Oh, the horror!
Today is a day that will live in infamous infamy.
On my new blog (that I encourage all of you to go to it right now and subscribe to it immediately) I posted about a bold American Idol prediction. I was so jazzed that I went on my MySpace page and sent it out as a bulletin.
But lo and behold...
...45 minutes later I get a bulletin with the EXACT SAME TITLE. And when I read it, it had the exact same content with a couple of word changes and , of course, the thief's name as author.
It gets better.
When I confronted my "friend", he told me in a matter of words, "it's not copyrighted or anything. Besides I'm not a marketer, so it's not like I'm stepping on your toes."
Well...I informed him that my internet posts are, in fact, copyrighted the minute I put them up and they may not be redistributed without attribution. And I also gave him a crash course in ethics (as if he had any). Lastly, I demanded he remove the bulletin.
His response is priceless.
He deleted me as his friend. Not that I care, but as he probably knows, now I can't see if the plagiarizer took it down or not.
I just don't get it. In this world of Web 2.0 and sharing, you'd think this kind of thing wouldn't happen. But I guess some people are just desperate for original thoughts.
Of course, if he doesn't respond to me anymore, I just might point all of you to his profile so you can "have a word with him" about stealing other people's intellectual property.
Success always,
Carlon
www.BraveNewMarketing.com
Join me on MySpace
About Me
- Carlon Haas
- Carlon Haas is the author of Don't Step in the Poop, a personal development blog that goes beyond the usual drivel about thinking happy thoughts, secret vibration power, or other poop like that. http://dontstepinthepoop.com
2 comments:
Carlon-
When you write interesting stuff, others will steal it. Not right, but it happens!
Your story is a perfect example of my complaint about virtual networks in the Web 2.0 world. We "link" to people on LinkedIn or MySpace and call them our "friends"...but a real friendship is built over time and involves multiple shared experiences.
Many folks we link to we do not really "know" (I am assuming this person is that type of friend and not someone you personally interact with regularly...I hope!), thus we have no idea what they are really like as a person.
I have had a similar experience, and I just try to see it as a compliment that they copied me.
thom
Hang on, while I step up on my soap box. There. much better.
"Attention People of Planet Earth! Your actions should meet the same ethical standards on the Internet/Web 2.0 that they meet in the "real" world. Your parents taught you not to steal or lie in the real world. The same applies on the Web.
It is wrong to plaigierize in both worlds. It is wrong to insult people in both worlds. It is especially wrong to insult people on the Web when you don't have the courage to say it to them in person."
Now, would someone help me down from this box?
Post a Comment