16
Mar
07

MWI’s Blog Ripped Off by Ion Micro

By Joshua Steimle 8 Comments Categories: MWI

You know, it’s interesting enough when your site gets ripped off, but when the very people ripping it off make extra efforts to bring it to your attention then you have to wonder if the ripoff artists are a few cigars short of a Cuban dictator. Below, you see the graphic for Ion Micro’s website, evidently under construction (**Update – We have removed the link to IonMicro’s site since it now appears to be a porn site). Then there is a screenshot of MWI’s blog, WeLoveBlue.com. Anything look similar to you?

ion_micro.jpg

weloveblue.jpg


The ripoff had been brought to my attention as early as February 24th of this year but I buried exposure of it in a comment trail on a post about another website ripoff, thus most people who read this blog weren’t informed of it and perhaps never would have been.

But today one Brian Millgrath posted a comment on another ripoff-related post on this website saying “Looks like you have too much time on your hands… Who cares at this point?” Well, I thought that was an interesting comment that bore looking into, so I checked out the URL of Brian’s email address, and what do you know, it redirects to a ripoff of our blog, the same one I had seen before, but now I felt it was worthy of being made front-page material.

So, here are my tips for rip-off web designers:

1. If you’re going to rip off people’s websites, change them enough that it’s hard to tell. Especially don’t copy the exact stylesheet, HTML code, and images and leave them all exactly the same, only switching out the logo and main photo on the homepage. But if you’re too lazy, at least follow these tips:

2. Get rid of any analytics tracking code you may have inadvertently copied over. Otherwise whenever someone hits your website it will show up in the victim’s analytics and they’ll be able to find you out pretty easily.

3. Don’t post comments on the blog of the person whose website you have ripped off.

4. And especially don’t post comments that draw attention to themselves. For example, if you are a ripoff artist, don’t defend other ripoff artists or seek to divert attention from them. This only draws attention to yourself.

Related posts:

  1. Someone Ripped Off MWI’s Website Design
  2. MWI’s Website Ripped Off Yet Again, for the Last Time
  3. MWI’s Website Ripped Off by Swanson Holland
  • http://www.russpage.net Russell Page

    The Daily Universe Newspaper got in trouble for doing this very thing a few years back with their website. Some web designer yanked a very similar design from another site. Of course BYU wanted nothing to do with that kind of behavior.

  • Jim Durant

    Not to side with those who rip off sites, but I mean it’s a pretty simple page (no offense)… Although the general principal appears the same, I’ve seen a lot worse. It appears they caught wind, as their site redirects to a mail server. Besides, I wouldn’t want to give whoever did this free publicity…

  • http://www.mwi.com Joshua Steimle

    Sounds like Brian got his friend to post a comment or is posting under another name.

    The two designs are about 98% the same, which goes beyond generalities and doesn’t leave much room for getting worse. There were a number of things he could have changed quite easily that he didn’t both to, including the background color, the body font, etc.

    But I’m not offended, as with the other ripoffs of our site I find it entertaining that grown people will blatantly steal our design and call it their own. I’m all for gathering inspiration from other websites, and I think a great way to learn how to do web design is to copy other people’s sites and then modify them until you have something unique. If Brian is just some 14 year-old kid who is learning HTML and web design and the Ion Micro site is just a place for him to practice then that’s no big deal and he’s welcome to copy our website all day long. But if Brian’s a grown man with a real business and the best he can do is copy other people’s websites then that is laughable indeed.

    But hey, I’m sure he’s a standup guy. After all, rather than apologizing he just sent me a photo of a nude woman flipping the bird. Real classy.

  • http://www.jordankasteler.com/utah-seo-pro-blog/ Jordan Kasteler

    Steimle,
    That’s not the first time. I came across another Website that was a dead rip off of MWI.com’s previous layout. I’ll have to hunt down that URL again. You can post them on http://www.pirated-sites.com.

  • Paul McGann

    Mr. Steimle,

    I came across this post by looking through my son’s internet history. This website is on my web server that I use for email and sometime in the near future my computer business. Unfortunately, I gave my son free access to the server and I have since discovered what has been going on. I apologize for any harm this has caused on my son’s behalf. He is 16 and learning HTML and regrdless of that fact has acted in an inappropriate manner.

    I have reprimanded him and disallowed him future access to the server. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the above email address or by phone at ___-___-____.

    I would ask that you please remove this post so that I may use this server for legitamate purposes in the future without any potential negative impact from my son’s action.

    Again, my apologies and thank you for your understanding.

    Paul Mcgann

  • http://www.mwi.com Joshua Steimle

    Well Paul, if you really are the father of the guy who ripped off our site and you are concerned about being able to use the URL for “legitimate” purposes, you might want to check out the website now, seeing as how it’s redirecting to a porn site.

  • Paul McGann

    No, It desn’t. It never did, it never will redirect to a porn site. You need to check your typing apparently… Also, I found your lack of response to my email and previous messages very unprofessional. I did the right thing, apologized, and you don’t even have the courtesy of a reponse other than hiding behind this blog. Your lack of maturity makes it clear to me why MWI is in constant financial crisis (your words elsewhere on this blog, not mine). And now you are further smearing Ion’s name by linking it to a porn site… Real nice. Good to see your missionary work taught you something.

  • http://www.mwi.com Joshua Steimle

    Maybe you need to be more aware of who has control over your website. Someone emailed me to tell me the links I had pointing at your website were going to a porn site. I checked it out and verified that this was indeed the case.

    I expect this was done in retaliation for this post, knowing that there were links from this post to your website and that people clicking on the links on this blog would find themselves on a porn site would give whoever has control of the Ion Micro site a certain sense of satisfaction.

    If you really are who you say you are, you might want to chat with your son again. Maybe he’s the one who redirected your website to a porn site.