Go Daddy!!!

That was fast!

It's been less than 12 hours (I went to sleep and woke up with it fixed - on a Sunday, no less!)

GoDaddy has a reputation in the industry for excellent and professional customer service. They are also one of the few ISP's with a proper and formal DMCA process that is fair to all parties. If you are an ISP (especially one based in the US) you should have some sort of process like this - it helps stop you from being held partially responsible for the stolen information (it's on your servers, after all).

The Blue Time Media website no longer resolves to anything (screenshot below).

I've found that ISP's are often faster to respond to DMCA complaints than search engines, which is why it's part of my DMCA Complaint process. Blue Time Media has the opportunity to respond, of course, though it's really clear that this is not a grey issue (my name is actually on the pages they stole, and every page has a copyright notification on it, so they can't claim independent development, public domain, or anything like that).

I would like to thank GoDaddy for their response, and to take this opportunity to recommend them to my readers. If you are an honest webmaster, they are a great host to have!

Since I offer (limited) hosting myself, I'm technically a competitor, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate professionalism and service when I see it. This is the second time I've dealt with an issue using GoDaddy. The first was not DMCA related - a client who hosted with them had some problems that were not GoDaddy's fault, but nonetheless the staff there solved for me quickly and efficiently.

Ian

Blue Time Media = Copyright Infringement!

UNBELIEVABLE!

It takes true gall (or true stupidity) to steal copyrighted materials from a lawyer. Especially one with a special interest in copyright law and the Internet.

The criminals of the day are Blue Time Media (bluetimemedia.com). I was doing a routine copyright search and found that these thieves had stolen my copyrighted text. Stupidly, they had even posted it and left in my company name by accident at one point! That same page also listed my icons at the bottom, including the "Calgary Chamber of Commerce", "SEO Consultants" and "SMA-NA Board Member" icons, as well as the claim to be AdWords Professionals.

I know I qualify for all those claims, but they certainly don't. I think those organizations should know about those claims, don't you?

The Evidence

http://www.bluetimemedia.com/advertising.htm compare to http://www.mcanerin.com/EN/SEO/

The banner at the bottom they stole is the one I used up until I got my Yahoo Ambassador qualification and updated it, so this was stole sometime in March, which matches the claims they made.

http://www.bluetimemedia.com/Marketing_Advertising.htm compare to http://www.mcanerin.com/.

This really makes me wonder who else's work they have stolen. Are those templates they selling to clients actually theirs to sell? When you start stealing, it's difficult to know where the thief stops.

So, What to Do About Blue Time Media?

Well, getting the word out, and making sure that any current and future potential clients they approach can do due diligence before working with them is a start. If a webmaster puts stolen media or copy on your site, you can be found liable. Personally, I would never work with anyone who I knew was dishonest, particularly over the Internet.

Second, launch Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notifications (DMCA) about Blue Time Media. Here are some sample DMCA templates:

Google DMCA - MS Word Document (32k)
MSN DMCA - MS Word Document (32k)
Yahoo DMCA - MS Word Document (32k)
ISP DMCA - MS Word Document (38k)

Then, of course, contacting their clients and warning them they may have illegal content on their sites placed by their webmaster would seem prudent.

Finally, a lawsuit is in order. I'll have to do that Monday.

Ian

Added: MSN, Yahoo, and GoDaddy all allow emailed notifications, which have been sent. I'll be mailing Google on Monday, along with going ahead with legal action.

US Search Engine Share 2006

Well, it's that time of the year again. Every year at around this time (SES San Jose) there are lots of announcements and research released on the search engine landscape. What got me thinking this time was research from Hitwise that announced that Google had finally surpassed the 60% market share mark.

Back when they were feeding Yahoo and MSN, this was an easy thing to do (they were in the 85% range), but since all three now offer their own search services, it's been almost a 3 way split for a while now, with Google in the lead, but MSN and Yahoo catching up fast. Ask usually stays constant, with a small but very loyal following.

Lately, Google has been gaining more and more against it's competitors, with Yahoo and MSN actually losing a bit, according to Hitwise. Well, now that's very interesting.

I've been noticing the increase on a working level, but I hadn't actually charted it formally since Oct of 2005. After doing so, the results, especially side by side using the same methodology, are interesting. The information comes from both the Hitwise statistics and other information sources (my own log sources from several different industries).

It's apparent that the market is maturing - the niche engines are dying out and the mindshare is spreading out. If I may make a prediction, I would say that Google will have 66% (2/3) of the market by this time next year, with Yahoo, MSN and Ask fighting it out for the remaining 1/3. I also predict that the "Other" category will be permanently relegated to the less than 1% range.

Do I think that this will be it? No.

I think that "Other" category, which currently does not count for much in traditional internet search, will bloom as specialized search and social tagging. which is not measured in this chart, but will be as soon as I can figure how to do so reliably.

That's a prediction, not a guarantee, but I'll be watching that space, and I think you should, too.

Anyway, here is the side by side comparison:

US Search Engine Share Landscape - 2006

US Search Engine Share Landscape - 2005

Ian