50megs is runing my rep.
April 13, 2011 7:40 PM Subscribe
15 years ago, as a teenager, I wrote a fanfic about a sexual encounter and published it under my real name. One of the archives with this story has resurfaced on a new server, www.50megs.com, unbeknownst to the original owner of the archive. She's tried to have the page removed but to no avail; I've also been in touch with the new host of the site but have been told to just contact the owner - who no longer really owns it. What can I/we do to get this page down?
The above, I think, says it all, but added detail since I'm posting anonymously (trying to keep yet another link to this embarrassing saga away from my real name!) in case it's of use:
The site was originally hosted by one of those 90s-era free sites - Tripod, maybe, or Geocities, something like that. The owner was a slightly older teenager than myself, and I believe the original site simply expired a few years after the fandom began to die out, so probably in the early 2000s. 50megs says they can't do anything to the account because I cannot verify that I am the owner, and I think that the original owner is a little tired of hearing from me - I know she's tried to have it taken down, and apparently 50megs told her they had deleted the entire page, but it is still active today (my original request was made more than a year ago, so this isn't a matter of simple lag/cache expiration). Also, sadly, this site tends to come up as a top-10 hit for my name at times - it's hardly buried - and Google won't stop linking to it because my reasons for wanting it disassociated don't fall under any of their criteria.
I know that some of my colleagues have found this site, and some of them do believe it's me and not someone else with my name (there are only about 5 of us). Also, this sadly coincides with my name being publicized recently, so searches for me have greatly increased - and I know this archive/story is one of the hits most frequently found. It's so distressing... if only I"d realized, at 15, to use a freaking pseudonym or not publish it at all.
If anyone can help me bounce back from what was a really dumb teenage event, you'd have my undying gratitude.
The above, I think, says it all, but added detail since I'm posting anonymously (trying to keep yet another link to this embarrassing saga away from my real name!) in case it's of use:
The site was originally hosted by one of those 90s-era free sites - Tripod, maybe, or Geocities, something like that. The owner was a slightly older teenager than myself, and I believe the original site simply expired a few years after the fandom began to die out, so probably in the early 2000s. 50megs says they can't do anything to the account because I cannot verify that I am the owner, and I think that the original owner is a little tired of hearing from me - I know she's tried to have it taken down, and apparently 50megs told her they had deleted the entire page, but it is still active today (my original request was made more than a year ago, so this isn't a matter of simple lag/cache expiration). Also, sadly, this site tends to come up as a top-10 hit for my name at times - it's hardly buried - and Google won't stop linking to it because my reasons for wanting it disassociated don't fall under any of their criteria.
I know that some of my colleagues have found this site, and some of them do believe it's me and not someone else with my name (there are only about 5 of us). Also, this sadly coincides with my name being publicized recently, so searches for me have greatly increased - and I know this archive/story is one of the hits most frequently found. It's so distressing... if only I"d realized, at 15, to use a freaking pseudonym or not publish it at all.
If anyone can help me bounce back from what was a really dumb teenage event, you'd have my undying gratitude.
Ah, I have done this for a friend. Basically, you locate the upstream host and you send them a friendly little note. I believe the subject line in the email I sent was "Pre-DMCA stuff." I explained that, rather than everyone firing up the lawyers, I'd appreciate talking to someone who pays bills about getting the copyrighted material taken off of the relevant URLs. This got folks' attention and I was placed in contact with the right people.
I had to do a few rounds of this, stomping it out in one place after another, but I got her stuff taken down everywhere, whereas before it was the number one hit for her name. It no longer shows up, anywhere. I still search every couple of months — the material never reappeared.
posted by adipocere at 7:55 PM on April 13, 2011 [16 favorites]
I had to do a few rounds of this, stomping it out in one place after another, but I got her stuff taken down everywhere, whereas before it was the number one hit for her name. It no longer shows up, anywhere. I still search every couple of months — the material never reappeared.
posted by adipocere at 7:55 PM on April 13, 2011 [16 favorites]
I'm not a lawyer, but I would think that you could DMCA takedown notice which would compel the ISP to take down your copyrighted material.
posted by i love cheese at 7:58 PM on April 13, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by i love cheese at 7:58 PM on April 13, 2011 [5 favorites]
Not the OP's attorney, this is not legal advice. Seconding the idea of a DMCA takedown notice.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 8:09 PM on April 13, 2011
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 8:09 PM on April 13, 2011
There are many problems with the DMCA, but this is what DMCA notifications are meant for. You own the copyright on your story, someone else has copied it without your permission (I'm assuming that you didn't include any sort of license that permits people to redistribute the story), and you want it taken down. As such, you can send a letter to the ISP attesting to these facts, and the ISP will most likely take it down. I'll note (this is not legal advice) that there can be consequences (though there almost never are) if you falsely swear that a site is infringing your copyright in this way, so I would read the directions carefully. They will do so because, if they don't, they can be held liable for their customer's infringement. This page looks like it has good resources on doing it yourself.
