About.com Steals From Happypenguin.org
From <a href='http://www.happypenguin.org' target='_blank'>HappyPenguin</a>, an online linux game database:
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I just came across a feature at linux.about.com called 1000 Linux Games. It's an exact copy of the Game Tome database, right down to the category names, game descriptions and database field names.
Lest you think I exaggerate, please compare:
<ul>
</li><li><a href='http://happypenguin.org/show?NetHack' target='_blank'>NetHack@happypenguin</a>
</li><li><a href='http://linux.about.com/library/games/blgame_00684.htm' target='_blank'>NetHack@about.com</a>
</li></ul>
A stunning coincidence, don't you agree? There are hundreds more such examples if you care to look further. Inexplicably, they label every game "Blockit". Perhaps they thought that would keep us from noticing the stolen content.
Let me repeat this: linux.about.com has taken all of the Linux Game Tome's content and printed it as its own. There is no mention of the Linux Game Tome, much less an attribution, anywhere on the site.
The maintainer of the Linux section at about.com, and presumably the person responsible for this plagiarism, is a fellow named "Juergen Haas". Actual contact details for any person at about.com are frustratingly hard to come by, but Mr. Haas can apparently be reached at linux.guide@about.com. I have sent email to this address and every other about.com contact address I could find, but so far have received no response. If anyone out there has a clue about how to reach a real person at this company, I'd be happy to hear from you.
We now return to the regularly scheduled game news.
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I just came across a feature at linux.about.com called 1000 Linux Games. It's an exact copy of the Game Tome database, right down to the category names, game descriptions and database field names.
Lest you think I exaggerate, please compare:
<ul>
</li><li><a href='http://happypenguin.org/show?NetHack' target='_blank'>NetHack@happypenguin</a>
</li><li><a href='http://linux.about.com/library/games/blgame_00684.htm' target='_blank'>NetHack@about.com</a>
</li></ul>
A stunning coincidence, don't you agree? There are hundreds more such examples if you care to look further. Inexplicably, they label every game "Blockit". Perhaps they thought that would keep us from noticing the stolen content.
Let me repeat this: linux.about.com has taken all of the Linux Game Tome's content and printed it as its own. There is no mention of the Linux Game Tome, much less an attribution, anywhere on the site.
The maintainer of the Linux section at about.com, and presumably the person responsible for this plagiarism, is a fellow named "Juergen Haas". Actual contact details for any person at about.com are frustratingly hard to come by, but Mr. Haas can apparently be reached at linux.guide@about.com. I have sent email to this address and every other about.com contact address I could find, but so far have received no response. If anyone out there has a clue about how to reach a real person at this company, I'd be happy to hear from you.
We now return to the regularly scheduled game news.
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Comments
Don't you just love plagiarism?
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Update: I've received mail from Primedia About, Inc. CEO Peter Horan. He's "looking into it", and all of the offending material has apparently vanished. After 36 hours of emailing and phoning into empty space, it's nice to finally be heard! If it hadn't occurred to me to phone the Investor Relations office, I might never have learned of Mr. Horan's existence, nor received his email address. Note to About.com: post phone numbers and email addresses for real people on your contact page and I won't have to bother the CEO about content issues...<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->