| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Edward Mahana, the translation thief Thread poster: philgoddard
|
|---|
Jeff Whittaker 
United States
Local time: 06:09
Spanish to English
+ ...
| I once had someone... | Feb 12, 2014 |
steal the copy from my website and use it on her ProZ profile. I found out by using a Google search and I contacted her immediately.
She removed it after she was notified, but to this day, she is still using all of my ProZ keywords (minus the ones that do not apply).
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 06:09
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Sometimes ProZ needs to be cautious because... | Feb 13, 2014 |
...sometimes the accuser is the one who is wrong (I'm not saying that's true in this case).
I once had a woman contact ProZ because she said I "stole" her website. ProZ threatened to shut my site down. After days of confrontation, we ultimately learned that she had hired a web designer to design her site and this person used the same website template (that came with a stock photo) that I used for my website and she kept claiming that I "stole her copyrighted website". If I were to g... See more ...sometimes the accuser is the one who is wrong (I'm not saying that's true in this case).
I once had a woman contact ProZ because she said I "stole" her website. ProZ threatened to shut my site down. After days of confrontation, we ultimately learned that she had hired a web designer to design her site and this person used the same website template (that came with a stock photo) that I used for my website and she kept claiming that I "stole her copyrighted website". If I were to give her the benefit of the doubt, I could surmise that perhaps she had no idea what a template was or she did not think that the designer would be using a ready-made template. I found the template on my own and had no knowledge of her site. If I had seen her site first, of course, I would have selected a different template.
This went on for days with numerous emails back and forth with Proz, until I finally informed Proz that if they looked at the top of the screen they would see the words "YOUR COMPANY NAME HERE" where the "designer" forgot to customize that section. She still did not give up and claimed that the photograph was taken by her. I sent Proz a list of 20 other websites using that same stock photo (including attorneys and other businesses).
Then she said that two translators could not use the same template for the same business. "Yes, but these are not translation companies are they?..." I could have just changed my site, but after all she put me through, I did nothing.
Then, two years later she got a letter from a lawyer stating that the picture on that template was owned by Getty Images and that she had to pay $5,000 plus additional retroactive royalties. She had the nerve to contact me in order to see if I had received the same letter. Because I designed the site myself, I just took a photo myself and replaced the allegedly stolen photo in a matter of minutes. On the other hand, she, with no knowledge or ability in web design, could only have the web designer remove the photo, leaving her site full of holes. So, you see, sometimes poetic justice comes years later. And this woman has even written a book about how to avoid confrontation in the translation industry.
[Edited at 2014-02-13 15:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | That's a great story! | Feb 13, 2014 |
Maybe the very dapper-looking gentleman on Edward Mahana's website should sue him for the theft of his picture.
Katalin, are you still reading this? How did you find out that it's a stock photograph?
[Edited at 2014-02-13 14:53 GMT]
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 06:09
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Searching for photos | Feb 13, 2014 |
Nowadays, you can open up Google (the start screen where you get a blank bar), drag the image from another page into the Google search bar and then click on images and it will find the image on other sites. (there are also sites like tineye.com that do the same thing).
Back then, I just did a google search for the image's file name (ex: stereotypical-business-people-standing-around-in-an-office-setting-looking-busy.jpg)
philgoddard wrote:
Maybe the very dapper-looking gentleman on Edward Mahana's website should sue him for the theft of his picture.
Katalin, are you still reading this? How did you find out that it's a stock photograph?
[Edited at 2014-02-13 14:53 GMT]
[Edited at 2014-02-13 15:14 GMT]
| | |
|
|
|
philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I tried that | Feb 13, 2014 |
...but it didn't come up with anything. But Katalin obviously found it.
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:09
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
| philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks, Michael | Feb 13, 2014 |
Not sure yet what I'm going to do with all this information, but it would be nice to tell anyone else that's been cheated by him. Are you still pursuing this at all?
He must be really ugly if he has to steal someone else's picture
| | | | philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
If you Google "Edward Mahana", this thread is now the first hit.
| | |
|
|
|
Tony M
France
Local time: 12:09
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | Me too — and I ended up being the one punished! | Mar 8, 2014 |
Jeff Whittaker wrote:
steal the copy from my website and use it on her ProZ profile. I found out by using a Google search and I contacted her immediately.
I suffered a similar fate at the hands of another ProZ.member: she stole the entire information on my profile, including WWA customer testimonial information; the stupid thing was, she failed to edit out some of the least plausible elements of my experience!
Worse, she used the same information on her external website.
She was clearly a liar, as claimed at one point to be approx. 25 (consistent with her photo) — but then claimed 19 years' translation experience! yeah, right, like she was a 4-year-old genius 
It took a lot of lobbying to get site staff to finally take any action — but they only got her to edit the text slightly so it wasn't identical to mine, but was still obviously plagiarized; and hence clearly dishonest. Isn't there a law against "passing off"?
No action was taken about her external website, and when I contacted her about it, she lied through her teeth and threatened me. The fact that my stolen information appeared in its original form on her external site and modified on her ProZ profile only served to highlight to dishonesty.
Later, she had the downright cheek to post in one of these forums, bleating about the fact that HER identity had been stolen! When I replied saying it was a bit rich for the pot to be calling the kettle black in this way, I was severely sanctioned by ProZ, while in fact I was the original victim of this woman's dishonesty!
As has been said before, it sends out a bad message when ProZ.com is seen to be upholding—and hence tacitly condoning—the wrongdoer, and punishing the real victim. Not only that, but this despicable woman has the big red 'P' (which is one of the very good reasons why I DON'T have it, since it clearly is no proof of integrity or honesty).
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:09
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
| Edward rises again? | Oct 23, 2014 |
I won't go into the details, because I don't want this post to be deleted, but I suspect there is another "Edward Mahana" operating in one of the major European language pairs on a number of the larger translation portals.
I don't want people to think I am some kind of bully, but I have serious doubts about this person's native languages. This in itself is of course no big deal; I don't care where he/she is from. What I do care about though is being lied to. I am 95% certain they ar... See more I won't go into the details, because I don't want this post to be deleted, but I suspect there is another "Edward Mahana" operating in one of the major European language pairs on a number of the larger translation portals.
I don't want people to think I am some kind of bully, but I have serious doubts about this person's native languages. This in itself is of course no big deal; I don't care where he/she is from. What I do care about though is being lied to. I am 95% certain they are not from where they say they are from. The info on their profile and in their CV is terribly written and full of obvious lies. Wish I could have used an actual personal pronoun, but I don't want to point too clear a finger lest this gets deleted.
I have noticed quite a few "foreign individuals" pretending to be native speakers of certain European languages lately in order to get work. They are clever: they just look which language pairs are in demand on sites like this one and then morph into a native speaker of languages X, Y and/or Z, logging in from their secret hiding place.
I was thinking of suggesting a system to the site where people's IP address would be checked and displayed on their profile, so potential clients and colleagues could easily see where the person was in real life. However, this probably wouln't be allowed as it would probably constitute a breach of some kind of privacy law or whatever. Anyway, just an idea.
It doesn't really feel right that we have to pussyfoot around in fear of being censored, while these people are free to present themselves as whatever they please.
Michael
[Edited at 2014-10-23 16:56 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | At least we have the consolation | Oct 23, 2014 |
that when you Google the name Edward Mahana, you still get plenty of hits about scammers.
[Edited at 2014-10-23 17:22 GMT]
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Edward Mahana, the translation thief | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
| | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
