Why The Board Was Down Jelsoft Piracy Reports GoDaddy
Yesterday, a company called Pirate Reports (piratereports.com) came along and said I do not own the license for the board software.
They contacted GoDaddy directly and caused GoDaddy to suspend this hosting account.
Obviously, they are incorrect, because this forum is back up.
I'd like everyone to be careful when dealing with:
Howard G Spinks
Licensing & Anti Piracy Agent,
who is nothing more than an internet thug, as can be seen here:
Beware of DMCA Scammer | TylerCruz.com: An Internet Entrepreneur’s Journey
This guy has been at it for years, but he's in charge of "policing" the internet for violators of Jelsoft's software licensing agreement.
Previously, I owned 2 Jelsoft vBulletin licenses - one for cruising.stuffiminto.com and another for jobs.stuffiminto.com. I never used the jobs.stuffiminto.com site, so I only bought a new license for this site and never looked at the other one.
Piracyreport.org used that subdomain to take down my entire stuffiminto.com domain.
After I emailed Jelsoft directly, they confirmed me as a valid, paying customer. However, it still took all this time for my hosting company, GoDaddy to fix the problem.
I have jobs.stuffiminto.com redirecting to here now. I plan to publicize this hijacking of our forum quite a bit.
This is just part ONE of a series. Here is the original notification I got from Godaddy.com, including the "violation" from Piracy Reports:
We have received notification of copyright infringement(s) taking place
> > on your site STUFFIMINTO.COM. It has come to our attention that the
> > website found at this domain name contains material being displayed
> > without the consent of the owner/copyright holder.
> >
> > This is a violation of your Hosting Services agreement (
> > Legal Agreement
> > ), as well as your Domain Name Registration Agreement (
> > Legal Agreement
> > ). I have attached the original notification we received on this matter
> > as well to help you identify the problem.
> >
> > This notification was submitted in harmony with the DMCA (Digital
> > Millennium Copyright Act)and our Copyright and Trademark Dispute Policy.
> > Please review GoDaddy's Trademark and Copyright Policy found at
> > https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/legal..._trademark.asp
> >
> > In accordance to this policy, as well as your hosting agreement, we have
> > suspended this hosting account
> > until this matter can be resolved, or you submit a complete Counter
> > Notification as described in the
> > Copyright section of the policy. You have 10 days to send a complete
> > Counter Notification in accordance
> > with the policy.
> >
> > PLEASE NOTE:
> > We are not a court, nor are we dictating who, if anyone, has the rights
> > to the work(s) in question. We are merely acting in accordance with the
> > DMCA requirements for Hosting Providers. If there is a dispute as to
> > the ownership of the content, that should be addressed in a court of
> > law. As a result, situations, circumstances, and details do not usually
> > need to be submitted to GoDaddy.com or it's affiliates.
> >
> > A list of the specific portions of your site in question are listed
> > below. For detailed questions, you will need to contact the Complainant
> > at the address listed below.
> >
> > Description of the Infringement(s)
> >
> > SEE ATTACHED NOTIFICATION
> >
> > Complainant:
> >
> > SEE ATTACHED NOTIFICATION
> >
> > In order to resolve this situation and re-activate your site, you have 2
> > options.
> >
> > Option 1. Remove the content in question.
> > In order to reactivate the site in question we will need you to provide
> > the following information in a single email response:
> >
> > A. An electronic signature. (This can be a scanned copy of your
> > physical signature, or as simple as typing your full name.)
> > B. Identification of the material in question.
> > C. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the material has
> > either been removed or will promptly be removed.
> >
> > Option 2. Submit a complete Counter Notification on the works in
> > question in accordance with our Copyright Dispute policy. (See Above)
> > You will need to reply, via email and include all of the following
> > elements.
> >
> > A. An electronic signature of the Infringer. (This can be a scanned
> > copy of your physical signature, or as simple as typing your full name.)
> > B. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which
> > access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared
> > before it was removed or access to it was disabled.
> > C. A statement under penalty of perjury that the Infringer has a good
> > faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of
> > mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.
> > D. The Infringer's name, address, and telephone number, and a
> > statement that the Infringer consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal
> > District Court for the judicial district of Arizona, or if the
> > Infringer's address is outside of the United States, for any judicial
> > district in which Go Daddy may be found, and that the Infringer will
> > accept service of process from the Complaining Party or an agent of such
> > Party.
> >
> > PLEASE NOTE:
> > The term "The Infringer" is used for identification purposes only. This
> > is not an indication of any alleged guilt or innocence.
> >
> > If you have any further questions, please let us know.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Copyright Claims Department
> > GoDaddy.com
> > CopyrightClaims@GoDaddy.com
> >
> >
> > ARID1009
To:
"CopyrightClaims@GoDaddy.com" <CopyrightClaims@GoDaddy.com>
DMCA NOTIFICATION OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Date: 06 April 2010
Greetings
I am an agent authorized to act on behalf of Jelsoft Enterprises Limited who exclusively own vBulletin, a forum Software.
I can find no record of this user holding a valid current site license for this location.
Please suspend/remove the GUI and files and prevent future abuse.
NB: If at your own prerogative you offer your client an opportunity to remove the site themselves or purchase a license as opposed to your removal or suspension of service, please be aware that Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
<br />Search Engine Optimization by <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crawlability.com/vbseo/">vBSEO</a> 3.2.0
<br />Search Engine Optimization by <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crawlability.com/vbseo/">vBSEO</a> 3.2.0 whilst happy to respect your goodwill gesture, in no way requests or requires such action from you and reserves the right to decline the license purchase and refund the fee. Copyright protection not revenue collection is our primary concern and motivation, and some forums which will not fully comply with the licensing terms and conditions cannot be accepted.
Formality:
In accordance with the provisions the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
Please expeditiously "take down" or "block access" to the infringing material and take appropriate action against the customer to prevent future abuse.
Declaration:
I, the undersigned, CERTIFY UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY that I am an agent authorized to act on behalf of the owner of certain intellectual property rights, said exclusive owners being named:
Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd., Howarth Lodge, 7 Reading Road, Pangbourne, Reading, RG8 7LR
I have a good faith belief that the items or materials listed below are not authorized by the above intellectual property owners, their agents, or the law and therefore infringe their rights.
I further aver that the information contained in the Notice is accurate.
Software: vBulletin
I may be contacted at:
Gheorghe Pantea
European Investigator
Pirate Reports
PO Box 36
EAST MOLESEY
Surrey
KT8 9XT
ENGLAND
Tel: 44(0)20 8941 1843
Skype: Piratereports
Email: GheorgheP@piratereports.com
Truthfully,
G Pantea
This information may be passed to your client who should already be aware of the situation. The sender accepts no responsibility for an end users incorrect registration or failure to do so as the Terms and Conditions of Use are clearly explained as an integral part of the purchase procedure.