Real Estate Blog - Was Your Blog Content Stolen, Too? *UPDATED*

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Was Your Blog Content Stolen, Too? UPDATED

Screenshot of Stolen Scoop Welcome to my 400^th post on Active Rain. (Public count is different, don't get excited.)

Yesterday Copyscape informed me that someone had duplicated the content of my outside blog, The Putnam Scoop. When I checked out the site, it had my Scoop posts listed under Real Estate West Virginia, so I knew this was someone from Active Rain taking my stuff. I haven’t mentioned real estate at all on the Scoop, aside from in the names of some sites in my blogroll.

Digging in a little further, I found several other Active Rainer’s outside content duplicated without their names or sites credited, only a small link to “This page” for original post.

I wrote to the site owner and told him to TAKE MY STUFF DOWN. He wrote back and said he would (thank you) but wondered why I wouldn’t want the extra exposure, especially as his site gets more hits than mine.

Well, isn’t that part of it right there? I don’t want him to get hits that might have led someone to my actual site. My site is more personal, with local pictures and a hometown feel. It’s just not the same experience to visit a site like his. I want local people to find a local site run by someone from HERE. We’re a small state that isn’t always appreciated for all it has to offer. I love this place and visiting my site gives you a little of the experience of being here. I want my readers to feel the pride we share in living here. You don’t get that from his site.

That wasn’t a real estate site that he used, it wouldn’t have done what he wanted anyway. He didn’t ask. He used my words, signature and pictures of me – and he did the same to people I consider friends. The link hidden at the bottom didn’t make it all better.

And I checked him out a little. I found stuff I didn’t care for and wouldn’t want to be associated with. He thought I’d be flattered and assumed I was hungry for business and would be thrilled. I have enough business that I don’t even use my site for work, but for the joy of where I live. I care about who my name is associated with and would prefer to have a choice in the matter. And perhaps I just don’t get it, but how would my hits going to his site instead help my business anyway?

If you can explain to me how this was a benefit to me, please do. (Just be nice!)

UPDATE: A friend pointed out that he's not "linking" to Inman, homes.com or Realtor.com, just us "smaller" bloggers. What if I got express permission from Teresa Boardman to use one of her photographs, or from Lenn Harley to use one of her maps? (Hey, it could happen!) It would then have gone directly to his site, without their permission.

I would hate to see what might happen then.

Posted by Sarah Cooper on 12/11/2007 05:39 AM

Comments (88)

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88 Comments on Was Your Blog Content Stolen, Too? *UPDATED*

DEC

2007

I agree with you. It is not worth it to have your work associated with content that you don't want to be associated with. I like when other bloggers refer to my posts, and even quote me. But to outright use the content is something I'd rather not have anyone do. They are just promoting their site without doing any real work.

My Blog: Pensacola Real Estate News.

Sarah, this guy needs to learn the law. Seriously. Who does he think he is???? Did you notify the others that had their content stolen??

Is there a good way to find out if someone is doing things like this, or do most people find out by accident? Certainly NOT the right thing to do - did he have any original content on his site?

You know my theory on this whole thing and I expect you to add it to the content. Your blog might need a shower after you get your posts back.

Penny - I subscribed to Copyscape after someone else here was using my content right here in AR. You can also set up a Google Alert for key phrases, that's free. I have some alerts set up put see that I need to add a couple more that are "Scoop specific".

Kris - I notified two people that I talk to regularly. There were others from AR in there. I should contact them too, huh?

Karl - I like links. I don't like someone to copy my entire post so that there is absolutely no reason to go read from the original source. I might have even been OK with a short paragraph followed by a "read more here" link, but it still wasn't put in the right category. It's not real estate. And I'm not interested in helping him build up his site.

Sarah - he stopped tkaing our content and I have gotten several notes from him. He seems to think that his splog will give me 20 extra visits a week and that he was doing me a favor. As you know last night I changed some of the links on my blog so that some messages were displayed on his blog. Today I have a special post for someone else who is doing the same thing and I can't wait to change the pictures so the fat lady shows up on the blog.

Plagerism is a big problem and I spend way to much time fighting it. I am very quick and aggressive.

You want me to add that to the post, Chris? You had good points and it should be there. Want an update?

