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Secrets to Success
Deborah Cole Micek
and John-Paul Micek
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Chasing down digital thieves
When you're out there in the new-media marketplace, working hard to grow your tribe, you're sharing a lot of valuable information. In some cases, it's free content you want passed along; however, you may have digital products that people pay for in order to access.
In either case, there are morons out there who will try to steal your content. Some of these mental midgets will pass along part (or all) of your work and take full credit for it. Then there are thieves who will try to steal your product by repackaging and selling YOUR digital products.
The first is copyright infringement -- intellectual theft. The second is online burglary. It's no different than stealing money out of your wallet.
Here are three easy ways to see if anyone is stealing your material:
» Google Alert: Once you set up your account and enter your key words for your product or company, Google will search the Web looking for your keywords and report back to you. (www.google.com/alerts)
» Copyscape.com: Excellent for finding sales copy, reports -- the exact duplicates of your written material. Copyscape's basic service is free while their premium service is at a very reasonable cost. (http://copyscape.com)
» eBay: If you are selling a digital product (an e-book, for example), others could be selling your product and reaping your profits. You can enter a search on eBay for your product. E-Bay's VeRO program will automatically update you with search results. (http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/programs-vero-ov.html)
E-Bay also has a bureau where you can register a complaint regarding the theft.
What do you do if you find somebody has stolen your material? You need to inform the individual or company that they must cease using your material or face legal action.
You can also inform that person's credit card processor. The credit-card processing company doesn't want to be held liable for processing stolen property. The best contact, however, is to go straight to the thief's ISP. Send the specific complaint to the ISP by certified mail, fax and e-mail. Here's a template for a letter to the ISP: http://tribalseduction.com/copyrightletter.php
If you don't know how to determine who the perp's ISP is, use this site: http://centralops.net/
Online theft and copyright infringement is something that we all deal with in new-media marketing. Protect yourself, take these basic steps and put them into action today. Or, have your assistant do the monitoring on a daily or weekly basis, and you'll be protected at least at a base level.
John-Paul Micek is the lead business coach at RPM Success Group Inc. Reach him at
JPM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.
Deborah Cole Micek, chief executive officer of RPM Success Group, is a business success coach and life strategist. Reach her at
DCM@RPMsuccess.com or toll-free at (888) 334-8151.