PA cybersquatting?

[Captain Morgan]

Anyone remember HarperPrism? I don't know if HarperCollins shut down that branch or what but... today I went to harperprism.com and it turns out some affiliate junkie took over the sites registration. And surprise.... what did I find?


Need Book Publishing? (http://www.harperprism.com/go.php?q=&p=&r=&u=c3M6YWRhOGYxY2Y5NGE4MjIxMWI1OGQ1MDQ4NTU5ODRhNmJk MTY2NWMzOT1hPiMwYydvdjozfGgkMiJoJCchdSQyOXYkMnhsYz NsdSQ8bGolXiNwYjI0dSUyOXQ6M3xoJDIiaCRcOXAlMnhyQDNb aEAmd20lJms5LWsxNTopZGlhMiQpKGpkKV8wZzItMjFoKSl7Pm IobGopemc0IjBbX1tuIn07MXxyLTNkeztqW3wmKFttKDF7fCMs ZHwpJmRmJWt0XC1tbG5fMDl8LWwueCV6ZDU6JmQmJDE5aWEiLm 4kJmQsYjAuISgnJTMiXDF8WzBsXCMne29hPFt1LW14amJrezUl ImhdZCx4dCluJGklMmRcLSYjdi1rJXlhJ3xrXywsMik%2BazVi MWwlX25kYSYscDMlMjFzZW17KVsmcGk7anwyJDAuey1ubHxfMH cxJV5kXGMoLlstaiR8KTA5XCQmZCxbPmQ7OygsdygoLnwtKCxt Ym4idEApO20lJiMxY213OWE%2BIzBjJ292OjNkM2R5NXdkJntz YV5bbyUmMWxjbWxqJV81amIyMHYlXiIwYTw5eWEmNW1ieTVoYz NgbSUyeHAkJjUwQCZbaDomI3c6JmhwJDJocyUmNWtjeiF6Xnpb d2EuOTRiJnh3JSJoM19ubHUkMyExImoibygmNV5jLHQmLTEjOi NsZGlhInxuZWo7MFstPz8%3D&i=c3M6OGYxMzAxNjE2ZjY4YzEyOGM0N2FkMDYxNzlmYjQ1ZmU5 NmNkZjE4Mz0lMix0JD5gdGE8bG5hPHhoYm0jejtqW2Y7M3xvXj NodGI%2BfGgmPmR9ZSY1bmNqIiZbJmgjYmxkd18xJCciLHQ8Ij J7cCg8ZDY7ei0x)Avoid stigma of paying a publisher! We want your book, not your money
www.publishamerica.com (http://www.harperprism.com/go.php?q=&p=&r=&u=c3M6YWRhOGYxY2Y5NGE4MjIxMWI1OGQ1MDQ4NTU5ODRhNmJk MTY2NWMzOT1hPiMwYydvdjozfGgkMiJoJCchdSQyOXYkMnhsYz NsdSQ8bGolXiNwYjI0dSUyOXQ6M3xoJDIiaCRcOXAlMnhyQDNb aEAmd20lJms5LWsxNTopZGlhMiQpKGpkKV8wZzItMjFoKSl7Pm IobGopemc0IjBbX1tuIn07MXxyLTNkeztqW3wmKFttKDF7fCMs ZHwpJmRmJWt0XC1tbG5fMDl8LWwueCV6ZDU6JmQmJDE5aWEiLm 4kJmQsYjAuISgnJTMiXDF8WzBsXCMne29hPFt1LW14amJrezUl ImhdZCx4dCluJGklMmRcLSYjdi1rJXlhJ3xrXywsMik%2BazVi MWwlX25kYSYscDMlMjFzZW17KVsmcGk7anwyJDAuey1ubHxfMH cxJV5kXGMoLlstaiR8KTA5XCQmZCxbPmQ7OygsdygoLnwtKCxt Ym4idEApO20lJiMxY213OWE%2BIzBjJ292OjNkM2R5NXdkJntz YV5bbyUmMWxjbWxqJV81amIyMHYlXiIwYTw5eWEmNW1ieTVoYz NgbSUyeHAkJjUwQCZbaDomI3c6JmhwJDJocyUmNWtjeiF6Xnpb d2EuOTRiJnh3JSJoM19ubHUkMyExImoibygmNV5jLHQmLTEjOi NsZGlhInxuZWo7MFstPz8%3D&i=c3M6OGYxMzAxNjE2ZjY4YzEyOGM0N2FkMDYxNzlmYjQ1ZmU5 NmNkZjE4Mz0lMix0JD5gdGE8bG5hPHhoYm0jejtqW2Y7M3xvXj NodGI%2BfGgmPmR9ZSY1bmNqIiZbJmgjYmxkd18xJCciLHQ8Ij J7cCg8ZDY7ei0x)


Looks like his id tag is:
gclid=CP_D88aO_ZECFSGWGgodBi6T9A

I wonder, considering what poor royalties the authors get, how much do you think this affiliate can possibly get?

Interesting to see that PA prevents page inclusion on Amazon, yet has no problems with piss-poor affiliate junkies.

[DaveKuzminski]

If HarperCollins still owns that trademark which I'm willing to bet they do, then PA is in terrible trouble since they or an affiliate are using HarperPrism. Gee, you'd think that Vic would have advised PA not to mess with a company having more lawyers then them.

Captain Morgan, I think HarperCollins needs to be informed where that ad is located.

[JulieB]

It appears to be registered to a group that takes expired (and possibly typo) domains and puts up ads. They've had the domain for about three years. Guess Harper isn't too interested, or else they've tried and can't get control.

[DaveKuzminski]

Or they don't know about it yet. Either way, they should be notified because using a domain name that contains a trademark could be a violation unless your name is the same. Even then, it could be a problem.

[victoriastrauss]

The HarperPrism imprint was discontinued when Harper bought Morrow/Avon in 1999. Its books and some of its staff were folded into Avon's Eos imprint, which is the one that survives today.

I doubt the Harper folks are interested in that domain name, given that the imprint no longer exists.

- Victoria

[TwentyFour]

When I typed in Harperprism.com just some art distributors show up on the page, nothing to do with PA.

[JulieB]

Stained glass this time for me. Refresh and you'll see a different bunch of ads.

Many of them have a very tenuous connection to Harper or Prism. One just went to Yahoo.com.

It's like going to Google and typing in a very specific request for something that shouldn't be for sale, like a person, and seeing: "Find the best Jane Doe products on the web! Click here!"

Oh I'm seeing treatments for black eye. Some people will do anything for a buck, won't they?

[TwentyFour]

A good cold steak will help black eyes...lol. (not that I've had one before :) )

[jamiehall]

It's like going to Google and typing in a very specific request for something that shouldn't be for sale, like a person, and seeing: "Find the best Jane Doe products on the web! Click here!"


Try an ad for becoming a werewolf by going to college (http://jamiehall.livejournal.com/34097.html). Automatically generated ads can spew out quite a lot of nonsense.