{"id":3215,"date":"2008-06-07T06:06:28","date_gmt":"2008-06-07T13:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=3215"},"modified":"2008-06-07T17:13:05","modified_gmt":"2008-06-08T00:13:05","slug":"is-eperkscoms-ben-behrouzi-infamous-for-trying-to-censor-a-real-estate-weblogger-stealing-content-from-mervyns-and-chevron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3215\/is-eperkscoms-ben-behrouzi-infamous-for-trying-to-censor-a-real-estate-weblogger-stealing-content-from-mervyns-and-chevron\/","title":{"rendered":"Is ePerks.com&#8217;s Ben Behrouzi, infamous for trying to censor a real estate weblogger, stealing content from Mervyns and Chevron?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At <a href=\"http:\/\/brokerscience.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">his new web site, BrokerScience.com<\/a>, Trace Richardson is on a tear. Trace got his teeth into <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2798\" target=\"_blank\">the story of ePerks.com&#8217;s attempts to silence real estate weblogger Vlad Zablotskyy<\/a> with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.go-beyond-mls.com\/ePerks\/\" target=\"_blank\">a cease and desist letter<\/a>. Starting with <a href=\"http:\/\/brokerscience.com\/legal\/cease-desist\/eperks-brand-destruction\/\" target=\"_blank\">an analysis of how ePerks has managed to achieve an orderly self-destruction<\/a>, Trace has uncovered one irregularity after another in Ben Behrouzi&#8217;s internet businesses.<\/p>\n<p>The latest snafu? <a href=\"http:\/\/brokerscience.com\/legal\/cease-desist\/ben-behrouzi-copyright-infringement\/\" target=\"_blank\">Behrouzi added &#8220;Values&#8221; and &#8220;Culture&#8221; pages to the ePerks.com web site<\/a>. The only problem is: The content seems to have been taken, in large measure, from Mervyns.com and Chevron.com.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the full run-down on Trace&#8217;s stories on Behrouzi&#8217;s start-ups:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brokerscience.com\/legal\/cease-desist\/eperks-brand-destruction\/\" target=\"_blank\">ePerks.com: A Case Study in Greed and Self-Imposed Brand Destruction<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brokerscience.com\/technology\/startups\/ihype-launch\/\" target=\"_blank\">Son of ePerks: iHype.com<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brokerscience.com\/legal\/eperks-ip-address-link\/\" target=\"_blank\">ePerks IP Address Link to Vlad Zablotzkyy: When the Hunter Becomes the Prey<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brokerscience.com\/re-web\/brokerscience\/eperks-ben-behrouzi-brokerscience\/\" target=\"_blank\">ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi Insinuates Legal Action Against BrokerScience, Cites &#8220;Damages&#8221;<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brokerscience.com\/legal\/cease-desist\/ben-behrouzi-copyright-infringement\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ben Behrouzi Updates Company &#8220;Values&#8221; and &#8220;Culture&#8221; Web Pages. Only One Problem: They&#8217;re Stolen.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At this point, I&#8217;m thinking Ben Behrouzi is beyond redemption. From the evidence, he seems to be much more interested in pushing people around than in making money on the internet. My hope is that other internet entrepreneurs following this train wreck can manage to catch a clue: For the first time since Athens &#8212; for the first time in history, really &#8212; ordinary people have equal access to the Agora. You cannot shout Vlad Zablotskyy or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shaftingrealtors.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Russell Shaw<\/a> or Trace Richardson or me down. Our voices are <em>at least<\/em> as loud as yours, and we <em>will not<\/em> be silenced by threats, intimidation or dirty tricks. You can learn to live by cooperation and conciliation, or you can master the art of starving alone.<br \/>\n<!-- technorati tags start --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:right;font-size:10px;\">Technorati Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.technorati.com\/tag\/blogging\" rel=\"tag\">blogging<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.technorati.com\/tag\/real estate\" rel=\"tag\">real estate<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.technorati.com\/tag\/real estate marketing\" rel=\"tag\">real estate marketing<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- technorati tags end --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At his new web site, BrokerScience.com, Trace Richardson is on a tear. Trace got his teeth into the story of ePerks.com&#8217;s attempts to silence real estate weblogger Vlad