Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Online Writers: Get Every Penny You Deserve and Avoid Identity Theft

Recently, I began a Change.org petition: HubPages' Writers are Entitled to All Earnings and Removal of Their Author Content. But it's also about sending a clear and strong message to other site owners that writers will no longer tolerate the theft of their work, identities, and earnings.


A tapping pencil image by tomsaint on flickr  (Rennett Stowe) CC-by-2.0 / Text added by RoseWrites using Pixlr Nov. 17, 2015
Photo by Rennett Stowe (tomsaint on flickr) CC-by-2.0 / Text added by RoseWrites


What is even more disturbing, is the requirement to surrender tax information (such as SSNs) in order to receive earnings (as on HubPages). The IRS determined years ago that HubPages does NOT require it; but HubPages will not pay you until you give it to them.

In fact, they keep all of your earnings (including Amazon and eBay royalties). Check out their Terms of Use (deceptively hidden) under "Account Closure and Inactivity."

Crazy!

About 15 million US residents have their identities used fraudulently each year. And sadly, it takes victims hundreds of dollars and years of grief to clear their name once this has happened.

Experts say: do NOT give your tax information (SSN, date of birth, etc.) to anyone online.

But My Sound Reasons Just Aren't "Getting Through" to Some People


My friend Vic Dillinger posted my petition link in the HubPages forum. And I had to laugh at the responses. Incredibly, Marisa Wright seemed to get most of the facts straight, but failed to understand one key thing:

What exactly THEFT is. (Perhaps someone out there who understands can explain it to her?)

I guess stealing identities and content "just ain't what it used to be"


Marisa Wright complaining about why RoseWrites is furious about identity and content theft
Marisa Wright quotes as stated in HubPages forum Nov. 17, 2015

Addendum November 18th, 2015: Thought I'd try an analogy of sorts (shown below) to convey how it feels to have 293 articles (and my identity, videos, and images) stolen and used by HubPages.

Analogy for HubPages Marisa Wright of how it feels to have 293 articles stolen and SSN required
Me having a coffee and trying to explain the situation in layman's terms
© 2015 RoseWrites / All rights reserved (that means don't steal, Marisa)

Oh and one more thing, Marisa Wright also stated (which is entirely false), "I suspect if she'd simply asked for her account to be deleted, they'd have done it. Unfortunately each time she has tried, she's also been demanding payment before the account is deleted, so of course HubPages says no."

FACT: HubPages has completely ignored me, the flagging of my profile, Consumer Affairs, and Paul Edmondson continues to block me on Google Plus. My final pay from Squidoo (and Amazon and eBay royalties) were held in escrow (I've never received a penny). It's ILLEGAL to profit from stolen property Marisa. HubPages is held to the laws of California.

Why you believe that HubPages deserves to profit from my work and identity AND keep my earnings is completely baffling. I wonder if you are a kleptomaniac (seriously).


The payment would be far too low (via HubPages 60/40 split) anyways. The restitution ordered by the FTC will probably be set at InfoBarrel's rate of 75 - 90 percent, for the author. Remember? You told numerous authors our work "would disappear" offline. This is precisely what I expected and wanted to happen.

So, naturally I made it known publicly before the transfer (like here, select "Best" comment) that I was putting my articles on InfoBarrel. Hundreds of writers, including Seth Godin and Bonnie Diczhazy, were aware.


If you want to help curtail this from happening to you (or someone you know) and send a strong message to all site owners, sign my petition and share it (you don't have to donate to it): HubPages' Writers are Entitled to All Earnings and Removal of Their Author Content

6 comments:

  1. The saga continues . . . how long before they fold their tent, I wonder? It's coming, I'm sure of it.

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    1. Yeah, I think they'll try to hold on until tax season when they could potentially "lose" more data or there is some security breach of some kind or ?? A sobering read (for anyone who has submitted their SSN to HubPages): http://www.fraud.org/component/content/article/2-uncategorised/66-tax-scams

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  2. HP fill with sheaple don't read fyne print. 1 person agree w/ u about ssn#. rest say pupu stuff & DONTT UNDERSTAND! HP buying personal infos not LEAGLE!!! Marissa Right is Marissa Wrong about that but she live in Ostralia with pen name & not affected by HP bad stuffs.

    but srsly rose. y u not at very beggining just click ok to agreement then delete all contents???? HP not enforce every last letter of their draconian TOS. clicking ok have no effect on u. HP dont even veryfi tax infos!!!!! just say name is Roaz Wbstur with ssn# 999-99-9999. once they pay you to paypla, you close count and none of the TOS apply 2 u anymoar. lots of x-squidew did that. got payd. HP NUN THE WYZER. no need to give real name and real birthday because they not check anithyng!!!! should have just lied to get ur $$$. now tuu L8 4 u.

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    Replies
    1. Not too late for me bawny-dztangy. Because the FTC has my complaint (they have the power to order restitution - get my money back and more).

      This fight isn't about JUST me. I had charity articles that were auto-set to receive my earnings. There were people away, who died, or too ill to make that "tight deadline" near the end of August (Chris Day, NAIZA LM to name just two).

      Just because someone doesn't respond, does NOT equal consent. (Hmmm, rape works that way too).

      This fight is for those who have been taken advantage of . . and in 2011 there was another person who complained about similar things. Check out Consumer Affairs complaint by Edward of Olympia, WA on Dec. 30, 2011: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/hubpages.html

      HubPages has been doing this type of thing for years and getting away with it. It needs to stop.

      Thank you for dropping by and commenting. I can sense that you care about my plight.

      Take good care,
      Rose

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    2. i sekretly rooting 4 u b-cuz HP staff iz tuu smug. rawben and pall edm0ndcen wayayyyyayyyy tuu smug and they N the WR0NG about lotz of things that go on at HP. they think ppl hoo rite on HP r all rubes and doofs and dumdums and they know best about everithyng. not tru!!!! HP need to delete ssn# infos b-cuz that is paipal's responsybylity now and not HP respawncibility. paipal have tite securyti, i trust.

      HP not as secure as ppl think. i know and dont trust.

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    3. Thank you bawny-dztangy, your sincerity shines through. Warm regards, Rose

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