Welcome to the September 2011 issue of ZooNews, from professional website design company Zoonini Web Services. We're back after a summer publication break – I hope everyone's fall (or spring, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere!) is going well so far.

One of my clients recently posted on Twitter that she'd noticed that a site had lifted one of her blog posts verbatim and reposted it on their site, without permission or attribution. She discovered this thanks to an online tool called Copyscape, which checks a URL you enter against a large database and shows you a list of pages where it's found significant chunks of your text.

I'd heard of the tool before, but it had been a while since I'd plugged in Zoonini.com, so I headed over to have a look. To my surprise, I found a small web design firm in Ireland that had taken my entire homepage nearly verbatim and plopped it onto their Services page. I'll admit, I was a little freaked out. My heart pounding, I quickly whipped up a strongly worded cease-and-desist message, and sent it over.

Hours later, an effusive apology was received from the man who owned the design firm in Ireland, explaining how it was all just a terrible mistake and how embarrassed he was. He said he must have put my text on his site as a temporary measure because he liked it so much and, of course, meant to replace it with his own. By the time I'd received his message, he'd already pulled down my copy and replaced it with lorem ipsum.

His explanation got me curious. The designer had gone to the trouble of changing all the text to use UK spelling (-ise vs. -ize, for example) so I wondered how recently he'd actually "borrowed" it. One quick trip to another amazing tool – the Internet Wayback Machine – and I discovered that in fact, my copy had graced his Services page all the way back in December 2008.

Moral of the story? It can be hard to hide forever on the Interwebs, so as with most things in life, it's generally always better just to do the right thing. Be original, or if you want to reprint someone's blog article or photo – unless it's already been marked as Creative Commons – ask nicely first.

Digital plagiarism is not just a problem for businesses who may find their web copy stolen by competitors, but also for academic institutions facing a generation of students who may not think of copying from the web as "real" plagiarism. It's a phenomenon that plagiarism-detection software has tried to address. However, the deeper issue seems to be "a disconnect that is growing in the Internet age as concepts of intellectual property, copyright and originality are under assault in the unbridled exchange of online information," as this New York Times article aptly puts it. Food for thought.

Got a technology term you'd like demystified in ZooNews? Send it to questions@zoonini.com.

Our remake for longtime client Box of Crayons brings together nearly a dozen formerly standalone sites under a single easy-to-manage WordPress-driven home base. Box of Crayons helps teams and organizations around the world do more great work through coaching programs, products, books and movies, which are now easy to find under one roof. The site features custom graphics from our colleague Poplogik and optimized copy from A.C. Riley Communications.

The new CINERGY™ Coaching site allows founder Cinnie Noble to independently update her coaching and training services as well as build a community around a conflict management-centered blog. Another WordPress site optimized by A.C. Riley Communications, the site's earthy look-and-feel makes a calming and natural impression on visitors. A sidebar contact form throughout the site encourages potential clients to get in touch.

I am currently taking on a limited number of new clients who are an ideal fit for Zoonini. If you know anyone who would be a good match, feel free to send them my way. I'm focussing on small and medium custom-designed WordPress-driven sites for clients who understand the benefit of a well-optimized, well-built site. Referrals form 90% of my new business and are always appreciated!

À la prochaine,

kp
aka Kathryn Presner