One thing I’ve learned during my relatively short stint as a guy who sells something on the Internet is that people steal. A lot. Every now and then, I’ll do a Google search for the name of my ebook (or the filename of the download itself) and I’ll be staring at a big list of document hosting sites, Bit Torrent trackers and other such business. I would be lying if I said that my heart doesn’t sink a little when I see this stuff; not because of the lost revenue (which sucks), but in response to how quickly my fellow human beings will screw each other as long as they’re fairly confident they won’t get pinched.

As much as this bugs me, I’ve never felt like I had much recourse. Admittedly, I haven’t sent many sternly-worded emails to the operators of the sites illegally hosting my stuff, but that’s only because I was fairly certain I wouldn’t get a response. Perhaps I’m just cynical.

But all this is sorta beside the point.

A couple of weeks ago, I was doing one of the aforementioned “vanity searches” for my ebook and came across the entire document available for viewing on Scribd, a place where you can host documents, share them, etc. I’ve known about the site for awhile, but had never used it. Anyway, seeing my PDF up there was, as usual, frustrating.

Just for shits and giggles, though, I scrolled down to the site footer and found a link called “Copyright”, which I visited. The page briefly described what to do if you find material that infringes on a copyright. Turns out, you have to issue a DMCA Copyright Infringement Takedown Notification, which I’d heard of but always imagined needing a lawyer to put together. Turns out, it’s this teensy half-page document that a partially inebriated chimp could fill out between Jager bombs.

I downloaded the template, dropped in my name, email and street addresses and the URL where the infringing content lived, then pasted the whole mess into an email and sent it off.

About 6 minutes later, I got an email from a guy named Jason at Scribd informing me that my request had been received and that the document had been removed. Wow.

Clearly, it doesn’t always work this way. I imagine many, many notices like mine are received every day and immediately deleted without any action being taken. I must say, though, that I’m really impressed with Scribd. I don’t know that I’ll ever have much use for their services, but I’m happy to know that they’re taking this copyright bullcrap seriously.

I guess the big takeaway here is that it may be worth the time to fight back. Maybe.

Recently, Shawn Blanc, Patrick Rhone and others have been discussing attribution on the web. The tech web is especially incestuous, as the same 8-9 stories hit site after site daily. It’s important to identify both the source and the reference, or “via.” Here’s how I do it.

Imagine that website.com wrote a nice original piece. I first became aware of it by reading a link on coolstuff.com. In re-posting the story myself, I’ll note and link the website.com story in the body of the post. At the end of the post, I’ll include a link to the reference at coolstuff.com as a footnote of sorts, like so:

[Via coolstuff.com]

That way both sites get a link. The source is clearly identified in the body of the post while the reference (or “via”) follows, always using the same syntax. If you do it differently, I’d like to hear about it.

I’ve written many times over the years about the correct way to clear a backlog:

1) Isolate the backlog

2) Get the system for handling new stuff sorted

3) Keep working away at the backlog

People who don’t know this method usually try to clear a backlog by using step 3 on its own. But without doing step 1 first, all that will happen is that the backlog will fill up as fast as you clear it. Even if by some heroic effort you do succeed in clearing the backlog completely, if you haven’t done step 2 you will have a new backlog within days.

This backlog method can be used in many ways which may not be obvious on first sight. Here are a couple of examples:

Tidying an Office

You need to tidy your office. What is untidiness but a backlog of tidying? So carry out the three-step procedure.

1) Dump everything that is out of its proper place (or doesn’t have one) in a pile in the middle of the floor.

2) Work out a routine for cleaning and tidying your office every day. Stick to it religiously.

3) Work on clearing the pile bit by bit.

Getting out of Debt

What is debt but a backlog of money? So three steps to getting out of debt.

1) Consolidate all your debt into one loan, and refuse to take on any more debt of any type.

2) Cut your expenditure so that you can live within your income.

3) Make regular payments towards paying off the loan (capital as well as interest).

I am now working on a time management system which extends this principle to our normal daily work - even where there isn’t a significant backlog. It’s so far proving very powerful. More details soon!