Warning: StartRankingNow copyright infringement issues

[the Messenger]

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Hello, fellow Istoryans,

I am helping out a friend. If any of you have applied for this company and have had your samples stolen from you, please PM me. My friend needs only one more piece of evidence to have Start Ranking Now reprimanded and even banned by a number of article directories.

I am posting this here because the company particularly prefers Filipinos. The modus of this Mexican-owned company (now run by a few Filipinos) is to require writing samples from applicants. It then uses the submitted samples without paying for them.


Here's the message:

I'd like to share my experience with startrankingnow.com, a.k.a. AshtonHome, and help other Filipino writers avoid my current situation.

I custom-made one article for free as a work sample for this company. To protect my copyright, I published my article on Squidoo mere seconds before I submitted it to Start Ranking Now on a word document. Printed clearly in bold on my submitted one-page word doc is this advisory:
* You may use this sample article for evaluation purposes only. *

Without informing me or asking for my permission, Start Ranking Now posted my article at EzineArticles, GoArticles and goodness knows where else. One of their employees claimed to be the author.

My advice to prospective Start Ranking Now applicants: If you're submitting free samples, publish your work first and just provide links. Anything that can be stolen will be stolen!

Startrankingnow.com's infringing article posts have been removed from Ezine and GoArticles. Whew!

I filed a complaint at GoArticles and they pulled my article in 14 minutes tops!

I heard from Start Ranking Now but only after EzineArticles pulled their post. They sent me an email at 9:15 a.m., GMT+8, on Feb. 4, 2009. The company offered to pay me $4 as reconciliation.

I replied that I wasn't interested in any pay for damages but I thanked them for their offer nonetheless. I also requested them, for the third time, to take down all their infringing article posts, or at least update the posts and accredit me as the author. I sent my reply at 2:44 a.m., GMT+8, on Feb. 5, 2009. I have never heard from the company ever since.

Seven days later, on Feb. 12, 2009, I was shocked to discover that Start Ranking Now had resumed posting my article all over the Web. I tracked my article on more than a dozen sites and article directories. All of the article posts were submitted/uploaded on Feb. 11, 2009.

I knew right then and there that Start Ranking Now would never heed my requests for the removal of their infringing article posts. I have filed copyright infringement complaints at the sites that I could reach. Many sites have thankfully responded to my complaints and have taken down Start Ranking Now's infringing posts. My article (Top Three Things to Consider When Choosing an Educational Toy for your Toddler), however, is still up and live on a number of sites.

StartRankingNow.com blogged about me and assassinated my character, warning the world NOT to hire me for freelance jobs. If you want to read the link, please PM the Messenger. I need your help in battling copyright infringement.

Iatjad

[Iatjad]

I'd like to verify this. Thanks, the Messenger.
Here's a timeline of my experience with StartRankingNow.com:

* Jan. 14, 2009

I submitted a bid on a project listed on Guru.com. The project stated that payment will be made though Guru SafePay -- Guru's onsite payment system. I offered to write one sample article for free and closed my long-winded bid with this statement: * At the moment, I will accept payment via SafePay Escrow only. *

* Jan. 15-16, 2009

After a series of message exchanges in Guru's private discussion board and via email, Guru job poster Scott invited me aboard StartRankingNow.com's Web management site -- AshtonHome or Basecamp. I was asked to write one article. Not once did Scott or any StartRankingNow personnel inform me that I would be paid for this sample article.

* Jan. 17, 2009

I wrote the requested sample article and uploaded it (around 9 p.m.) on AshtonHome with a short note to Scott. As I had no intention of assigning any of my copyright to the company, I included this advisory in bold on my submitted one-page word document: * You may use this sample article for evaluation purposes only. * I was willing to demonstrate my writing skills for free, yes, but my work remains my property. As a safety precaution, I published my work on Squidoo.com before I submitted it. I received no word -- not even one acknowledging my submitted article -- from StartRankingNow until...

* Jan. 23, 2009

I received four email notifications from AshtonHome. StartRankingNow assigned me to do 20 500-word articles.

* Jan. 24, 2009

I logged onto AshtonHome and checked the status of my sample article upload. There wasn't a single reply to my message. In addition, there wasn't a single message informing me that my article had been approved. Scott later popped me a message on Yahoo Messenger. During our chat, he finally revealed that no payment would take place via Guru or any escrow service provider for that matter. I decided that I cannot risk working without escrow on an online job so I declined StartRankingNow's project. I never heard again from StartRankingNow until their EzineArticles.com post of my article was pulled.

* Feb. 2, 2009

I discovered my sample article on EzineArticles. It was authored by someone named Rachel Nunez. I then checked out Ezine's FAQs. Here's what Ezine suggests if you find one of your written works stolen:

I found one of my articles reprinted without proper credit or links, what do I do?

The first course of action we recommend is that you contact the owner/webmaster of the site and ask them to fix the oversight. In most cases, this will accomplish the end result you are looking for as most people just need to be informed of the Publisher Reprint Rules.

