Ummm, I first want to know if AOL TimeWarner linked to the "bastardized" version from any of its web sites. Why? Because it does not appear to be a specific rip-off of his weblog. You could append any URL to the end of their nph-proxy.cgi script and get a bastardized version. For example:

http://www.austinpowers.com/cgi-bin/shared/nph-proxy.cgi/000010A/http/www.webword.com

Posted by: Jack on July 31, 2002 02:08 AM

 

Oh yeah, and strictly speaking... if the script is grabbing a copy of the weblog in real-time, AOL is probably not "hosting" the content (e.g., the fetched page is not stored on their server).

If ya don't like it, there are ways to stop them from redisplaying your content. On an Apache server use .htaccess to show their script a blank page. I trust M$ has a similar option.

Posted by: Jack on July 31, 2002 02:19 AM

 

Thanks for the comments, Jack. Note that I carefully used language such as "seems to be" and "most people may think"! I imagine the ethical/copyright issues are similar to those dealing with framed content. A few years ago, I remember a website called "The Dialectizer" was temporarily in hot water for operating an amusing feature that "translated" the text on a target web page into "Redneck" or "Swedish Chef".

Since the CGI script changes all the links on the target page so that they all are routed through the move website, I imagine that a spider found some page that has linked to my page.

At any rate, I'm one of thousands of users of my university's web server; I'm pretty computer literate for an English professor, but even if I had access to the university's server, I wouldn't know what to do. And if I were a system administrator, I probably wouldn't have the time to block individual websites in order to calm the nerves of irked faculty members, no matter how just the cause.

Does anyone want to write a CGI script that serves up pages on the austinpowers.com website, changing the text to a rant against megacorporations like AOLTimeWarner? Yeah, baby! :)

Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz on July 31, 2002 02:45 AM

 

Oh no, look what the hackers have done to our precious onMouseout="window.status=' '; return true">Webword!

Posted by: MadMan on July 31, 2002 06:45 AM

 

Drat, ruined my gag!

Click on the link anyway. :(

Posted by: MadMan on July 31, 2002 06:46 AM

 

The script in and of itself is not evil. For all I know, AOL uses it on its own web sites for legitimate purposes. I'm interested in seeing proof they are evil doers. Show me AOL linking to your site with this script, actually trying to place advertising over your content. Not the tool doing it when you put your URL into it, but an actual example of AOL intending to co-opt your content.

Posted by: Jack on July 31, 2002 09:32 AM

 

I searched Google for:

"austin powers" nph-proxy.cgi

The second result led to this page.

At the top of the page they are offering a simple transmogrification service. Users have to choose to view an altered version of your weblog (or any site they type into the text box). It's a simple novelty gag. I doubt many users would mistake the co-opted pages as being part of AOL. They're not placing banner ads on your page, only carrying the Austin Powers theme over to your page. I suppose there's room to be angry, but this seems pretty benign, given the many other far more evil ways corporations and their puppet politicians are trying to screw people today.

Posted by: Jack on July 31, 2002 11:21 AM

 

Good sleuthing, Jack! I'm sure that will put Mr. Jerz's mind at ease.

I can see why he was concerned... if I didn't know what was creating the page, I would feel the same way. I would want to know if they were framing me in or if they were actually copying my information for display, and I would want to know how they were distributing the information (what links pointed to it, etc.) It's one thing if your average joe points to something, but if a commercial company does the same thing, it might imply a paid endorsement, and I'd want control over that.

Blah blah blah... you get the idea.

Posted by: Lydia on July 31, 2002 01:47 PM

 

Lydia, you hit the nail right on the head. Thanks to all who helped me put this into perspective (especially "Admiral Browning" MadMan).

Thanks, John, for offering this forum.

Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz on July 31, 2002 03:51 PM

 

For this poor Indian, could you expand on Admiral Browning's role in your country's history?

Thanks (and I mean that).

Posted by: MadMan on July 31, 2002 07:47 PM

 

Right...Admiral Browning...should I admit that I don't know Admiral Browning either? Oh, I probably shouldn't admit that.

Posted by: John S. Rhodes on July 31, 2002 09:28 PM

 

I am not familiar with the term, but I learned about this neat new tool called a search engine. It told me all kind of crazy stuff.

"Admiral Browning" is a slang term to refer to torpedo shaped fecal matter large enough "to sink the Bismarck."

Posted by: Jack on July 31, 2002 10:11 PM

 

Woah. I confess I didn't know what it meant when I used it... when taken out of context, it seemed to be one of the least offensive terms added by the "Pornolizer" link to which MadMan referred the Webword readership. This has been an illuminating thread.

Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz on July 31, 2002 11:23 PM

 

If you consider this joke act as "stealting" your content, you might as well take on Google for caching your web site and the Internet Archive for making copies too. Or the translation sites that alter your content to Portuguese.

Publishing on the web means what you post is available for all kinds of use, most you will never know about. It comes with the territory.

Posted by: Alan on August 1, 2002 12:25 AM

 

Aha! I simply must set up an .htaccess file to feed a different version of my web pages to the Internet Archive. What kind of custom message should I have saved for all eternity? Hmmmmmmmmm.

Posted by: Jack on August 1, 2002 12:46 AM