Recently, I have been quite interested in the problem of web-based content plagiarism.
I own the content on my page and it is my intellectual property. I do not mind if someone else copies my content as it only validates my authority on the subject. However, I definitely demand credit for the piece of information extracted from my site. If a site earns revenue with stolen contents, I would like to see a fair distribution of the monetary gains.
The intention is very clear - copy what I permit you to copy, give me the credit and share with me the benefits that you earn off my content - and I do not mind. This, also is the point of contrast from the more familiar concept of DRM.
Where as DRM is restrictive, a company came up with an innovative solution that offers protecting the Intellectual Property, but in most liberal way. Attributor, based in Redwood City has launched a product to track and report back on the copied content, sniffing billions of web pages.
By far, Attributor has the first mover advantage with AP and Reuters already Attributing. There is another solution offered by blogwerx "Sentinel", which promises to solve similar problems. I do not see this company very promising for several reasons [read thumbs down on investment, team, state of product, product vision, initial beta hiccups] - the Home Link on their website does not work, if anyone is reading. A May blog by the CVO (Chief Visionary Officer, eh... ) states that "Sentinel is not dead as yet". Not updating the post for next 5 months is not being alive either.
I found another cool tool, which may not have serious business potential and / or relevance - but the simplicity of the tool caught my attention. My feminine instincts would like to call it "cute". Check the Duplicate Content Tool here. This tool compares two websites on the similarity of textual / HTML content.
The success of this or any other clones in this space would be based on the business value that these solutions promise to bring to the publishers of content and the business/revenue model that they adopt.
Plagiarism of web-content is definitely a problem, the solution for which seems to be evolving. This could be disrupting for many players in the web world. A worth following up proposition for the days to come!
And as far as I am concerned, my birthday cake has "Happy Birthday to Amita" written and I get to cut it! You can share as much of it as you wish - if you are invited to my party... That is the point!
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First off, thanks for the tip on the duplicate content tool, I had not seen that before. I'm not sure how useful it will be for my purposes but it is a neat trick if nothing else!
I have to disclose that I have done consulting for Attributor and I have worked some, unpaid, with Blogwerx.
I share your view that there is a lot of promise in Attributor. Their deals with Reuters and the AP show that their technology is solid and the people there have a great commitment to bringing solutions to these problems, not just more DRM.
I also share your concerns about Blogwerx. Though I can see a future where both companies thrive, Blogwerx targeting a niche with specific solutions, Blogwerx fell flat on its face out of the gate, had some issues with staff and seems to be way behind. They had the potential to open up an early lead in this field but that seems to be blown.
I spoke with Blogwerx a few weeks ago and they said they were releasing a private beta in a few days. That didn't happen.
I would like to see Blogwerx, but I'm getting worried it won't make it off of the ground.
Anyway, great post! Also, thank you for playing the game on my site!
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