[Ethan Winer]

Does anyone here know who owns www.hometheatertalk.net? They stole the Room Setup video from my company's web site, stripped out our name and copyright info, inserted a link to their own web site, and posted it at Yahoo Videos and Spike.com and possibly other sites. I tried to find who owns hometheatertalk.net in the Internet WhoIs database, but it's registered through a "cloak" service to hide the identity. Likewise for their sister site www.interiordesignmadeeasy.info which is also hidden.

I honestly don't mind if my educational videos are passed around. That's why I made them! But to strip out the credits and source and pretend it's their content for the purpose of driving traffic to their own commercial site is way out of line. Any leads sent to me via the RealTraps Contact Page are greatly appreciated.

--Ethan

[ted_b]

Dunno, but I added a comment on Yahoo Videos to that effect.  What a bunch of losers.

[dyohn]

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=hometheatertalk.net&prog_id=godaddy

[Ethan Winer]

Thanks guys.

http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=hometheatertalk.net&prog_id=godaddy

Yes, I saw that but that just leads to DomainsByProxy.com which is a "cloak" service that scum like this use to hide who they are. Since their main purpose is to sell Google ads, I may contact Google and see if they'll reveal who they pay the ad revenue to.

[Ethan Winer]

Folks,

In case anyone cares, I called the web host GoDaddy and they shut down hometheatertalk.net within 15 minutes. I'm impressed! The funny part is they said they sent my contact info to the site owner, and he has to contact me if he wants this resolved. I can't wait!

--Ethan

[Bob in St. Louis]

In case anyone cares, I called the web host GoDaddy and they shut down hometheatertalk.net within 15 minutes.

WOW!!! It's suprising you didn't get the run-around. That's cool Ethan.
Good luck man. Kick 'em where it hurts. 

Bob

[mgalusha]

That certainly speaks well for GoDaddy. Congrats on getting them spanked. 

[yooper]

Fantastic!  Kudos to GoDaddy for their willingness to do what is right.

Mark

[rydenfan]

That is very cool! I am impressed they handled the situation so swiftly. What type of information/documentation did you have to provide?

[whubbard]

Well it seems that hometheatertalk now directs to your website. Did GoDaddy do that for free, or are you paying for the redirect?

Did you ever get a call from the owners of the site.

-West

[Ethan Winer]

Well it seems that hometheatertalk now directs to your website. Did GoDaddy do that for free, or are you paying for the redirect? Did you ever get a call from the owners of the site.

Wow, that was fast. Yes, a sheepish college kid called me yesterday afternoon and apologized profusely. He sounded sincere as he told me that he had paid someone else for what he believed was original content. He promised to email me the info for who he paid, and asked if having his site redirect to mine would make it right. I told him Sure, though I assumed it would take a few days. I doubt there was a charge for that, but if there was he absorbed it.

All's well that ends well. But sheesh, what a time-sink that was!

--Ethan

[whubbard]

It should be interesting to find out who sold it to him...
At least the student with the website didn't have bad intentions.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Good deal.
I'm happy to hear everything turned out alright Ethan.

Bob

[Ethan Winer]

Good deal.
I'm happy to hear everything turned out alright Ethan.

Yeah, the college kid still hasn't emailed me who sold him my video as he promised, but when we spoke on the phone he said it was not a US company. Or maybe he made that up hoping I won't sue him? Either way, I'm satisfied with the resolution. There are too many jerks on the Internet to lose sleep over.

--Ethan

[Bob in St. Louis]

There are too many jerks on the Internet to lose sleep over.

Yea, I see what you mean. 

Bob

[JerryM]

There are too many jerks on the Internet to lose sleep over.

Yea, I see what you mean. 

Bob

 
Thanks, I needed that!

[mcullinan]

Piece of crap ripoff artists. You should follow through with this.
Mike