Many of you in the know have seen these pumpkins before. Those of you know what these pumpkins mean. They symbolize theft, infringement, and moreover, complete idiocy. The rest of you may or may not remember, a couple of weeks ago, the tale of Cook’s Source – a magazine specializing in the plagiarism of writers the world over fun recipes and stuff. Either way, let me whisper all of you a sweet earful of rad: due to the Internet’s apparently vaster knowledge of the copyright of intellectual property than Cook’s Source editor Judith Griggs, Cook’s Source (which Grigg’s erroneously spells without an apostrophe) has been shamed into oblivion.
The website has been shut down, but not before Griggs gave one final farewell – a farewell dripping with the squishy dampness of what can now only be described as trademark Judith Griggs ignorance (Griggnorance?). Check it:
“We have never been a great money-maker even with all the good we do for businesses,” the note reads. “Having a black mark won’t help…and now, our black mark will become our shroud. Winters are bleak in Western New England, and as such they are bleak for Cooks Source as well. This will end us. In the end if we did keep going, I would (very gladly) hire someone else to serve as editor and just continue my work with the towns.”The message went on to thank the advertisers and readers, and in its final breath, gave one last middle finger to the plagiarized writer who killed the beast in the first place. “To one writer in particular, Monica Gaudio, I wish you had given me a chance.” A chance to what, Griggs? Get her to pay you for using her article behind her back? Blaming the writer, again, in your ‘apology’. Wow. Enjoy ‘your work with the towns’, Judith, and remember: don’t f*** with the internet.
A similar thing happened to me. An article I wrote about the iPhone ended up copied, in its entirety and without permission, on a site that advertises their iPods/iPhones/etc. for sale on eBay. I attempted to contact the site but got ignored. I attempted to contact eBay to let them know that one of their “partners” was engaging in such behavior. Again, I got ignored.
I am so glad that Monica Gaudio got some justice, even if there are still many of us out there in the same situation who’ve gotten none.
-Mike
I can’t help but think we are going to see this again, and again, until people realize that the curtain has been torn down. If you cheat, lie, steal, f*** around or are just a phony. You will be found out and you’re going to pay heavily.