Posted by 
Category: 
A helpful reader emailed me earlier today that some guy was so impressed with this blog that he decided to start his own site* (pdf image file of site – safe) by stealing each and every one of my posts — text, images, links and all. If you click on the link to the site, it doesn’t look exactly like it did earlier today. I utilized the geeky magic of the htaccess file to change the images on his site from the images taken from my site to a new image that I felt was a more appropriate illustration to the stolen posts. (You may need to refresh your browser when you return here to clear the alternative image from your browser’s cache.) Of course, I can’t wait to see if this post shows up on the site in question.
While poking around in the links of the site in question to see if I could figure out the identity of Export Law Blog’s new BFF, I discovered a document posted at California’s Centers for International Trade Development that reinforces my long-held belief that these state centers provide atrocious advice on export matters. My favorite bit of “advice” from these “Export FAQs” was this:
1. Do I need any special permits or approvals to start an export business in the U.S.?
The U.S. Government does not require a company to have a license or permit to engage in the import/export business. Contact your appropriate state or local city hall regarding requirements and procedures for obtaining business permits.
I think that deserves the Export “Epic Fail” award of 2009. Exporters of defense articles certainly need to register under Part 122 of the ITAR to export those items. But perhaps the author of the document said what he did because he was totally unfamiliar with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”). Although he discusses the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Office of Foreign Assets Control, there is not one reference in these “Export FAQs” to the DDTC. Oops.
UPDATE: The blogger has taken down his site and replaced them with pornography links. I’ve removed all links to the site and will link to a pdf of the file I captured yesterday.
UPDATE: More on this here.
*I’ve changed the link to the offending site to a tinyurl link in order to make sure that the site doesn’t get search engine credit for my having linked to it. Also it appears that our “friend” has two addresses for his site. One is hosted on blogbugs, a Ukrainian porn-centered blog hosting service, and can be found here (link removed). This explains why some readers haven’t been able to get on the site. So he/she has another site which uses the same porno sites nameservers but has a URL that might sneak past porn filters. That’s the URL linked in the post above. You know that the person behind the sites in questions is up to know good when he’s operating namelessly from Ukrainian porn site.
Permalink
Copyright © 2009 Clif Burns. All Rights Reserved.
(No republication, syndication or use permitted without my consent.)