Teresa - He wasn't doing me any favors. If people found his site first they'd have no reason to look at mine. I didn't care for it at all. I'd love to see your special post. :o)

Update.

I did read his post about it... oye.

I'll input this, too. Why isn't content from Active Rain being stolen, just the outside blogs of Active Rain members. Just sayin'.

Sarah,

I had an experience right here on AR with plagiarism. Really pi**ed me off! The guy "wrote" a blog using my content and changed things around a little. It is just laziness and lack of creativity. I don't blame you for being angry, I would be if it was my stuff.

Sarah just look at all the additional exposure you would get with all your traffic going to his site. Hey wait a minute that doesn't work out somehow.

James - That happened to me, too -- without bothering to make changes. I was ticked off, and actually that time kind of amused. Struck me funny somehow. That's why I have Copyscape now though, and this time I was NOT amused. Stealing my AR stuff is one thing, the Scoop is local and I have a special affection for it. I don't want it used anywhere unless I say it's OK.

Chris - I wondered that, it's Rainers, but just their outside blogs. Anyone with an outside blog should check around if they don't want their search results diverted elsewhere.

Sarah, I would notify everyone that had their content stolen. If you need help let me know. I'm so angry right now....

LOL @ James!!! :o)

Nail the $%^^&&&

It's enough to drive a person nuts.

Glad to see y'all going after it.

Erby - I like you. You have a way with words. :o)

Kris - If you want to help me look through the site that would be good. There's a lot to it. Busy guy.

Maybe it was that good to copy:)

Congrats to the 400th post!

Sarah, I am not sure why people would do that. I know my blog has been linked and copied by many people. I have been lucky though because they all have given me credit. I appreciate that and think of it as a compliment.

Sarah

I recently encountered a similar situation. A loan officer copied one of my posts from my outside blog and pasted it to his own blog. I found it quite by accident. Only a few minor changes were made to the very last paragraph.

You have to wonder if people who do this suffer from acute stupidity, laziness, or a combination of the two. I decided not to confront the guy. I figured that my opinion wouldn't really matter to someone who was low enough to do something like this.

Sarah, email me the link please and I'll go through it also.

Sarah,

maybe it`s me, I have several articles posted on other web sites. I don`t really mind.

If people want to use our material, I`m OK with it.

OH, he DID take directly from AR!! Here it is on his site. He may have permission from this guy, I don't know.

He stole from my outside blog as well. Ironically enough, one of the posts taken was one that Teresa Boardman gave to me to use!

Scott - I'm not OK with it. He left no reason for anyone to go to my site (entire post was there) and only left a link without my name or the name of my site. And he was using my content out of context, it wasn't about real estate anyway.

Kris - Done.

Ed - I'm sure my opinion doesn't matter and he's already posted in AR about how I should be flattered that he used my material and gets more hits than me. He just doesn't get what my site is about, and I don't appreciate it being used that way.

Matt - Linking is fine and I even go back and thank people when I see it. Copying it, using my pictures and trying to build a site using my content is wrong. I was his entire West Virginia section.

Neal - I'm sure it was that good :o) but he didn't read it. He posted a meme as real estate content for Pete's sake!! (And thanks!)

Maureen - OMG!! That's kind of funny, actually, now that I've used her as an example! Did it bother you that he did that, or did you think it helped? I just wonder if I'm not understanding something here. I don't see how that would have helped me in the slightest.

Sarah

Some people just don't get it. You're so right about the importance of the overall effect of a blog. It makes all the difference.

Hey Sarah: I read the site disclaimers, etc. He claims to have an rss feed and for the comments to be closed - like this is a clearing house only - like an AP wire for blogs. And although at some level this would seem like he is sort of "featuring" your stuff and that you might get some residual benefit, it is that whole jumping in the middle between you and the consumer- not to mention even if the feed is accurate you have no choice as to where that info ends up. I don't like this at all. did you ask him to take down the feed?

Sarah, Chris's comment is exactly where I was going - the guy is a sleaze. He's just a scammer and will say whatever he thinks will work to try to win you over and then he'll be on to the next person.

Sounds like this guy has done it to a lot of people. Believe in Karma, he will get his in time. Just look at all the comments you received here supporting you. Turn it around and figure if he has to steel blog posts he must not be too good at his job and his clients will see through him. Your ultimate payback can be closing a deal when he is loosing customers because he is a boob.

