LegendsofAmerica.com Back Online After Yahoo Shuts Down Business

(PRWEB) December 15, 2005 -- Kathy Weiser has always loved history, especially that of the American West. So it wasn’t a surprise to friends and family when she started her own website in 2003.

LegendsOfAmerica.com quickly consumed Weiser, and in 2004 she quit her paying job as a Business Consultant to dedicate more time to building the site into a viable historical, educational and travel resource. By early December, 2005, LegendsOfAmerica.com gained a following of over 13,000 unique visitors a day, including numerous educational sources, such as teachers, students and educational websites; as well as being featured in the Scout Report, named Worldstart.com’s cool site of the day, recognized by familyfriendlysites.com, Earthlink’s Pick of the Week, and was even named Yahoo Pick of the Day in August of 2004. It was an honor for the Lenexa, Kansas woman, especially coming from Yahoo, one of the top web sites in the world, which also just happened to host Weiser’s website.

So, it was a shock to her when Yahoo shut down the entire site -- over 3,000 pages, after an unsubstantiated allegation of copyright infringement was made in regards to a few photographs. Making their case, backed by the rules of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copy Right Act), Yahoo notified Weiser on December 5th of the allegation, asking her to not only to remove the pictures in question, but an entire sub-directory of photographs having nothing to do with the allegation; the removal of which would have severely impacted a large portion of the web site and her business. The notification went on to explain how Weiser could reply to the allegation if she felt it was by mistake or misidentification within 48 hours, which she immediately did.

Weiser says, “The photographs in question are from the National Library of Congress and other historical archives, all of which are now in the public domain due to their publication dates in the late 1800’s and early 20th century.”

The accusing site, WithoutSanctuary.org features some of the same pictures in a book about Lynching in America. Weiser says none of her photos came from their website or book, but that she did go ahead and remove eight pictures that she could not clearly identify the source. “After replying within 24 hours, then not hearing anything back from Yahoo, I honestly thought that would be the end of it, and even if it wasn’t that they would simply block the disputed material, which was stated as a possible action in their notification.” Instead, Weiser says Yahoo disabled her entire site on December 7th, crippling her business.

“I’m a firm believer in copyright protection, and the DMCA regulations do provide some protection of those rights, but to go through an accusation with no due process and literally shut the door on my livelihood takes the act’s intent too far.”

Weiser goes on to say, that even though she agreed to remove the disputed material, Yahoo’s lack of response to repeated voicemails and emails to their legal department prevented her from getting any resolution through them. “I couldn’t get an answer from anyone. The only ‘live’ people I could talk to were in customer service, and all they could do is refer me to their legal department voice-mail, which to date, has returned no calls.”

Weiser continued by saying that the idea that someone could make an accusation based on the DMCA and shut down a business, without due process, frightens her. “I make every attempt to ensure I’m not infringing on someone else’s rights, and since this was the first complaint made to Yahoo about my site, I really expected them to support their customer by investigating before taking such a severe action and potentially ruining my business.”

According to Yahoo’s copyright material on their website, Weiser could take legal action against the accuser if the material was found to be misidentified, but Weiser says she’s not the litigious type. “I just want to provide a fun and informative site on the American West, but with a host that will ask questions before acting on potentially false and damaging accusations.”

Weiser successfully moved to a new hosting service over the weekend and www.LegendsOfAmerica.com was back up on December 12th.     While still in the process of reloading all the material, she has added a copyright policy to her web site, inviting anyone that feels they have been infringed on to notify her directly. “If I’m wrong, I’m more than willing to rectify the situation,” Weiser said. She continued by saying, that although she is not a litigious person and would prefer to avoid unnecessary legal fees, she will seek legal means to protect her site from future unsubstantiated incidents.

For additional information, visit the website at http://legendsofamerica.com, call 913-708-5119, or snail mail at 7457 Quivira Rd, #166, Shawnee, KS 66216

###

Related Articles:

Buying Links - How To Make Sure That The Links You Buy Are Worth It
Before you start looking at links to buy you need to know that not all links for sale are worth it There are many things that you need to look at before you buy those links

Traffic One Way Links And Reciprocal Link Exchange
While reciprocal links are still valid and help you gain link popularity and page rank, many SEO experts agree that one way links are more valuable. One way links are also known as non-reciprocal links. Acquiring one way links are much more difficult than reciprocal links. One way links are a tool that can be quite beneficial to the webmaster. The very best one way links are those that are included in the content of another website, directing visitors to your website. One way links are those where you point to a site, or a site points to you without a link being returned. One way links are the best way to increase the link popularity of the site and get theme based links for natural search engine optimization.

