Get Your Own Ideas
8.1.6
It's an odd feeling to click on a link and find your website where your website doesn't belong.
This morning I was browsing through the stats for cutaia.net, and I noticed an incoming link from unpimpzeauto.cankoo.com. I'm always curious to see who's been linking to my site, so I decided to check it out. I found, to my surprise, a format that was too similar to mine to be mere coincidence. I saw all of my hard work stolen.
Now, I had actually seen this problem in the past, mind you...but it had been minor enough to ignore.
Before it was someone who went by the moniker Regedit. He lived in Australia and used to watch cutaia-cam on a regular basis. He spoke with me on cam-chat quite a few times. Eventually a few...similarities began to appear between his site and mine.
I even remember having a discussion with Jason from Fnord Inc. about it once. He had noticed the same similarities and we therefore came to the conclusion that Regedit had indeed stolen a couple of ideas from me: An e-mail section where he promised to "make fun of you." A section of his forum where bad threads would be moved called "Hell." (On my forum it had been named "The Inferno.")
Perhaps the most damning evidence was the slogan he placed on one of his banner ads.
See...since the inception of my site, there has been several places where the phrase, "Wasting your time since 2004," could be found. One of these places was in the random phrase script at the top of this journal's index page. When the following banner started appearing on the internet, it seemed like a bit more than random chance:
But, the plain and simple fact was that some of these things could have been mere coincidence. I'm certainly not the first person to use that catchphrase. A quick Google search of "wasting your time since" will provide you with at least a dozen others who had used it before I did. Hell...even if Reggie had taken some liberties with my ideas...what was the big deal? There's nothing wrong with borrowing from things that inspire you. Hell...the other day I discovered that the name I chose for my new photography section was once the title of a Primus album. Who knew?
So...in the end, I didn't think much of it. In fact, if I felt anything...I was a bit flattered.
This newest theft, however, is not unintentional, is not flattering, and certainly is not minor. I've taken some screenshots to allow the reader to decide...
Note: Some images have been shrunk to fit the page. These can be clicked to enlarge.
The top of my index page:
Now, the top of his index page. Note that the "NEW!" icon I created has been stolen:
Even more obvious is the similarity between the footers of our pages. Here is mine:
And of course...his:
It wasn't long before I realized who ran this practically stolen website. I was tipped off by the bastardized version of cutaia-cam called, "Nameless Cam." He goes by the name of (what else?) "Nameless" on my forum. He watches cutaia-cam incessantly. He talks to me through cam-chat. He seemingly obsesses over my girlfriend, Autumn. One of this guy's running jokes has been that he would one day kill me in order to steal her.
So I delved further...
The main board on my forum:
The main board on his forum:
Then there was the Webcam Classic where I drank a glass of milk in one drink. (click to view):
He was doing the same thing with a bottle of water! Of course it took him damn near forever to drink. (click to view):
Alright...I get it, maybe. Loveseat. Futon. Milk. Water. This was when I began to think that this was all just some attempt at a clever parody. I'm not sure why someone would waste their time spoofing a website as unpopular as mine...but it at least seemed like a possibility.
Then I noticed his e-mail page:
The wording in this header was quite similar to mine:
Then I actually took a look at this disclaimer of his:
It just so happens that this was taken from my disclaimer ver-fucking-batim:
Alright...so maybe he just doesn't know how to build a website, and he wanted to practice on my layout, right? Unfortunately, this defense doesn't really fly. See, he didn't just put his content into my code. He actually built my entire website from the ground up with his own code.
Then there's one final matter...
I looked through his journal here. First off, notice that yet another person seems to be fond of my little slogan:
Here's my version of that page:
I found this in his journal entry about the 4th of July, 2006. It almost creeps me out:
Why does that creep me out you ask? The following are excerpts from an entry I wrote a year earlier (on the 4th of July) in an entry about Autumn (who, if you remember...he seems to obsess over):
And...
Look...I don't know if I'm over-reacting, but I don't think I am. Looking back now, all the stupid little jokes he made on the forum about killing me to steal Autumn seem somewhat less funny. All the stalking references have suddenly taken on a new meaning.
So...I'm taking this opportunity to make a public statement about this incident:
To Nameless: The "stalker" joke lost its charm quite some time ago. It went from being cute, to being annoying, to being a fucking problem. It's grown up time kiddo, so you need to cut the shit...now. You also need to do something about your little website. I've put a lot of fucking hours into this site over the past 2 years, and I don't need someone stealing it all. Get your own ideas. Get your own design. Get your own fucking life. (Especially if your site is going to have the balls to say, "I have the right to sue you if you don't give me credit for my work.")
In any case...I suppose it's time to start updating my site regularly again. It seems that if I don't do it, someone else will.
