Your help please: Sommelier Diploma Program

I confess that the subject is really slightly misleading, but I did want some of you to look at this and help me if possible.

Does anyone have any information on http://www.soothingbreeze.com?

If you look at the website, you will see that there's nothing but links to educational class notes prefaced SDP which I take to stand for Sommelier Diploma Program.

Reason for asking for help is that I found one of these sets of notes by chance through a google search putting in the search terms - Savoie Mondeuse Louis Magnin USA - on looking at the link I discovered that I was reading words that seemed terribly familiar - yes, I had written them and they have been lifted in chunks from an on-line article straight into the notes for Savoie, France (the notes aren't only my words). Same thing when I looked at the Jura notes from the same site.

If you happen to be the person that put these notes up, please do not be frightened, just get in touch with me. Number one: it is wrong (well, illegal actually) to reproduce other people's copyrighted work without permission. Number two: if it is for 'a good cause' and if the copyright is properly attributed, preferably with a link of my choosing, I might well let someone use my words. Otherwise, I need to be paid commercial rates or the notes must be removed from public circulation whether on the internet or otherwise.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to public answers if you have any information on the site or where these notes could be used or to receiving a private message if it's you!

Hi Wink

I have PM'd you with the contact details of the domain owner

Thanks, Peter ...

BUT, the email I have sent to the domain owner has been returned, so no joy there - probably just a holding company.

More help welcomed please!

Thanks, Peter ...

BUT, the email I have sent to the domain owner has been returned, so no joy there - probably just a holding company.

More help welcomed please!

The website is hosted on a computer located within Microsoft's IP range. (Since the owner was listed as a Microsoft employee at the time of registration, that makes some sense). I am sure that if you contact abuse@microsoft.com with a complaint about the theft of copyrighted material on a website hosted by Microsoft, you will get very fast compliance.

Mark Lipton

Thanks, Peter ...

BUT, the email I have sent to the domain owner has been returned, so no joy there - probably just a holding company.

More help welcomed please!

The website is hosted on a computer located within Microsoft's IP range. (Since the owner was listed as a Microsoft employee at the time of registration, that makes some sense). I am sure that if you contact abuse@microsoft.com with a complaint about the theft of copyrighted material on a website hosted by Microsoft, you will get very fast compliance.

Mark Lipton

Mark is correct.

I had to do that twice with Google Adsense, since the theft site was advertising. There are rules on how you must do it, and it includes sending a snail-mail letter to Microsoft. If you email MS, you should be given direction to make your complaint; you must be prepared to prove that you own the copyright.

The last time this happened to me, it was on a site in France that was operated by a sleaze ball in Asia somewhere, but Google took care of it.

Wink, Hi....

My sympathies. Such situations are always frustrating. If I had a single Euro for every one of my articles and tasting notes that had been pilfered, I'd be a wealthy man indeed. But ain't that true for all of us"in the biz"?

Best
Rogov

The domain is owned by someone called Randy Reeder. A google showed that there is a wine educator of that name in Seattle. Might be just coincidence, but I would guess not. If you are a member of LinkedIn, Wink, you can contact him through the LinkedIn website: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/729/598

wow, you guys are good. i'm very impressed.

If you are a member of LinkedIn, Wink, you can contact him through the LinkedIn website: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/729/598

Only if you upgrade to their 'business service' and pay Linked-In a minimum of $20 a month.

I got sucked into Linked In -- they get members to invite their colleagues-- and it was all free. Now they're charging.

If anyone here joined Linked -In and wants people to be able to contact them, I suggest you put your email address in your publicly viewable profile,

Only if you upgrade to their 'business service' and pay Linked-In a minimum of $20 a month.

Or if you persuade Randy to add you to his list of contacts. It seems I can send messages to my contacts without paying LinkedIn money.

wow, you guys are good. i'm very impressed.

I completely and utterly second that ... so sorry I've been slow in responding to say thanks to all of you (I've been cruising the Savoie vineyards, tasting wines with vignerons for an article and also testing restaurants, what a dreadfully hard life I lead - I AM exhausted, though).

I am on LinkedIn and also know other wine educators in or near Seattle - I'm sure I'll find him and plan to treat him quite gently.

Thanks, again - this is a wonderful network of wine people.

My sympathies. Such situations are always frustrating. If I had a single Euro for every one of my articles and tasting notes that had been pilfered, I'd be a wealthy man indeed. But ain't that true for all of us"in the biz"?

Rogov - I think we should crack down on this use whenever we find it ... however, thanks to people here I've managed to track down my man. He is a genuine wine educator who was putting together notes for his own use, which he planned to re-work for distribution later, I believe. As this is genuinely for educational use, I believe, I've offered him the chance to keep the notes in the public domain providing he credits me and includes a link to my website. I think this is very reasonable of me, however, I do understand what has happened and how and in fact, very few people are going to actually track down these documents.

Regarding LinkedIn:

If you are a member of LinkedIn, Wink, you can contact him through the LinkedIn website

Only if you upgrade to their 'business service' and pay Linked-In a minimum of $20 a month.
I got sucked into Linked In -- they get members to invite their colleagues-- and it was all free. Now they're charging.
If anyone here joined Linked -In and wants people to be able to contact them, I suggest you put your email address in your publicly viewable profile,

I am a regular user of LinkedIn and do not use their paid-for service. I'm finding it useful business-wise and belong to lots of groups on LinkedIn and if you want to link with a member whose in the group, you can simply do so saying what group you are both in ... I cheated in this case, because our man was not in any groups, but I 'pretended' he was - he rose to the bait and in fact registered on my website, which meant I had his email - he has subsequently linked with me and as I said, we are - I believe - solving this amicably thanks to WLDG and to LinkedIn!