Does Plagiarism Exist If You Can't See It?

Baldwin Louie — Thu, 21 Jun 2001 15:00:00 -0700

It's copying, but with a twist. A Belgian ISP has sued Women.com, accusing it of pilfering its text and then running it invisibly on the Women.com site. The alleged heist is thought to be a ploy to bring more viewers to the women's site. Oops, we mean community. What, features like "Worst Pickup Lines" aren't working?

Media reports smirked at the news. According to the lawsuit (how many tech stories begin that way these days?), Euregio.net says Women.com violated its copyright by reprinting a paragraph from a horoscope site run by Euregio.net in white text on a white background. The invisible letters are detected by search engines, and thereby drive more traffic to Women.com, according to reporters. But the white-on-white look is so out these days, so for its trouble, Euregio wants $900,000 from iVillage, the new and no doubt proud owner of Women.com.

Salon's coverage included a digital try-this-at-home kit that let the curious use Google and its incriminating caching talents to see what Women.com has been accused of. Given that the text was invisible, Women.com apparently didn't bring its full editorial strengths to bear on it: According to Newsbytes, Euregio's suit says Women.com's reprint preserved the original spelling errors. And while cheaters tend to look pitiful (no wandering eyes, class), they also keep unseemly company. Salon noted that the cut-and- paste approach to content is "a tack normally reserved for porn sites."

Women.com officials aren't helping. While the CEO is "pursuing new interests" as of Monday, the company's counsel was quoted by Salon as calling the lawsuit "totally spurious, an outright attempt to blackmail and get money." The lawyer then suggested that perhaps the offending paragraph was the work of "a hacker or sabotage." (She must have missed the new survey that indicated the greatest perceived threat to computer systems isn't from wily hackers but disgruntled insiders.) Perhaps there's a feature article here: "10 Ways Not to Build Your Brand."

Cut-and-paste horoscope horror at Women.com
Salon.com

Women.com sued over plagiarism
The Register

Euregio.net Sues Women.com Over Horoscopes - Update
Newsbytes.com

Women.com CEO Departs as iVillage Merger Closes
AtNewYork.com

Insiders More Threatening Than Hackers?
CNET (Reuters)

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Does Plagiarism Exist If You Can't See It?