If after you contact them and no action has been taken within 48 hours, contact the site's ISP/WebHost and ask them to enforce their AUP (Acceptable Use Policy).

Please Contact Us if your question is not answered above. - EzineArticles.com

Following Ezine's advice, I immediately sent an email to three of StartRankingNow's accounts requesting the removal of the Ezine post. I also sent Scott the same message on YM. A day later, I posted a comment requesting Rachel to remove her post. My comment never went live. After I hit the "submit" button, an Ezine message was displayed onscreen stating that my comment would be posted after passing their review.

* Feb. 4, 2009

Forty-eight hours after I sent my Feb. 2 email, I was still waiting for a reply from StartRankingNow. The Ezine post, however, had been removed. Unfortunately, my article had cropped up on two more sites: GoArticles.com and ArticleFeeder.com. The author was still Rachel. I immediately communicated directly with GoArticles and ArticleFeeder and asked them to remove the posts. GoArticles and ArticleFeeder got back to me and removed Rachel's infringing posts in less than one day. I still sent a follow up email (at 2:26 a.m.) to StartRankingNow, thanking them for the removal of the Ezine post in case they had anything to do with it. I also asked the company to take down my article from all the sites and publications where they have submitted it. I received a speedy reply from Scott barely seven hours later. He had this to say:

Hi Toni,

Apologies for this misunderstanding. The policy that any submissions to SRN become SRN's to direct to publishings was not clearly articulated, nor was I aware that the sample would even be used in that manner.

I just now learned a bit how things work in that way, having not been informed either. I am advised to first offer you the reconciliation of $4 paid to you by Paypal if you wish. That would seem to most expeditious why to ameliorate the sitution, wouldn't it?

If that is amenable and to your liking, please let me know now.

Just to confirm your statement in email below-- You are saying that the article was removed as requested from Enzine, but no where else?

Again, sorry for the confusion.

Scott

StartRankingNow did not have any part in removing the Ezine post after all. Of course they had to wait for their post to get delisted before acknowledging my email requests. I replied that I didn't need any pay for damages and once again requested the company to remove all their infringing article posts, or at least update them and accredit me as the author. I have never heard from the company ever since.

* Feb. 12, 2009

I discovered my article on more than a dozen Web sites. The reprints were all submitted/posted on Feb. 11, 2009, by either Rachel or StartRankingNow.com owner Nicole Munoz. Rachel even published my article as hers on her Blogspot blog, replete with pictures. I have filed copyright infringement complaints at all the sites I could reach. Many sites have thankfully responded to my complaints and have taken down StartRankingNow's plagiarized posts. Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, one article directory -- ArticlesBase.com -- informed me that they have received a similar complaint about Rachel but couldn't take any action since the complainant was not able to publish his/her samples before StartRankingNow beat him/her to it. They said that with a minimum of two plagiarized articles, they can ban Rachel from their site.

If anyone else has been scammed by StartRankingNow.com, and you were also able to publish your free or unpaid-for samples before SRN did, please get in touch with me. I have promised ArticlesBase that I will communicate with them if I ever discover another copyright infringement stint by StartRankingNow.

* Feb. 13, 2009

As if stealing my work is not enough, Nicole slammed me on StartRankingNow's company blog, stompermom.com, and solicited everyone to blacklist me. She eventually took down her blog post about me days later. You can still read a copy of her rant in Google's cached pages.

Everyone is welcome to email me for explicit details.

[the Messenger]

Tsk tsk tsk. Daghan 2x raba diri looking for home-based jobs.

By the way, since Iatjad has an account here, please contact her, not me.

[Sol_Itaire]

hmmmm duda jud ko anang mangayo og sample articles ba tsk tsk

[dodie]

That's why you should learn how to limit yourself during SAMPLING.
During the initial submission, don't give a 100% yet. Wait for the escrow / agreement.

Don't submit yourself fully yet or they might take advantage of it.

[paopao]

Grabeha ani oi.

Mao na lagi jud ning outsourcing lagi.

[Iatjad]

Update:

After close to three weeks of silence, I finally got a reply from StartRankingNow.com -- not via email or YM but through PinoyMoneyTalk.com's open forums.

You can read StartRankingNow's response in the second page of this thread:
Anyone tried startrankingnow.com?

Fellow writers, please stay informed!

[scorpionqueen]

Sus kakapoy ra ba jud research sa internet to write a decent article nga di magplagiarize then sa ing-ana kasayon lang kawaton sa uban.

[the Messenger]

I agree with you. The sad thing is ginagmay man gud ang kawat.

By requiring just one article from one applicant, the applicant will usually not mind his/her loss that much. Now imagine if there are 100 applicants. One hundred free articles pod ang makawat. Wise kaayo.

[scorpionqueen]

Sa sneakindesign kay they require 2 sample works from applicants but once hired, they get paid for it. I have friends who work for that company, tapos thru ML Kwarta Padala ang pay out. So far, they have nothing bad to say about the company man. Wa na ko ningtry oi kay creative writing is not my forte jud, kutob ra ko sa abstracting/indexing. Anyways, I hope masulbad na ang problema ni Iatjad.