Plagiarists suck
UPDATE: As of 9:45 am EST on 4/17, the site has been taken down. The message where the site used to be says it's been removed by its owner--not sure whether that means the actual coward involved belatedly did the right thing or if Xanga did it for her, but really, who cares. Now I just have to hope she isn't retarded enough to start up again under a new name. To guard against that possibility (and the possibility of anyone else plagiarizing me) I will be Googling my own posts weekly from now on. I am not kidding about this--I take my writing seriously, and I take something like this personally. If you are doing something like this yourself, be smart and delete the posts, because as this shows, we will find you. *I* will find you. And you'll meet with embarrassing social and legal ramifications--that is a promise.
The "blogger" in question here never did get up the guts to respond to my messages to her--I only wish I could get in touch with her face to face. I've got plenty to say...So if she's out there reading this: I hope you seriously think about what you've done. I hope any real life friends you have learned what a fake you are from this. I hope you're impacted by this far more than I have been. I want you to be punished, quite frankly. If there were a way to ban you personally from the Internet for life, I would see that it was done.
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Original post, preserved for posterity:
Alert reader Julia brought this crap to my attention.
I wonder, what's the point of having a blog if you can't even write your own original content for it? And why would you not even bother to change the dates? Every post she's stolen from me is dated either on or after the date it appears on this blog. Why would you think you wouldn't get caught?
Oh well. I guess if you're stupid enough to steal someone else's content for your blog, you're stupid enough not to do it right. Which I guess is our saving grace here.
Anyway, I post this not just because I think she deserves to be publicly embarrassed, but because not all of the posts there are mine (just most of them).
For the record, here's the evidence.
This blog, March 22.
Her blog, March 23.This blog, February 27.
Her blog, February 28.This blog, Jan. 31.
Her blog, Feb. 2.This blog, Jan. 28.
Her blog, Jan. 29.This blog, Jan. 12, 13 and 14.
Her blog, Jan. 14.This blog, Dec. 22.
Her blog, Dec. 23.This blog, Dec. 19.
Her blog, Dec. 19.This blog, Dec. 14.
Her blog, Dec. 16.My blog, Nov. 29.
Her blog, Nov. 30.My blog, Nov. 28.
Her blog, Nov. 28.My blog, Oct. 27.
Her blog, Nov. freakin' first.Of all things, Chicks Talk football, Sept. 27.
Her blog, Oct. 3.Chicks Talk Football, Sept. 21.
Her blog, almost a week later.My blog, Sept. 8.
Her blog, Sept. 8.My blog (joint post with Kristen) August 13.
Her blog, Aug. 17.
Stolen from Kristen:
Kristen's blog, Feb. 6.
Her blog, Feb. 6.Kristen's blog, Feb. 5.
Her blog, Feb. 5.Kristen's blog, Jan. 22.
Her blog, Jan. 25.Kristen's blog, Jan. 15.
Her blog, Jan 15.
Stolen from Surviving Grady:
Their post, Feb. 27.
Her post, Feb. 27.
And finally, this one was kind of a combo plagiarism of their post and one of mine, actually a trifecta of sorts with a link back to another ripped-off post and a reference to "my Imaginary Baseball World". That's some balls there, huh?
It's not just that she stole more than a dozen posts from me and about a half dozen from Kristen and some more from SG and Jere (and a couple from Amy's now-deleted blog). It's that these are the only posts on her site. I'd venture to guess she has no original content over there whatsoever.
I have to admit, I don't get it.
But one thing is clear: this blog is protected under a Creative Commons License. If you scroll down on the right-hand sidebar, you'll see it. I have reported her to Xanga (as have Kristen and Mer) and am in the process of reporting her to her ISP. This has been picked up by Universal Hub, now, also--the word is spreading.
Go ahead and plagiarize THIS post, bitch.
wow what an idiot
Posted by: Katie | April 16, 2006 at 13:54
maybe she'll change names again... apparently ian is the equivalent to michele... but i do not know her. i sway
Posted by: michele | April 16, 2006 at 18:05
dude. wow. just... wow. that's a special kind of stupid.
Posted by: k | April 16, 2006 at 19:45
You don't know me, but I love you and wish to become Red Sox buddies with you.
Posted by: Chris | April 16, 2006 at 20:30
chris, you pick a hell of a time and a hell of a post to make that comment.
Posted by: beth | April 16, 2006 at 20:34
Dude, for reals. Consider my panties knotted for you. What a dumb whore.
Posted by: Amy | April 16, 2006 at 20:49
Chris is a friend of mine. He was extremely impressed that you went through her site and attributed all the proper people.
Posted by: Amy w/ Nuts | April 16, 2006 at 23:11
That's un-fawking-believable. Apparently she doesn't realize that teh interwebs are read by more people than just her friends.
Posted by: pdb | April 17, 2006 at 00:12
amy and chris, my bad. i was pretty jumpy yesterday. :-(
Posted by: beth | April 17, 2006 at 05:22
I suggest she have for her background music..'Can I Get a Witness'..
Posted by: Steve | April 17, 2006 at 07:13
All I can say is thats some f-d up shite...
Posted by: mrbandw | April 17, 2006 at 08:48
Utterly horrifying, how blatant she was about stealing your stuff! WHY bother to have a blog if you have no unique content of your own? Glad to see it now says "site has been taken down by its owner"!
Posted by: Leeann | April 17, 2006 at 09:59
First off, I'm very glad that the matter was resolved. However, I think I can answer a riddle for you: The plagiarist definitely took the site down herself.
The reason I say that is my own experience with Xanga. You can read about it on my site here: http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/?p=201
Long story short, Xanga doesn't remove content that violates copyright. Ever. According to some news reports, they can barely be motivated anything.
You were very lucky your plagiarist decided to pack it up. Otherwise, it could have been a long, sad fight.
Anyway, glad it worked out for you!
Posted by: Jonathan Bailey | April 17, 2006 at 20:39
Hey, if anyone ever needs to know, and if I drop dead tomorrow and can't ever fulfill my promise to go all Jack Bauer on this bitch for Beth if she ever asks, her name is Kayla Jean Edmonds of Auburn, ME. The sweet part is that she's only 30 minutes from me!
Posted by: David Welch | April 18, 2006 at 11:37