Sarah, It's disappointing that there are so many people out there that are frauds. No one has the right to your work but you.

Thanks for finding my stuff too Sarah. I've asked him to take it down as well.

Sarah, I would not be Ok with something like this either. Ask first. Sheeesh. I have known about Copyscape for months now and have yet to start making use of it. Thanks for the reminder.

Here you go Sarah

The realestateweenie

Sarah super sleuthing good thing you had a notice so you were aware of it. Good for you I hope he does the right thing. A link at the very least.

I asked him to take mine down, Sarah. He emailed me last night and asked permission after the fact. I don't like his site. The whole reason it appears to exist is to make him money from homegain and google adwords. I see no benefit to me. His links to our posts is almost impossible to see.

I saw the incoming links when he took the content recently but I did not have the time to investigate. I am glad that you and Teresa were not as cavalier as I was.

I am also insulted by his AR post where he said he was helping people who get 15 to 20 hits per week. That is not me. It is not you. It is not Teresa. It is not Linda. I don't know who it is, but we are doing just fine on our own without that kind of "help."

Maureen - It bothered me when I saw yours, too. He had so many of us AR people in there -- I already knew that mine had to be related to AR because it was listed as a real estate site (it's not) but at that point I thought maybe he just had a vacancy to fill and when he searched for a WV blogger he found me here. There aren't that many real estate bloggers active in my state. But then I kept seeing AR people over and over, and I knew we were like fish in a barrel to him. Really ticked me off that he'd use so many of us. I'm glad our stuff is down.

Allison - There was a link, very small at the bottom without the name of my site. He posted everything under Admin as if it was from his site administrator, rather than from me or my site. Gave me the heebie jeebies.

Teresa - LOVE IT. I am so honored to know you. :o)!!

Maggie - I'm glad I used Copyscape even though I thought I had a site no one would want to steal. It's very specific to living RIGHT HERE and I didn't see why it would help anyone else. I don't think he took the time to even look at my site, he just needed to fill a spot for WV.

Linda - I'm glad. I was mad when I saw he'd even used a picture of you. It's just not right.

Debbie - That's the source of my anger right there, no one has a right to my work but me. Thank you for stating it so simply, I like that.

Gary - I don't think he'll ever understand why this is upsetting. I don't expect him to get it, so I'll just watch my back.

Marc - Chris has a rare gift, her way with words just gets right down to it. I can't be won over on this one, it's my stuff and I don't feel like sharing in quite that way.

Beth - Yes, I asked him to remove my stuff. I'll keep an eye on him and step up security somewhat. You said that very well, he's jumping right in between me and my readers. I'm hoping to smack him back out of the way so I can talk to the people I was just starting a nice conversation with.

Ed - That's one of the things that bother me. He had my words, but not the whole feeling I tried to project. Not that my blog is fabulous, but I want you to have a little of the feeling I get from West Virginia while you're there. His site couldn't get close to it.

I checked out the site and it appears to be a syndication type site. They need to have a registration and permission from the author because you can't just go and steal other people's content.

My .02 for all it's worth!

Congrats on 400 posts. Good luck with the fight!

Wonder it this will be "featured" over there?

Read the first sentence of the 3rd paragraph:

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3078957

It's good to know that you were on top of this, Sarah. He seems completely unrepentant and has no clue about the word copyright that he keeps throwing around. Obnoxious little *#$%.

This is outrageous...sorry he has been copying your stuff. I set up some google alerts so hopefully I'll know if it happens to me. Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

Damion - I must have a mail delay on that personal apology you mentioned. As you know, mine wasn't even real estate content. Suggestions for dealing with future bloggers: Read content to see if it even contains keywords you're looking for, then ask if they'd like you to divert their traffic.

Kelly - I still need to adjust my alerts, thanks for mentioning that again.

Lisa - And thank YOU. :o) He needed content and he took it, regardless of whether or not it was proper or even applied to his needs. Kind of offends me that the content wasn't even right, did it not matter because it was "just WV"? Totally in my own head, I know, but I wonder.

Anonymous Commenter - Thank you. :o) I saw a similar story elsewhere. Part of why I didn't want to be there.