Zablotskyy with a cease and desist letter. Starting with an analysis of how ePerks has managed to achieve an orderly self-destruction, Trace has uncovered one irregularity after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-marketing","8":"category-real-estate","10":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3219,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3219\/support-the-vlad-zablotskyy-legal-defense-fund-a-real-estate-weblogger-is-being-throttled-by-corporate-bully-eperkscom-the-free-speech-rights-you-will-be-fighting-for-are-your-own\/","url_meta":{"origin":3215,"position":0},"title":"Support\u00a0the Vlad Zablotskyy Legal Defense Fund: A real estate weblogger is being throttled by corporate bully ePerks.com. The free speech rights you will be fighting for are your own&#8230;","author":"Greg Swann","date":"June 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Update: It seems likely that Vlad's cost to defend himself from this specious claim (if you read the complaint, you will discover that the alleged offense is entirely absent from Exhibit A) is going to start with a $5,000 retainer. It seems unlikely to me that the matter will go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1623,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1623\/benjamin-franklin-the-weblogger\/","url_meta":{"origin":3215,"position":1},"title":"Benjamin Franklin the Weblogger","author":"Brian Brady","date":"July 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Independence Day, in the United States, was a sweltering summer day in my hometown of Philadelphia. My favorite signer was the media entrepreneur, Benjamin Franklin. Note that I didn't refer to Ben as the inventor, statesman, or womanizer (he was known for all three things). I refer to Ben as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Real Estate&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2004,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2004\/who-is-the-most-influential-real-estate-weblogger-in-the-renet-beyond-all-contest-or-doubt-its-dustin-luther\/","url_meta":{"origin":3215,"position":2},"title":"Who is the most influential real estate weblogger in the RE.net? Beyond all contest or doubt, it&#8217;s Dustin Luther","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"This is me in a comment at Todd Carpenter's REMBEX Blog Fiesta:Not to be too contrarian, but this is all Old Testament. None of these people meant anything to me when I was building BloodhoundBlog. If influence means creating the RE.net as we know it, Dustin Luther is the New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2320,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2320\/inman-bloggers-disconnect-absorbing-the-priceless-wisdom-of-brilliant-speakers-who-are-not-doing-what-youre-trying-to-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":3215,"position":3},"title":"Inman Bloggers&#8217; Disconnect: Absorbing the priceless wisdom of brilliant speakers who are not doing what you&#8217;re trying to do&#8230;","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are a couple of salient facts, evidently unknown behind the Rust Curtain of the Inman Empire:To the extent that Glenn Kelman is a weblogger at all, he is a corporate weblogger. He doesn't know anything about real estate weblogging, as he made plain in his sweet, charming, engaging keynote\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":593,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/593\/introducing-russell-shaw\/","url_meta":{"origin":3215,"position":4},"title":"Introducing Russell Shaw . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"We built BloodhoundBlog to be a brokerage weblog. Obviously, we're in love with Rain City Guide, and, even though we have thought at times about asking people to join us, we had never planned for this to be a group blog. Our plans haven't changed, but we're making space for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2798,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2798\/memo-to-eperkscom-you-idiots-shooting-yourself-in-the-foot-in-public-is-a-poor-way-to-defend-your-reputation-such-as-it-is\/","url_meta":{"origin":3215,"position":5},"title":"Memo to ePerks.com: You idiots! Trying to censor a real estate weblogger is a poor way to defend your reputation &#8212; such as it is&#8230;","author":"Greg Swann","date":"May 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"[I'm kicking this back up to the top. At the time I wrote this, I thought it might be enough to make the jackasses at ePerks.com come to their senses. Apparently not. If you are a real estate weblogger, and if you don't want some sleazoid attorney pulling these stunts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.paypal.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}