There's money to be made on the internet.

[NickFitz]

Sometimes the guilty are punished..

Google blacklists websites run by family of Grant Shapps | Politics | The Guardian

Google blacklists websites run by the family of Grant Shapps.
(via a NFitz retweet)

The really interesting bit of that story is right at the end:

Shapps's spokesman previously said: "Grant Shapps derives no income, dividends, or other income from this business, which is run by his wife, Belinda, with a registered office in Pinner in north-west London. He is quite simply not involved in this business.

"Mrs Shapps runs her own online business, uses freelancers, moderators and programmers to post on forums, generate products and maintain a help desk."

[one paragraph omitted ]

Belinda Shapps declined to comment and directed all questions to the head of the Tory party press office.

So the Tory minister has no involvement with his wife's business, yet she refers questions about it to "the head of the Tory party press office"? Are they moonlighting for this company of hers? One of those freelancers she uses, perhaps?

Maybe the Tory press office just likes answering questions on behalf of other people. "Excuse me sir, have you been drinking before driving this car?" "Ask the Tory press office, constable." "Doctor, is there any cure?" "The Tory press office will tell you, I'm off to the golf club." "Mum, what's for dinner?" "Give the Tory press office a ring, they'll let you know."

[MrMark]

Sometimes the guilty are punished..

Google blacklists websites run by family of Grant Shapps | Politics | The Guardian

Google blacklists websites run by the family of Grant Shapps.
(via a NFitz retweet)

[petergriffin]

It is my understanding that a few gentlemen here write code to sniff the highest bid for a share/commodity for their clients. What the "Tory scmbag" has done in quite minimal in comparison.

[Spacecadet]

Even if Google doesn't follow up (why should it?) surely copying other people's material and re-publishing it for financial gain, without permission or accreditation, is theft?

depends if it falls into the fair use category or not

[MrMark]

The way that article carries on you would have thought that breaking googles code of practice is a capital offence.

Even if Google doesn't follow up (why should it?) surely copying other people's material and re-publishing it for financial gain, without permission or accreditation, is theft?

[Spacecadet]

The way that article carries on you would have thought that breaking googles code of practice is a capital offence.

[MrMark]

Allegations of sockpuppetry - I wonder if he posts here

Grant Shapps is a sock-puppeting loser | Bloggerheads

[MrMark]

"Filthy Tory scumbag makes money!"
- Guardian

Well maybe...

Or perhaps they are pointing out that copying and republishing other people's work in order to derive money from that, is theft?

Clever though. Why didn't I think of doing it...

[Doggy Styles]

"Filthy Tory scumbag makes money!"
- Guardian

[Platypus]

Hang on - haven't I just done something similar by copying/pasting part of that article?

The Guardian probably copied it, or the lazy hack wot wrote it did.

[MrMark]

Even a Tory Minister, Grant Shapps found a way.

Grant Shapps founded company selling software that breaches Google code | Politics | The Guardian

But for some reason he did it under an assumed name. I wonder why?

Grant Shapps, the Conservative housing minister tipped for promotion to the cabinet this week, founded a family business selling software that increases a website's advertising revenue by breaching Google's code of practice.

The $497 (£313) software package, TrafficPaymaster, creates web pages by "spinning and scraping" content from other sites to attract advertising from Google.

Hang on - haven't I just done something similar by copying/pasting part of that article?