he has no idea where to begin.   Then he copies what I have
done, calls it his own, and gets money for it.  He's pretending to be
what he is not, and eventually it will catch him when he is unable to do
what a client has asked for (without my help).

I'm a supermoderator on the Evrsoft Developers Forum, and I posted a
message regarding this at
http://developers.evrsoft.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=10138#post1
0138 (watch for the wrap).

Should I contact his hosting company about this blatant copying of my
work? (we are hosted by the same company)
Should I threaten him with legal action? (just threats, no action - I'm
16 can't afford a lawyer; he's 12)
Should I link to my "fan sites" from my website?
Should I deface his website? ;-)
Should I contact his clients and tell them that their website is
actually a copy?

What else can I do?

Thanks,
David Bindel

-- 
    David I. Bindel
  Website Development
 dbindel at austin.rr.com
  www.davidbindel.com 

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-- 
* * Please support the community that supports you.  * *
http://evolt.org/help_support_evolt/

Evolt.org conference in London, July 25-27 2003.  Register today at
http://evolt.org.uk

For unsubscribe and other options, including the Tip Harvester 
and archives of thelist go to: http://lists.evolt.org 
Workers of the Web, evolt ! 



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