North Country Gazette

Gazette Impersonator Causes Theft Of NCG Website

Posted on Wednesday, 4 of November , 2009 at 8:59 pm

COMMENTARY

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

But impersonating the publisher of The North Country Gazette and stealing all the material from the website so it can be published on another website at a profit is not only identity theft, but outright larceny.

On Wednesday, it was discovered that every article published for the past three to four months had been reproduced in its entirety, without permission, at zimbio.com, particularly in their Terri Schiavo section. Not only was it a copyright infringement issue, but the mirroring of the website and directing traffic away from NCG is an outright theft and has resulted in the loss of several thousand dollars.

In addition, there is an issue of plagiarism too with someone else claiming to have written the articles, including exclusive articles on the Schiavo case and even the publisher’s eulogy to Robert Schindler Sr.

Upon contacting Zimbio.com, apparently owned by Danny Khatib, 34, a Michigan native who now lives in San Francisco,  it was learned that an individual had created an account at Zimbio.com, using the identity and email address of the NCG publisher.  Zimbio  and Khatib did not attempt to confirm the authenticity of the registration, did not notify The North Country Gazette and instead, immediately began “importing” every article we wrote for placement on their website, in an egregious copyright infringement, a theft for profit.

Not only did Zimbio.com take our work for themselves,  but they then sold ads using our work resulting in a profit for themselves.  It appears as though there are other problems involving Zimbio. http://www.ripoffreport.com/Internet-Fraud/Danny-Khatib-Zimbio/danny-khatib-zimbio-com-ripo-2f748.htm 

If Zimbio was a reponsible organization, they would have sent a confirmation email to NCG initially, to confirm that it was me or someone from NCG that was setting up the account.  Everyone else does, no matter where you set up an account.  Many won’t set up the account until you click on a link from the email address used to confirm that it is indeed you.   It’s like having a burglar come into your house and taking all your contents and then using your possessions for their own use or selling them for a profit.  It’s wrong, civilly and criminally.

For the past two years, The North Country Gazette and its publisher have been the target of numerous hackings, much harassment, death threats and even a bomb threat in numerous attempts to shut down the operation and outright intimidation.

This latest situation of identity theft and impersonation has been reported to both federal and state authorities as well as www.idtheftcenter.org

Over the past several months, NCG had seen a dramatic decrease in revenues.  Now we understand the cause.   We have struggled to keep NCG online and have been trying to raise needed funds through subscriptions.

Why would anyone feel the need to even come to the NCG website when they could read everything on the site, including the exclusive investigative reports, for nothing at Zimbio.com?  On Wednesday while researching, getting ready to do another Schiavo exclusive,  I clicked on a link and it took me to my own copyrighted story that had just been published at NCG, “Michael Schiavo: Where Are You?”

Zimbio.com had reprinted the entire thing  and someone named “Absolute” plagarized my work  to boot, claiming that they had written it .  Zimbio then sold ads around it.  Even my copyright warnings were still attached.  I clicked on the Absolute name and found that this person has stolen every single Schiavo article that I’ve written in the last three or four months and put THEIR name on it.  They were making money from my work, totally without authorization. 

As I got exploring further, I found that this Zimbio outfit—that claims 18 million readers a month—and the plagarist Absolute, has stolen every article I’ve written and posted in at least the last four months, word for word.

If someone stole something from you, it would be a larceny and they would be arrested. They would likely have to make restitution. This should be no different.  It was a total unauthorized use of my intellectual property, directing people away from my site to them. This Zimbio outfit was mirroring my website, taking my traffic and my income, just repackaging and selling.  They’ve even stolen all the images I’ve used.  They’ve helped themselves to all my work for nothing for their own use and are making money from myself and The North Country Gazette.

Because Zimbio allowed someone to impersonate the North Country Gazette by using our email address, I had no knowledge what they were doing until finding it by accident on Wednesday. Zimbio did not even bother to send a confirmation email to confirm that the person opening the account had authority to do so.   Instead, they immediately began to “import” for themselves, for their profit, every one of my articles.  

How would you like to work 80 to 90 hours a week for nothing and then have someone else profit from your work without your knowledge or authorization?

Supposedly my material has now been removed from Zimbio.com but a lot of damage has been done and NCG has incurred a substantial loss.  Legal efforts are being made to learn the identity of the person who has perpetrated this scam.  We need to try to recoup the loss.

In order for NCG to continue, it is hoped that you will subscribe and that business owners will consider placing their advertisements with NCG.   With the holiday nearing, we hope you’ll consider placing some of your gift orders through our affiliate advertisers that place their ads on the NCG website such as Amazon, Miles Kimball, Pet Smart, Jelly Belly and others or place your order for holiday greeting cards through the NCG Leanin Tree ad.

It’s been hard trying to keep NCG going the last couple of months.  Now we understand the sudden drop in income as well as decrease in traffic.

We thought you should know some of what goes on behind the scenes and the maliciousness that is continuing towards The North Country Gazette.   We hope you’ll help The North Country Gazette to recoup its loss and continue reporting news and issues that other media ignore. 11-4-09

Have YOU subscribed yet?  NCG needs your support to continue. First time visitors are welcome at no charge.  Thereafter, readers who wish to read additional articles or plan on returning at a later time will need to be an advertiser or have a paid subscription to the NCG Daily Digest in order to gain access.  This policy will be strictly enforced and access will be denied to those who abuse it.  To sign up, see the subscription ad and PayPal button to the right of this page or at www.northcountrygazette.org  If you have questions, contact us at news@northcountrygazette.org

 Special subscription rate through Nov. 11, 2009.  See http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2009/10/11/changes_coming/

Category: Business, Consumers, Crime, Internet, Media, Police, Schiavo, Technology

• Add this post to
• Del.icio.us -
• Meneame -
• Digg