Pollen tried to remove my article about CEO Callum Negus-Fancey and CTO Bradley Wright, and Google is assisting with it
Summary
Google's copyright removal system has been exploited to delist an article detailing the 2022 collapse of events tech company Pollen. The original article, published in 2022, reported that Pollen, after raising \$150M, laid off 200 staff, failed to pay wages and pension contributions, and went bankrupt on August 10, 2022. It also highlighted a \$3.2M double charge to customers, manually initiated by CTO Bradley Wright. Four years later, the author received a notification that Google removed the article from search results due to a bogus copyright infringement claim. The claim, filed by a fake profile "Ellie Piee" from uninhabited Bouvet Island, falsely asserted the article copied a 1998 New York Post piece. This incident reveals a significant vulnerability in Google's DMCA process, allowing fraudulent requests to weaponize the system for reputation management, likely by parties associated with Pollen or its founder, Callum Negus-Fancey. Lawsuits, including Tayler Ulmer vs Pollen, are still ongoing in California, claiming unpaid wages and fraud against executives.
Key takeaway
For content creators and publishers concerned about online visibility, you must actively monitor your content's search engine presence. Google's current DMCA system is susceptible to fraudulent takedown requests, potentially removing your legitimate articles based on bogus copyright claims. Be prepared to appeal such removals with strong evidence of your original authorship and copyright. Ignoring these attempts risks permanent suppression of critical information, inadvertently amplifying the "Streisand effect" for those attempting censorship.
Key insights
Google's DMCA system is vulnerable to abuse by fraudulent copyright claims, enabling content suppression.
Principles
- Copyright claims can be weaponized for reputation management.
- Uninhabited locations can be used for fake DMCA filings.
- Legal actions can persist years after corporate collapse.
In practice
- Monitor search engine delisting notifications for your content.
- Appeal fraudulent DMCA claims promptly with evidence of ownership.
- Document original content creation to counter false claims.
Topics
- DMCA Abuse
- Online Reputation Management
- Corporate Bankruptcy
- Google Search Algorithm
- Copyright Infringement
- Pollen
- Streisand Effect
Best for: CTO, VP of Engineering/Data, Executive, Software Engineer, Legal Professional, Tech Journalist
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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by The Pragmatic Engineer.