Stealing Content Direct From Source; Beware

Jul 5, 2006 - 8:08 am 1 — by
Filed Under Spam

Sometimes people steal content and graphics and tools directly from a site, by including the include file. What this means is that if the original owner of the content changes it, the change will be reflected on the sites that stole it. This happens often with images, where people just call the image directly from your server, instead of putting a copy on their own server.

In a WebmasterWorld thread named I need help having fun with my competitor!, someone was bold (or dumb) enough to steal a flash file pulling it directly from the original source's site. So he asks other Webmasters for ideas on how to "have fun with" his competitor. Here are some of the ideas listed;

  • Change the ad to say, "this Guy steals, come over here to my site and get a 10% discount" and make it click over to your site.
  • "This site has closed, please visit yoursite if you would like to place an order"
  • Make a new banner that reads; This weeks special offer: 75% discount on all prices as listed in our shop! (A non-clickable banner of course) --- ha the phone calls
  • Automatically forward the browser to any URL you program it to
  • Make the flash take up the full screen and blink the "Blue Screen of Death."
  • In big red letters "DANGER! DO NOT BUY!" and any referring link from eBay gets shot to a hardcore porn site page with some nasty offensive images so people will be ticked off from the start and not bid on his/her stuff.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

 

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