Bob - :o)! *Teehee!*

Renee - There was no permission from this author. He was publishing complete posts, there was no need for a reader to go look at my site at all.

Hi Sarah, In my opinion, the apology says it all "I have already gained 2 buyer clients last week alone from my content that is syndicated on the site." It wasn't his content, and he is not apologizing for gaining those 2 clients from the use of other agent's content.

On a side note, congratulations on 400 posts!

Sarah, thanks for the heads up, I just checked Midori's site and mine, and we're ok. I can see why you wouldn't want to be associated with this person.

Imitation is the best compliement...isn't that what they say?...However I'd be upset too...I've had others ask to post my blogs and have been thrilled...but taking without asking isn't right.

Isn't it always something? Thanks for you help yesterday. It was totally interesting to see who popped in.

Lizette - I was more than happy to help. If you need anything else, you just say the word and I'm there for you. (I'm guessing it was what you needed from your comment -- Yay!)

Rebecca - I wouldn't have been OK with sharing in this way even if he'd asked. My site is about a specific area, not about real estate so we wouldn't have been a good fit. And when I researched whoever was using my stuff, I found stuff I surely did NOT want my name tied into. But I have shared in the past happily and even written content for others when they asked, and that's theirs to do with as they will. He didn't ask and didn't apologize.

Lysa - I'm glad you guys weren't there. It was hard to check because you had to click into each of his posts and then scroll down to the bottom and find that little link that was supposed to be "helpful". About gave me a headache.

Allison - Yep, I had that same thought, too! I doubt that I'll ever get a client as a result of my Scoop site, but sometimes I get nice comments, or people ask me to write about something they want others to know. I guess he can't see where I'm coming from because I'm not trying to make money off it. (And thanks about the 400!)

Sarah - I completely agree! You should have the opportunity to evaluate your own advertising avenues, not have him doing it for you.

This took some cojones on his part, didn't it! Good for you for fighting for your rights.

Taking someones written work without their permission, to me is copyright infringement. You have the right to decide where, and by who, your work is used. Thanks for catching this guy, and doing this for all of us Sarah.

Congratulations on the 400 !!!

I HATE it when people do that... using your stuff without asking. And they they wonder why you're offended... HELLO! I'm glad you found out it was happening and put a stop to it.

Georgina - I'm glad I found out, too. By publishing my entire posts as his own (under his admin) on his own site, he might have kept people searching for local content from finding my own site. I feel that this was very much intentional and was not designed to help me in the least, regardless of his protests.

Larry - Anything you write and publish has an intellectual copyright. I'm buddies with a group of lawyers and I might have to bat this around with them to find out exactly what my rights are. It's starting to feel like picking on Sarah is a new sport. I stand up for others better than for myself, but I'm learning.

Damion - From what very little I know of you, there's no way I can believe this was for anyone's benefit but your own. I am not trying to generate traffic, I am trying to reach people. I do not need your help for that, I did not ask for it and I did not appreciate your brand of "help" being forced upon me.

Josette - It sure took something alright!

Dale - And I do NOT want my name tied in with that. It's like a vegetarian being forced to advertise in a hunting magazine or something. ;o) He's interested in what will drive up numbers and bring in cash, and my little Scoop blog just wants to talk with the neighbors over the fence. Not even close to what I want.

Very interesting stuff. I think I will just sit here and take this all in. BTW, I would be pissed if my content was taken with out my permission.

Oops!!! I forgt. Good job on the 400th posts my little one:)

Sarah -just digesting the info. I saw my post on the Stumbledupon.com -someone put the heading and the link. I think it's supposed to mean that they liked it, and I got some hits from that site coming to the post. But I am not sure how it all happens.

Sarah, you are so creative! This concerns me and I hope that this is contained immediately. I've heard of copy cat bloggers but I would hope that the search engines know better.

I'm sorry... congrats on 400 ORIGINAL content posts by you and no one else...just sayin'

Just curious - other than the issue with no permission being asked, aren't any of you concerned about having duplicate content? Google is not a big fan of having duplicate content on multiple sites. It's probably referenced somewhere else, but this is helpful: http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/interview-matt-cutts.shtml. If your content is being syndicated elsewhere, I'd want a "noindex" attribute added along with a backlink.

