As far as I can tell, the unauthorized feed of my blog at http://www.beekeeperguide.com has been taken down. Thanks to everyone for your help and support. Many excellent ideas came this way and although I don’t know which ones worked, something did.
Please be aware that lots of people run my feed on their websites. Some are bloggers, some are beekeeping clubs and organizations, some are educational institutions, and some are just individuals who love bees. I have no problem with this, in fact I love it.
My issue is with the unauthorized use of my material for commercial purposes. I make zero money off my site and I have declined offers to “monetize” it. I feel that to make the site commercial would restrict my freedom to write anything I damn well please . . . and I cherish that freedom.
As an ex-newspaper editor, ex-columnist, and ex-reporter I know the frustrating feeling of having to mince words because some advertisers might pull their business. We tend to think of news organization as entities that report the news but, in fact, they often report “news” that is paid for or do not report news that an advertiser may object to. It’s just a fact of life.
With that straight-jacket feeling still lingering in my mind, I decided to write about beekeeping the way I see it. Honey Bee Suite’s popularity surprises me, but one of the downsides is that some unscrupulous individuals try to lure buyers to their sites using my material . . . an idea that irks me no end.
The trail on this particular unauthorized use was long and circuitous and, in the end, I have no idea who was responsible. For now it doesn’t matter. For the moment, at least, it seems to be history. There will be others in the future, but I’ve learned a lot this time around.
Thanks again for all your help. For now, it’s long past time to get back to beekeeping.
Rusty
Glad to hear it man. Congrats!
I was just reading this post and I cut-n-pasted the offending URL into a browser window just to see the page. To my shock and horror the site is using MY FEED as well! I’m in the same boat. My site is a labor of love which I make no money off of yet that site is using my feed commercially without my consent. How do I get them to take my feed down as you did yours?
Best,
Craig
a.k.a. SoMDbeekeeper
Hi Craig,
I e-mailed the author of the e-books being sold and told (threatened?) him to stop using my feed. At first he resisted and said it wasn’t his site. Apparently, he hires people to do his marketing and it is their site. I kept threatening him, though, and so did some of my regular readers. I also posted about the copyright infringement on my site, on Twitter, and on Facebook. Eventually he told the company to stop. After that, they took it down immediately. It took a couple of weeks from beginning to end.
Best of luck with this. It’s no fun.