If you need help figuring out who the ISP is, feel free to MeMail me. Once it's removed, you can ask Google to recrawl the page so it is removed from their cache. It might pop up again if someone posts it elsewhere, but this will at least get it far more buried.
posted by zachlipton at 8:10 PM on April 13, 2011
If you need help figuring out who the ISP is, feel free to MeMail me. Once it's removed, you can ask Google to recrawl the page so it is removed from their cache. It might pop up again if someone posts it elsewhere, but this will at least get it far more buried.
posted by zachlipton at 8:10 PM on April 13, 2011
Also, if 50megs doesn't respond to your DMCA notification within a couple days, I would send a letter to the United Online Legal Department (address in 3rd paragraph). There's another legal department address in paragraph 6 of this policy document that you could address it to as well. 50megs is apparently part of United Online, which is a major publicly traded company (they own Juno, the flower delivery service FTD, classmates.com, and NetZero, among other brands). They undoubtedly receive DMCA notifications all the time and it's very much in their interest to take the page down without further question.
posted by zachlipton at 8:18 PM on April 13, 2011
posted by zachlipton at 8:18 PM on April 13, 2011
If you don't have any satisfaction going the legal route, I think the most effective solution to this would be to start a blog under your name and begin posting a ton of blog posts with google-friendly titles and search terms. My own youthful indiscretions into fanfic are now much harder to find because of that.
It also depends on exactly how graphic the fanfic was, and your field, but I'm a big fan of the irritated shrug and easy dismissal when asked about that sort of thing. My usual response is something like, "Yeah, I was fifteen and a big dork. Oh well!"
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:25 PM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
It also depends on exactly how graphic the fanfic was, and your field, but I'm a big fan of the irritated shrug and easy dismissal when asked about that sort of thing. My usual response is something like, "Yeah, I was fifteen and a big dork. Oh well!"
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:25 PM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Thirding DMCA Takedown Notice.
posted by orthogonality at 8:38 PM on April 13, 2011
posted by orthogonality at 8:38 PM on April 13, 2011
You might want to ask a mod to edit the text and title of your question to remove all mentions of the site's name. Increased traffic from AskMe won't help you at all if you want the story to be ranked lower in a Google search.
posted by Drop Daedalus at 10:03 PM on April 13, 2011
posted by Drop Daedalus at 10:03 PM on April 13, 2011
You might want to ask a mod to edit the text and title of your question to remove all mentions of the site's name. Increased traffic from AskMe won't help you at all if you want the story to be ranked lower in a Google search.
50megs is the hosting site, not the actual site with the content, so I don't see this question making a real difference in terms of the story's search engine ranking.
posted by zachlipton at 11:04 PM on April 13, 2011
50megs is the hosting site, not the actual site with the content, so I don't see this question making a real difference in terms of the story's search engine ranking.
posted by zachlipton at 11:04 PM on April 13, 2011
Oops. Rereading the question, zachlipton is right. Never mind.
posted by Drop Daedalus at 12:43 AM on April 14, 2011
posted by Drop Daedalus at 12:43 AM on April 14, 2011
Try dmca measures first. If that fails, create a sixth fictional namesake with a blog, fake picture, and detailed bio who could plausibly be the author.
posted by benzenedream at 1:40 AM on April 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by benzenedream at 1:40 AM on April 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
In addition to the requisite DCMA takedown notice, which I'm sure you're clear on, I'd strongly recommend getting your name in wider circulation to dilute the pool. Since you say your name has been publicized recently (for presumably unrelated reasons), you can start a little personal media campaign to get blogs posts and articles written about you that will show up higher in search engine results. Other good methods of flooding include participating in chip-timed races, joining professional associations, and getting active on your alumni websites and facebook groups you don't mind your name being associated with.
posted by juniperesque at 6:26 AM on April 14, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by juniperesque at 6:26 AM on April 14, 2011 [2 favorites]
My suggestion was along the same lines as benzenedream, but with the additional step of munging your name. If your real name is Marie Lloyd, post your fic in a bunch of places crediting the author as Emma-Marie Lloyd. When your employers search for "Marie Lloyd" they'll see the fic, but Marie the businesswoman and Emma-Marie the fanwriter will appear to be two different people.
posted by the latin mouse at 11:05 AM on April 16, 2011
posted by the latin mouse at 11:05 AM on April 16, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sanko at 7:46 PM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]