Internet Heroes vs. Geek Squad: Cut-and-paste websites
A few weeks ago, a new company in Dubai was launched called "Internet Heroes", which provides IT support for companies. For many of us in the industry, we recognized that Internet Heroes was modelled very much on "Geeksquad", the US company that provides a similar service. The same sort of idea - lovable nerds to the rescue, etc.
However, I didn’t realize that their inspiration actually ran into full-scale cut and paste from the Geeksquad website. Here’s a few highlights:
EXHIBIT A:
EXHIBIT B:
GEEKSQUAD
Recruits wanted to eliminate all evil computer behavior. Faint of heart need not apply.
Choose your mission and begin your Agent Application Process for Geek Squad Precincts inside Best Buy stores, Geek Squad Stores, or Geek Squad City.Geek Squad candidates undergo a grueling screening process - not unlike that of the FBI or Interpol.
If you’ve got drive, strong customer relations skills, excellent button-pressing savvy and a mildly odd affinity for government-chic attire, you may be Geek Squad material.
INTERNET HEROES
Recruits wanted to eliminate all evil computer behavior.Faint of heart need not apply.
Choose your mission and begin your Agent Application Process.
Internet hero candidates undergo a grueling screening process - not unlike that of the FBI or Interpol.
If you’ve got drive, strong customer relations skills, excellent button-pressing savvy and a mildly odd affinity for government-chic attire, you may be Internet heroes material.
EXHIBIT C:
GEEKSQUAD
Geek Squad 24 Hour Computer Support Task Force® was established to protect society from the assault of computer technology gone awry. (That, and to give us something to do, since we can’t land dates.) When Agents are not rooting out evil technology, they are offering technological guidance to all those who seek it-anytime, anywhere.
What works best for you? You have options.
- Have an Agent come to your home or office
- Seek technological assistance in a Geek Squad location
- Speak with an Agent to fix your computer problems over the internet
For questions regarding services and pricing, please review the information below. Call 1 800 GEEK SQUAD (1 800 433 5778) or chat with an Agent online. Agents are available to determine your best option based on your situation, time requirements, location and budget.
INTERNET HEROES
Internet Heroes 24 Hour Computer Support Task Force® was established to protect society from the assault of computer technology gone haywire. (That, and to give us something to do, since we can’t land dates.) When Agents are not rooting out evil technology, they are offering technological guidance to all those who seek it-anytime, anywhere.
What works best for you? You have options.
- Have an Agent come to your home or office
- Seek technological assistance in a Internet Heroes location
- Speak with an Agent to fix your computer problems over the internet
For questions regarding services and pricing, please review the information below. Call 04 341 1515 or chat with an Agent online. Agents are available to determine your best option based on your situation, time requirements, location and budget.
If anyone would like to chip any more in, please do!
comments
Mike55
December 11th, 2006 at 12:06 pmSpeaking of plagiarism, the above bears a remarkable resemblance to the email I sent you last night…
Mazen
December 11th, 2006 at 2:14 pmAt least they could have copy pasted from different websites and edited the copy, that would have been judged differently
Steal from one person = Plagiarism!
Steal from many = Research
Cheers.
Magnus
December 11th, 2006 at 2:48 pmThat is an uncanny resemblance… and no Mac support either
Mike55
December 11th, 2006 at 3:22 pmPriceless - they’ve even copied the legal notice which, um, is intended to stop people from copying the site’s content. Not only that, but they’ve amended the copyright notices to threaten legal action against anyone who steals the content that they themselves have stolen from another site.
I can’t believe that they’ve spent millions on media (check the ‘Media Center’ section) and yet couldn’t be arsed to stump up a few bob for a copywriter to at least fudge the source of their content. Oh, this one’s going to run and run…
Marcus
December 11th, 2006 at 7:58 pmWhy even bother to change the colour and font? Hardly covering their tracks is it?
Anas Jalal
December 12th, 2006 at 10:59 pmHow dare you challenge their heroism; do you think cut and paste is that easy ?
Muhammad K
December 13th, 2006 at 9:45 pmIt seems like they have changed it now… It also seems like companies in Dubai think that they are protected against plagiarism and it is a shame that the government has not enforced their laws against it.
yousef
December 14th, 2006 at 10:33 amNo, it’s still pretty much the same. But someone should let Internet Heroes know that one of the images on the bottom of the Geeksquad homepage has been updated in case they wanna update theirs, too..
Muhammad K
December 14th, 2006 at 6:19 pmI didn’t hit me last night but I can see it now, especially in the privacy policy and legal notice. It’s shocking to see a company in web design with such a big client base would rip off another website.
yousef
December 17th, 2006 at 10:24 amLooks like they’ve finally cleaned their act up.
One interesting thing to note is that I did a Google search for Internet Heroes over the weekend, and this blog post came up third!
AB
September 16th, 2007 at 4:54 pmYou have to call them heroes for changing Geek Squad to Internet Heroes everywhere; at least they can do search and replace very well
That said, it’s sad to see scamsters like InternetHeroes.com. Just do a Google the name of the CEO of this company Netlink LLC - Akash Arora. Or read this http://www.zdnetindia.com/techzone/resources/security/stories/758.html.
What can you expect from someone who’s been cyber scammer.
Most likely they will be reading off stock replies from Microsoft Support sites to their customers.. hhahaha