Trackbacks w/o Attribution

Over the past year, I've had a few instances where bloggers have tracked back to me after quoting me on their sites and then I find that they didn't link to me. It makes no sense. They put a pointer on my site after using something from my site, but there's no pointer to my site for readers on their sites. It happens rarely, but it's noticed because it is just so dumb. The big dogs in the blogosphere probably see it often. Solution? Delete the trackback.

If people want to use some or all of my words in their blogs, it's fine with me as long as there is attribution. I've had entire posts reproduced on another's blog and I was flattered because proper attribution was included. Anyone reading the words knew where they came from. That's all fine and the way it should work.

Spoons mentions an episode where someone purloined essentially his entire post, including links, and provided no link to him yet there was a trackback. This is similar to my experience but more serious since an entire post was stolen. No attribution, no thank you, no hat tip, no kiss on the cheek, nor a pat on the fanny was provided and, inexplicably, the offender tracks back to Spoons.

Now, over the years I've read stories about burglars accidentally leaving their identification at ransacked houses, but this is different. First, it's not an accident that a blogger tracks back to another's site. It's not like your wallet falling out of your pocket. If a burglar intentionally leaves his wallet at a crime scene, it would appear to indicate that the burglar was unfamiliar with the law. Even so, he'd only do it once.

I think my experience and the situation that Spoons discusses are examples where the blogger is unfamiliar with Internet protocol and, somewhat more worrisome, the concept of intellectual property rights.

Bottom line, borrowing material is fine and it's indicated by a link to the author's site. Without the link, it's just theft. Theft is not fine, but holy moly, if you're going to do it, remember that a good burglar doesn't intentionally leave his wallet.