Yeah I wonder if it looks at the usernames?
When I posted there was Rottweiller Wallpaper, Rottweiler Training, and two other rottweiller ads. Now I see those two plus American Pit Bull, and Fine Art Dog Portraits (WTF?)
This isn’t going to be easy. The website is run by an organization called Beers for Engineers, apparently a social group in CA. There’s no contact info on the site. I called the one phone number I saw; turned out to be a tavern where they met at least once, but apparently they didn’t announce themselves - the owner never heard of them. I’m pursuing one other angle, but if anybody has heard of these guys or can find anything out about them, let me know. Please DON’T make any contact with them yourself; I’ll handle that. Thanks.
You ain’t kidding. I tried to look up the Whois info on that site–but there isn’t any. This page may be of some help–possibly one of the other sites sharing this server can provide some additional information. It’s entirely possible that all three are run by the same person(s). There is Whois information available for that URL: I found it here.
Innocent question. If a website (say the Beers for Engineers) attributes the column to Cecil, and even provides a link to the Straight Dope front page, isn’t that kosher? Like quoting and attributing something to the NY Times on these boards. Seems more like free advertising than stealing.
No. Under the rules of Fair Use, it is acceptable to copy and/or republish a small, relevant portion of an article for use in one’s own works and provide proper attribution. However, republishing an article in its entirely without the copyright-holder’s express permission, even with proper attribution, is not allowed.
They have to get permission, which they didn’t do, and which we rarely grant for other online venues - it tends to create the impression TSD in the public domain, which it isn’t. “Fair use,” which is what you’re referring to, is quoting brief excerpts, not appropriating the whole thing. While it may seem like free advertising, we’ve had people ripping off stuff wholesale, presumably to draw visitors to THEIR sites. We get nothing out of this, needless to say.
So, does this mean the board will be solvent now? You know, after the lawsuit and the huge award/settlement.
Are you sure? I looked it up via the whois search at Network Solutions and it gave me full registration and contact info.
Thanks Q.E.D and Ed. I didn’t know the difference.
Well, I’m sure Whois.net didn’t have any info. Obviously, I didn’t check enough whois databases.
You’re right, I checked there too. I don’t understand how one would have the info and the other doesn’t?
I checked several Whois lookups also and didn’t find anything. I guess you just have to look in the right places.
Not to be dubious, but where’s the article in question?
What do you mean? Where is the article of mine they stole, where is the original article on the Straight Dope or what?
It WAS on the FAQ page of that site right under where it states “Next Question”. It seems to have somehow magically disappeared though. 
They took the articles down. Google cache of the site still has em.
Ah ha! That explains it, thanks. Ed moves pretty quick for an old guy.
I influenced the Google ads! What prize do I get?
Did he make them an offer they couldn’t refuse?
Anyone missing a horse?
