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How I handle RSS theft (part one)

6/14/2005

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A number of people have asked me how I handle folks lifting our RSS Feeds and putting advertising against them. The first step I take is sending an email like the one below letting people know what we allow and what we don’t allow. I always CC our legal counsel and include a screen shot.

If I can find the email address from WHOIS I try info@, sales@, and webmaster@. Those seem to get picked up by someone.

If I don’t get a response within 24 hours I send a second email with “Second Copyright Notice,” and then a third after that point. If that doesn’t work I escalate to the advertisers, ad networks, and ISP.

99% of the time I get a response within the first three emails.

In this case, someone is doing an advertising supported RSS reader which is a huge infringement and something Bloglines, My Yahoo, and Newsgator don’tand neverwould do without permission from the publisher of the feed in advance. If you’re full RSS feed can be viewed at www.webloghub.com and they put advertising against it I highly recommend you send a them a note.


To: info@webloghub.com, webmaster@webloghub.com, sales@webloghub.com
Cc: legal <at> weblogsinc.com
Date: Jun 14, 2005 11:18 AM
Subject: Copyright Notice: Weblogs, Inc. content on Webloghub.com.

Dear Webloghub.com,

Please remove all copyrighted Weblogs, Inc. content (including stories from www.engadget.com) from the following URL: http://www.webloghub.com.

If you would like to use an excerpt of our content in the form of the headlines and the first 25 words of a blog post that is fine provided: (a) the content is not edited, and (b) the headline is linked back to the original story.

We do not allow people to republish our entire stories and put advertising around it (as you have in the attached image)even if you are providing an RSS reader service. Our full-feeds are provided for end-user, non-commercial use only.

If you have questions please call me at 310-828-8284.

Please let me know when our feeds have been removed or you’ve moved to an excerpt format.

best regards,

Jason McCabe Calacanis
CEO, Weblogs, Inc.
310-828-8284

webloghub

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Hello, my name is Jason. Welcome to my blog on the interwebs. You can reach me on twitter @jason and by email at jason@calacanis.com. My Skype is jasoncalacanis, and my mobile phone is 310-456-4900.

I only pick up numbers I recognize, and in terms of emailing me, the best strategy is to write short, blunt and to the point requests. I can quickly respond to short messages, and many times I simply don't have the time to read five page pitches. In terms of taking meetings, I only do that after reviewing an actual product (not a business plan). So, the best time to ping me is when you have mockups or an alpha site. I don't read business plans, and I've never written one.

Other twitter accounts you can follow: Video Games, Open Angel Forum, and LAUNCH Conference & Newsletter

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