The owners of structuredsettlementusa.com have just completely pirated the public area content of 4structures.com, LLC website and claimed their own copyright in the material which includes (among other things) the bio of this author and 6 registered trademarks of 4structures.com, LLC.
The owners even have the audacity to claim a propriety in 4structures.com, LLC patent pending in4structure platform which we have invested substantial sums in and to sell banner ads over the pirated comment. How stupid can these people be?
How could anyone except the thieves be happy with the situation? I share with my readers and industry brethren the story to show (1) the lengths that desperate folks go for quality structured settlement content to generate pay per click and banner ad revenue; (2) that one must be vigilant about your content and trade name and regularly scan search engines. A tool such as Copyscape is helpful; (3) to demonstrate that one must act swiftly and decisively to squelch those who violate your intellectual property rights.
Incredibly the GoDaddy registration WHOIS record lists someone the administrative and technical contact of the website as "Owen Robinson" with an address at 401 E Third Street that our investigation shows as a Wilmington , Delaware POLICE DEPARTMENT! Download USPS Blue Mailbox and Post ..
Fortunately the Digital Millennium Copyright Act allows copyright holders to go after those who host the infringing material. The hosting company KVCH Hosting is based in Edmond, OK while the server hosting the infringing material is believed to be located at its data center in Lansing, MI. KVCH Hosting stated that at 11pm 07/28/2009 that it had notified the owners of our complaint and claims it will shut structuredsettlementusa.com down within a time frame of 24 hours.
The Anti-Phishing Act of 2005 ( "A bill to criminalize Internet scams involving fraudulently obtaining personal information, commonly known as phishing.") was a bill to combat phishing and pharming. The bill proposed a five-year prison sentence and/or fine for individuals who commit identity theft using falsified corporate websites or e-mails. Unfortunately it did not pass.
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