___________ _____ ________ ___________.__ _____ __ \_ _____/ / _ \ \_____ \ \__ ___/| |__ ____ _/ ____\_/ |_ | __) / /_\ \ / / \ \ | | | | \ _/ __ \ \ __\ \ __\ | \ / | \/ \_/. \ | | | Y \\ ___/ | | | | \___ / \____|__ /\_____\ \_/ |____| |___| / \___ > |__| |__| \/ \/ \__> \/ \/ By Jim "Red Phoenix" Chamberlin 12/21/00 When you send your FAQ to Jeff "CJayC" Veasey, just where does it go? It goes to either the FTP bin or his email address for posting. However, it doesn't stop there once it's posted. There are a number of ways for webmasters to get the FAQs from GameFAQs, and any other site. There's the conventional way of waiting for the FAQ to load in their browser, and Saving it from the "File" menu at the top. That way is perfectly legal, as everyone does. However, there is another way, which is illegal in most, if not all cases. This is with some type of leeching or mirroring program. You can copy entire websites onto your hard drive, if you've got the space. GameFAQs, however, now has software that will detect when a "spider" or "leech" is going through GameFAQs. Once a webmaster of a cheat site gets your FAQ(s) on their hard drive, it's almost a guarantee that it will end up on his/her web site in one form or another. How do you find out if a site has taken a FAQ of yours? Unfortunately, there isn't any one way to find those sites. However, there are a few ways I, as well as many other authors try. One is using a search engine (Google.com, for example) and searching for all of your email addresses that you have used during your FAQ Writing. This has proved to be a pretty good success so far. A second way would include looking through message boards. Sometimes the webmaster will be advertise on them, promoting cheats and FAQs, which should be a hint for you to go check it out. A third way would involve you doing a lot of web surfing. Look for gaming sites, and go through their affiliates list, if they have one. You can also use a search engine and look for general cheat sites, and you may end up finding a site with only a few FAQs or you may end up finding a site that was basically a mirror of GameFAQs in terms of the number of FAQs. What are some sites who have taken FAQs? I've taken the liberty of listing the sites that we've found to be stealing FAQs. These are in Alphabetical order, so don't draw any conclusions on which site took the most, because Mega Games took that honor. Just because a site is listed below, it doesn't necessarily mean that they still take FAQs, but they have in the past. 911 Codes http://911codes.com 9 Lives http://www.9lives.ru/eng/ Bean's PlayStation Dimension http://www.bean.dk/psx/index.htm Cheat Code Central http://www.cheatcc.com Cheat Index http://cheatindex.com Cheat Matrix http://cheatmatrix.com Cheat Search http://cheatsearch.com Cheatstop http://www.panstudio.com/cheatstop/ CNET Gamecenter http://games.netscape.com/Faqs/ Console Domain http://www.consoledomain.co.uk Dirty Little Helper http://dlh.net Dreamland http://kirby.pokep.net Games Domain http://www.gamesdomain.com Game Express http://www.gameexpress.com Mega Games http://www.megagames.com Square Haven http://www.square-haven.net Ultimate System http://www.flatbedexpress.com VideoGaming.net http://www.videogaming.net/ There are many more sites with our FAQs than the ones listed above, and it's only a matter of time before we find them. If you have a site to add to the above list, email me at red_phoenix_1@hotmail.com. What do you do when you find a site with illegal FAQs on it? This is a fairly simple process. Look for an email address on the site for either the Webmaster, Cheat Editor, or FAQ Editor. If possible, email all three of them, if available. Once you've found an email address, send them a polite email message, requesting that they remove your FAQ(s). Supplying them with the exact url's (Internet address) will make this a faster process. Also, send me an email telling me about the site, so I can update the above list and alert everyone of the site. Remember, I said to send a polite message. Getting angry and using cuss words will not get you anywhere, and will probably get the reader upset, and you'll end up in a flame war with the person. "To find out a site's hosting company, visit www.networksolutions.com, click the "WHOIS" link on the top menu, and type the domain of the thieving site into the box. Look at their WHOIS page, and at the bottom (where the server names are listed) you can see who hosts the website. E-mail that address and tell them that one of the sites they're hosting is breaking the law by stealing your copyrighted work, and hopefully they'll take some kind of action against the site (i.e. - shut it down.)" -- Dallas What do I do when a magazine takes information from my FAQ? The process should be the same as for a web site, only you may have to contact the Editor- In- Chief or someone higher up in the magazine staff. I've never dealt with this, so I cannot say too much about it. With a magazine, they can't recall the magazines and reprint that part of it, so it's more or less a loss cause. When I have more information on this, I'll be sure to add it. Contributors: MetroidMoo Devin Morgan Jeff "CJayC" Veasey Hooi Dallas S Alves Dyse Everyone on the FAQ Contributors Board @ GameFAQs.com -=End of File=-