25 Common Link Exchange & Search Engine Terms
In today's world of website promotion and traffic building, a whole new set of terms and definitions have developed. To be a successful webmaster and/or website owner, it is important to know the meanings of some of the most popular link exchange and search engine terms.

15 Proven Ways For Link Building To Improve Search Engine Rank
Almost all webmasters know that incoming links are food for website. The website will rank high in the search engine result pages as long as they have great quality incoming links with related anchor text.

Link Building: To Link, or Not to Link, That is the Question
Lately, there have been a lot of heated discussions regarding link building. Is it ethical to create a link building campaign? Does Google or any other search engine penalize for "link farms" (a bunch of non-related links created for the SOLE purpose of increasing search engine ratings)? Is the "link building era" over?Link FarmsMany webmasters claim that Google penalizes websites for link farms.

Link Building To Improve Search Engine Rank
As the competition increasing every day so when you are planning to make business online then you need to optimize your site For this Search Engine Optimization or SEO is getting popular every day

Smart Link's Local Submit Enhances SEO for Vertical Search Engines
Smart Link Web, a Michigan based (http://profiles.smartlinksolutions.com) leader in search engine optimization (SEO), now offers a method for small and local businesses to climb to the top of search engine rankings. This is in response to Google's recent change in its search results through the vertical search system. It introduces Smart Link Local Submit to give local and small scale businesses an edge in the field of online business. Unlike the traditional horizontal counterpart, vertical search results place local businesses above the normal organic results. Vertical searches are focused on the particular - and the online user is given ...

Link Survey Version 1.6: Improve Search Engine Ranking by Learning About Competitors
AntsSoft today announced the release of Link Survey version 1.6, the first software in the world which can check link popularity of multiple relative websites, make comprehensive analysis, and generate a detailed report.

SEO Link Building and Copywriting Service Relaunched by Search Engine Optimization Firm Brick Marketing
Brick Marketing has realized the importance of incorporating and combining link building into all aspects of online marketing for each of their clients. They have since re-launched their link building service for those interested in introducing online marketing in their business model.

Rethinking Linking - Link Exchange Back to Basics
In the old days of the internet, links were the primary communication path between web sites. Search engines were not as sophisticated as today, and search results rather crude.

Rock Your Rank With a Dynamite Text Link - Yahoo Directory Explodes Rankings
Last week a client called me excitedly exclaiming that their Google PageRank had jumped a notch and their targeted keyword term now ranked #23 (up from #45) for their competitive search phrase. I asked the client if he'd been notified by Yahoo that his site was now included in the index after we had submitted it three weeks ago.

Boost Your Search Engine Ranking And Generate Free Traffic With Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links are an important step in your overall plan to get site visitors.What are they? Reciprocal links are mutual links you and some other web site owner agree to post on your respective sites.

One Way Links and Reciprocal Link Exchange and Traffic
While reciprocal links are still valid and help you gain link popularity and page rank, many SEO experts agree that one way links are more valuable. One way links are also known as non-reciprocal links. Acquiring one way links are much more difficult than reciprocal links. One way links are a tool that can be quite beneficial to the webmaster. The very best one way links are those that are included in the content of another website, directing visitors to your website. One way links are those where you point to a site, or a site points to you without a link being returned. One way links are the best way to increase the link popularity of the site and get theme based links for natural search engine optimization.

Linking for Traffic: The Shift from Link Directories to Hyper-Targeted Linking
There's a stiff wind blowing in a new direction on the web. And you'd benefit from taking the time to notice the direction its headed.

Link Building and Link Strategy for Increased Web Traffic
Toronto, ON November 26, 2007 ? There are millions of websites in cyberspace. The challenge becomes how to ensure that your website is found on search engines and is seen by potential customers.