Richard D Weber is a plagiarising shitbag

Recently I reported that I’d had my work stolen. At the time I was unwilling to reveal full details to protect my own back. Now I’m not so fussed. Here’s the update:

After discovering the plagiarism of my work, I contacted the website that published the offending PDF. They promptly removed the work from their website and attempted to contact the author. I also emailed the author repeatedly.

We have had no reply whatsoever.

This sack of shit knows he’s done wrong and is choosing to ignore it by running and hiding. So here I am exposing the man for all he’s worth. He’s supposed to be an author, writing creative and imaginative work, yet he chose to plagiarise my website and make money in the process

The Proof

Download a copy for yourself of what he made available for sale and claimed as his own (putting his own copyright notice on!) and compare it with the text you can find here and here which are my original guides to the Da Vinci Code online challenges, which have been online on my website for nearly 2 years.

I also have a Paypal record of him purchasing my own PDF ebook on the Da Vinci Code challenges:

If you read his PDF and my website, you will see that in most places he has simply cut and pasted word for word (using many of my colloquialisms and vernacular specific to my dialect) in his. Yes, he has added some of his own imagery to it, but this does not justify what he has done.

So who is this joke?

Richard D Weber.

It’s not difficult to turn up information on this guy. He sounds like a real saddo too. Here’s what he says about himself in one of his author bio’s:

RICHARD D. WEBER was formerly a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, Special Agent in Charge of Dignitary Protection with the U.S. Department of State?s (DSS) Diplomatic Security Service. He protected the late Princess Diana and Prince Charles, the Secretary of State, The Prime Minister of Israel, and Saudi Arabia?s and Jordan?s ambassadors to name but a few. He has traveled extensively and roamed the hallowed halls of Foggy Bottom, various embassies, and the Pentagon. His last position was Deputy Assistant Regional Director with the U.S. Department of Justice. During his tenure with the DSS, he was chief editor of the Foreign Service Newsletter. He?s a graduate of University of Wisconsin and a member of HWA and MWA. Richard currently resides in the Dallas, Texas Metro Plex area where he has just completed his new novel “Boyhood?s End,” and is putting the finishing touches on his euro-thriller screenplay/novel “The Sampson Project.” His current novel ?Protocol-17: A Conspiracy Thriller? is a Bram Stoker Award recommended work and has enjoyed top-seller ranking. He has interviewed such notables as Doug Clegg and Tom Piccirilli for publication. His latest works will appear in THE BLACK SPIRAL(edited by Mr. Weber)along with Ramsey Campbell, Tim Lebbon, Tina L. Jens, Mort Castle, Sephera Giron, Nancy Kilpatrick, Robert Weinberg and others. His feature stories will appear in BLACKOCTOBER MAGAZINE and Cthulhu Issue 17 Vol.II.

Just look at the guy’s website: http://www.darkprotocols.com/. Nice animated gifs. His email address is: 200057@msn.com, which he selectively ignores.

He is pushing his latest book “Protocol-17″ as a rival to the Da Vinci Code. Whether it is or it isn’t remains to be seen, but who’s to say he actually wrote it himself? Why should this man think he’s able to plagiarise my work and get away with it? How can he hope to develop a reputation as an author when he steals other people’s work?

I’m relying on the blogosphere to get the message out there and expose this guy. If you’ve ever read any of his books, or bought anything of his, or even, dare I say it, heard of the guy, then please get in contact with me. If not, just trackmeback on your blog and let the web do the rest.

I’ve opened up comments for this post, or if you want to contact me about it, please use the contact form. Thanks.

Update: 19/04/2005

A P.I. friend of mine found out some very interesting info about this guy. I won’t say anything here about it, but it turns out that this guy is indeed a complete loser, probably a scam artist (he has multiple identities), and has had multiple lawsuits filed against him, usually for non-payment of taxes. What a tool.