DEC

2007

Karin - I sometimes duplicate between this blog and the Scoop blog, and I've wondered about that. Then I realized I might be diverting my own traffic from my personal site and use them in different ways. REALLY bothered me that if I don't even want to duplicate my own stuff, some other guy would come along and do it without asking, blog rudely about me asking him to take it down and tell me how he was doing me a favor. Idiot. (Ahem, sorry.)

Bob - MWA!!! Just sayin'. ;o)

Tracy - Aww, thank you! I think we've got to protect ourselves. Blogging with AR makes an easy place for sploggers to come and find blogs all together, easy pickings. I didn't realize how having so many of us in one place could make us vulnerable, but it sure can, and has!

Faina - Stumbledupon.com is different, and there are places that will put your content in front of a lot of people, give them just a little taste of what you've written and then send them your way. That is a PLUS and it's great when it happens. This guy copied my entire blog content, he was only missing sidebar widgets. There would have been no reason for anyone to ever look at my site if they found his first. And I didn't want my content on his site in the first place.

Bryant - I was pissed. And I'm pissed he wrote about me flying into a rage without reading his site (oh, I read and then I researched him, too) and said I was contacting his associates and upsetting them. I told two friends that he'd stolen their content, too. I REALLY don't think they're associates of his. Anyway, yesterday I was mad that he took stuff I worked hard on and treated it like it was up for grabs. Today I'm mad about the way he treated ME.

Tomorrow I'd like to just have a really ordinary day. :o)

Nevermind, having a fun day already. SIL sent me a fun site.

Just popping my head in to see if all of the hub-bub died down. I kept trying to get a signal yesterday while out and about to keep up.

I think it's died down. His hands are off my content and I'm a happy girl. Learning more about online security and got some questions answered about copyright law. Think we need a good post about it but I'm sure it's already out there. I should check with Lenn, huh?

Bob provided a great link last night on how to report splogs both on blog site (flagging them) or going through the adwords they're using to report them to google. I'm swamped or i'd do it. Maybe you can coax Bob into helpin.

Sarah: I'd have chimed in earlier, but had the opportunity to watch a "Master's response" to stolen content. It was truely fun watching "T"play--changing her purloined photos to something else!

Jack

I told him on his site that he sounds alot like Bill Clinton, "It depends on what your definition of is, is". I dare him to take some of Lenn's stuff...she will have her lawyer contact him immediately. Stealing is stealing...it doesn't matter what your "good intentions" are.

Jennifer - I'm learning a lot from Lenn and Teresa about how to deal with this kind of thing. They're GOOOOOD! :o) I don't believe he was doing this to help me (if it was helpful, he wouldn't have tried to be sneaky about it, would he?) but I wouldn't expect him to 'fess up either and admit what he was doing. I'm learning a lot about our rights and we do have many more than you'd think.

Jack - I am so glad she enjoyed herself -- and taught the rest of us how it's done!

Chris - Shame we can't just do a Twitter style post where we all throw in little bits as we have a minute ... Hmmm.

First of all - congratulations on your 400th post and all worth the read. Secondly, thanks for bringing this to our attention. The internet and blogging in particular are a bit like the wild west. I've learned quite a bit from this post and the comments and links - keep up the good work Sherriff!

I bookmarked this so I can go back and read the comments because I think you explain how you caught him. I'm very new to blogging and still need to learn how to protect what I write and how not to hurt others...not that I copy and paste written materials but I'm always worried about pictures. So far I've been making my own but for localism things I'd like to use photos that are out to but I don't know how to yet. So I'll be back, thanks for posting!

DEC

2007

Krista - There are clip art services you can use so you don't have to worry about where you're getting your pictures. There are also places you can make up fun pictures like ImageChef.com. If you search in AR you should be able to find some good sources. They way I discovered this was through Copyscape.com. I also have some Google Alerts set up to let me know when key phrases are used online. Google Alerts are free, Copyscape is about $5 a month. You can also spot check by copying a phrase out of one of your posts (grab something that doesn't sound "generic") and paste it in a search engine, see if that sentence pops up somewhere else. That's a quick easy way to check.

Chrissy - Thanks! It's feeling very "wild west" around here lately!! I've learned even more through Twitter conversations about this. There are some great links out there and I love it when people share! I'd like to do a post on copyrights and how we can protect ourselves, but I'm sure it's already been done better than I could do.

