August 15th, 2012

URGENT NOTICE- Pay attention.

From Here- http://elf.dreamwidth.org/641084.html


Friendblab social media plan: grab everyone else's users!
Friendblab is "an experiment in social media," which apparently means "we haz code but no users, so we're grabbing users from wherever we can scrape them."

More details by ruric here and ladyjax here, including a comment about how to file a DMCA takedown without giving out your legal name. Maybe. At least, you can use phrasing that says "I am the author or an authorized agent of the author" without directly identifying yourself.

My IJ is there along with my DW profile(so I'll be sending one of those takedowns soon), and it looks like possibly my entire f'list from IJ and DW. (And everyone else's; it looks like they picked several "key" targets and scraped all of their connections, and possibly those connections' connections, and so on.) Note: searching for names on their front page doesn't always work; to find out if you're there, find someone you recognize and expand the f'list on their profile.

Note: Friendblab may believe they're "just like an RSS feed." I have my doubts that that'd hold up in court--nor in complaints to their ISP. (Someone said GoDaddy. If Friendblab doesn't promptly remove content, feel free to take the DMCA notice up to the next level.) They have a terms of service with all the standard disclaimers... that don't apply to people whose content has been grabbed without permission. (I.e. friendblab says "Subscriber agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless FriendBlab...." and so on, but if you didn't sign up for their service, you're not held to that.)

They may claim that data itself is not copyrightable (in the US, this is true) and therefore the profile page isn't infringing. My profile pages include copyrighted images, and my interest lists are not just a list--they're lists created within certain technical restraints and arranged to be meaningful. (Meaningful arrangements within the limit of alphabetical order requires thought. Like many LJ/IJ/DW users, I've chosen and phrased interests with that limitation in mind.)



They managed to grab not only my InsaneJournal, but my friends only, noninclusion to search engines DreamWidth journal as well. Check for your accts. Somehow they are getting around the not to be included in search engine bit.

As for me, DMCAs have been sent for both accounts.

Another issue I have is that many of the icons on my IJ are from photos taken by me, as well as the photos from any public posts they might have swiped- they are definitely copyrighted and this site DID NOT have my permission to post them in any shape or form.

And this may in fact be a case of identity theft as well- To quote Elf- "Looks like ID theft, yes. Unless they make registered members' profiles and setups drastically different, they are indeed pretending that we're all voluntary members of the site, and using that fraudulently to convince other people to join ("see how big and active we are!") and to defame (or at least, insult) us by implying we support their business."

I did not sign up there, nor did I give them permission to make it appears as if I had.


Edited to add, 325pm EST- Response received from GoDaddy- though I understand some are getting emails stating that their DMCA notice was incomplete somehow, despite sending the same form letter I did.

Response follows-

Discussion Notes
Support Staff Response
Dear Sir Or Madam,

Your complaint has been forwarded to Go Daddy's Copyright Claims Department. PLEASE NOTE: All future communication regarding this complaint, or any future complaints, must be directed to CopyrightClaims@GoDaddy.com.

We have suspended the site in question pending a resolution of this matter. Please allow up to 30 minutes for these changes to take effect.

As a web hosting provider, it is not our position to act as the arbiter of intellectual property disputes, to judge who is right or wrong in a claim of infringement, or to determine who, if anyone, actually owns the content in question. We have provided the specifics of your infringement claim to the owner of the site, along with your contact information, since the most efficient resolution of this situation comes through direct communication between the two parties involved.

If the site owner indicates they are prepared to remove the infringing content, we will re-activate the hosting account in order to allow that to happen. If they complete a counter notification regarding the work(s) in question, according to our Copyright Infringement Policy, a copy of the counter notification will be sent to you. The site will then be re-activated 10 days following receipt of the counter notification by us unless we receive official notice that you have initiated court proceedings. If we do receive such official notice, the website will remain down according to the directions of the court(s) at that time.

If you have specific questions about the actions we have taken, please let us know.


Thank you,

Madeleine
Copyright Claims Department
GoDaddy.com
CopyrightClaims@GoDaddy.com



The site itself is currently unavailable. I have saved screenshots as well as links to followup on later.






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