Sara, wow, they really stole yer stuff.!! I would be fuming..! luckily, my stuff sucks :) haha!! who wants some bald guy on their blog? no one :))

I took a look at the site, and even the credits to the creator of the template for the site were removed. That's WPdesigner.. aka Small Potato. oh well, to each his own.. some create and some 'borrow'.. (also known as stealing).

take care Sarita, my best. :)

Congratulations on the 400 milestone. i just hit it in the last week also. That is a lot of writing.

Sarah, that's disgusting! I think I would have turned him into anybody I could find to turn him in to!

Linda - I gave him a chance to remove my stuff and warned the other people I found. Some people seem to like him duplicating their stuff for his profit, so I guess I'm not to say. Different strokes for different folks, huh? Personally I didn't like that searches that might have led to me could have gone to him. Yeah, I was MAD.

Randy - Congratulations, Randy! :o)!!

Nicky - I thought nobody would want my stuff either, it's all just little local stuff. Some people just have no taste, huh? I prefer to create and help out and fight if someone tries to take my stuff. :).

In recent months I have realized what a problem this is. It's not that hard to write your own content, just use your imagination. Good for you for calling him on it.

DEC

2007

Yippeee! Congratulations on your 400th post Sarah! WoW, that is really something, just think back to your first post and how 400 posts would have seemed so far, far away!

Bad, Bad, Bad plagiarizer! What could he be thinking...it's STEALING!

Deborah - Lol!! I think when I first started, TEN blogs seemed far away!! Did I really have that much to say?! I really did not think so. Surprised myself a little!

Christina - No, it's not hard to write your own content, is it? But when we go around taking out own pictures too, and we do spend time putting it all together ... well, there is a bit of work and time involved. I hate it when someone thinks they can just come along and use it for free without even asking.

DEC

2007

The nerve of some people. If he maybe just did an intro with a link to your site, then it might be beneficial. Thanks for the post, I'll have to check out Copyscape.

DEC

2007

Sarah, I just checked the link and looked at the DC site. I was crushed to see that he did not steal any of my posts! But I just emailed my buddy, James Downing, whose posts are showing up there. I love the little copyright disclaimer where they say they'll copyright it.

Patricia - Don't feel bad, he was really picking strange things. My posts weren't even about real estate. He was just slapping together stuff that he thought would get him some ad revenue. I don't feel like helping him earn money by taking away my traffic. Ugh. (Thanks for letting your friend know!)

John - An intro with a link wouldn't have upset me at all. I do get those and appreciate them. But to steal my entire blog and then tell me how it was to my benefit that he take my traffic ... well, I think you know how I might feel about that, huh? :) Copyscape is wonderful. I feel like my blog has a guard dog.

AHHH !!! This butt head is stealing my content as well!! Where is Lenn Harley when you need her?!

Good thing - he took my stuff down - I am sure he will be lurking out there looking for others to steal.

James - There are actually people who have asked him to post their stuff for them. I have NO idea why, but apparently some people would prefer to send their traffic elsewhere first. I'm glad you found it and put a stop to it. Lenn can't do it all -- go get Copyscape!! :o)

DEC

2007

Sarah. It's great you found out what was going on and nixed it - for now. I did have a difficult time following the conversation, as I'm still working on my blogucation. I did pick up on the fact I need to learn about copyscape. Pat Kennedy said you are one of her fave's, so I'm going to have to check out all your other good material!

Blogging for points is already bad enough...now the good posts are being plagiarized! Thats really too bad and good for you to take action!

DEC

2007

Cody - Points are pointless, really. And thanks for thinking my posts were good ... but I didn't really think they were going to help him any! Especially that one pictured, which was just me babbling.

Natalie - Pat is FAR too kind!!! :o) Copyscape is a wonderful thing. It's already helped me a few times. Most of the time it alerts you to people being nice to you, but every now and then you find out someone is stealing from you. For both, it's worth it.

***To those of you following this, the splog has been shut down and his profile is gone from AR. I don't know if either of those are permanent conditions or not, but there it is.***

DEC

2007

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Happy Holidays from Burbank CA

JAN

2008

I have been splogged and it is making me MAD!!

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