Aral Balkan

Update: They have now published a second article, at the same URL, titled "Turkish Web Designer Declares Death on Twitter" wherein they state that I am "said to be organizing an underground group to kill or bodily harm the company representatives" and compare me to the gunman who shot Pope John Paul II. Read more about the second article here.

If you want to raise awareness of what Sys-Con are doing, please Digg this!, also Reddit.

* * *

Sys-Con published an article, dated March 28, 2009, that defames me on a number of their online magazines. I am talking to my lawyers at the moment to find out what my rights are in this and decide how to respond. In the meanwhile, I'm documenting what they did here.

This morning I did a Google search for sys-con aral to see if anyone else had picked up on my blog post on Sys-Con from yesterday. I was surprised to find an article pop up titled "Turkish Web Designers Who Live in London: Aral Balkan" on web2.sys-con.com (direct link) and on iphone.sys-con.com.

Clicking through, I was even more surprised since the title of the post was different. It read, in Turkish: "Londra'da Yasayan Turk Ibneleri: Aral Balkan". The English translation of this is "Turkish Fags Who Live in London: Aral Balkan":

(And do you see the lovely Visual Studio ad from Microsoft on the same page? Dear Microsoft, how do you feel about sponsoring Sys-Con now? And, more importantly, what are you going to do about it?)

The article is apparently written by one Engin Sezici who writes on Ulitzer "About corporate crackpots and annoying wack jobs". The article wherein Sys-Con defames me is also published on his site:

If you read on, you see that they copied the bio from my web site. Scrolling down, you get a recent screenshot of my site, followed by this caption:

The website of Aral Balkan says he is a performer and a Renaissance Geek, in Turkish this translates into "hotorof orospu cocugu"

The translation for the Turkish bit is "homosexual son of a bitch". (The first word is such a vulgar slang word for homosexual that I actually had to look it up online.)

This is defamation. It's written defamation, published by Sys-Con, and hence it is libel. As of this writing, I have found versions of this article published under a number of Sys-Con online magazines (see a list of some of them, below). As I mentioned initially, I'm taking legal advice from my lawyers as to how to proceed.

If you want to raise awareness of what Sys-Con are doing, please Digg this!, also Reddit.

Sys-Con articles wherein I am defamed

I'm adding more to this list as I find them and as they pop up on the Internet.

• http://www.sys-con.com/node/896664 (www.sys-con.com)
• http://web2.sys-con.com/node/896664 (Web 2.0 Journal; web2.sys-con.com)
• http://iphone.sys-con.com/node/896664 (iPhone Developer's Journal; iphone.sys-con.com)
• http://twitter.ulitzer.com/node/896664 (Twitter; twitter.ulitzer.com)
• http://enginsezici.sys-con.com/node/896664/ (Engin Sezici at Ulitzer)

(Note: You can also add /mobile to the end of any of the above URLs to get a mobile feed specifically for mobile devices.)

Update:

The Sys-Con article that defames me has now risen to their Top Stories section, which displays across all pages on their sites, showing the title ("Turkish Fags Living in London: Aral Balkan"). I'm pretty sure that my friend Simon Wardley will not be pleased to find that his author page at Ulitzer (http://simonwardley.ulitzer.com/) is displaying the title of that article under his name.

Update:

Sun, March 29, 6:38pm: Looks like they've removed the pages from their web site. A google search for sys-con aral still brings back the content though.

If you want to raise awareness of what Sys-Con are doing, please Digg this!, also Reddit.

Comments

• [...] And continue on Aral website http://aralbalkan.com/2022 http://aralbalkan.com/2056 [...]

  by Dev by MX» sys-con craziness on 2009-04-09 04:26:15

• I can't believe this is actually happening. I've had similar but smaller-scale fights with people stealing my articles, but I've never seen it happen at this scale. Incredible. I'd quote that quote about how fighting on the internet is like the special olympics if I didn't think it was degrading to the people participating in the special olympics ...

  by Kristof on 2009-03-29 14:02:09

• Good luck with this mate

  by Antony on 2009-03-30 12:33:40

• good luck with this... you have my full support i certainly wouldn't like this to happen to me... forgive me for my previous comment in your other post but i can't help lauging at how foolish sys-con can be... it boggles my mind that somebody can be so disconnected...

  by ryan on 2009-03-30 20:46:38

• Sorry to hear about this Aral, I've been a subscriber to Sys-con before. It is extremely appalling. I hope things get cleared up. DJ

  by David Jumeau on 2009-03-30 14:27:51

• argh, this sounds like a real nightmare, not to mention a major distraction. i hope you can get it resolved speedily, and sys-con get what they deserve.

  by Jed on 2009-03-30 09:39:49

• [...] in utter disbelief over Sys-Con's latest attack on me, following the defamatory article they published, then removed, earlier. They've now published an article titled "Turkish Web Designer Declares Death on Twitter" [...]

  by Aral Balkan - And Sys-Con libels me *again* on 2009-03-30 11:05:48

• I've had run-ins with Sys-Con in the past and have had to request they remove material of mine several times. They're the very definition of unprofessional journalism and they're also a repeated spammer, showing no respect for the law. Here's a good example of how they (in particular Engin Sezici) treat people: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/342/RipOff0342081.htm

  by Sean Corfield on 2009-03-30 20:39:45

• Hi Scott, thanks: I've already saved them and also have screenshots.

  by Aral on 2009-03-29 18:16:51

• [...] Since I published this post, Sys-Con published two articles aiming to defame me. Read more about the first one, titled "Turkish Fags Living in London" in which they call me a "homosexual son of a bitch", and [...]

  by Aral Balkan - Sys-Con goes from bad to worse, launches Ulitzer, attacks community and content creators on 2009-03-30 12:53:27

• i cant' believe this turkish words.i shame it.i don't know whos Engine but you should ignore it.syscon only make publicty with your name...

  by ali kıran on 2009-04-14 03:59:15

• Well, I can't really say anything here that hasn't already been said... except that I'm glad I'm not the only one who had to look up hotorof hahaha. Go get 'em, Aral. Show no mercy.

  by Melissa Maples on 2009-03-30 16:45:15

• Aral, have you brought this to the attention of Gay/Lesbian anti-defamation groups? The only way to hurt sys-con is by hitting them in the pocket, and organized groups can bring these disgusting slurs to the attention of their advertisers. Cheers, David

  by David on 2009-03-31 14:56:51

• Aral, I won't question your parentage, but I think the collective gay community would stand and applaud if you are, in fact, a homosexual. I know I would. ;-) Don't worry about these guys; it'll all come out in the wash!

  by Jeff on 2009-03-31 19:20:32

• [...] (see Sys-Con goes from bad to worse, launches Ulitzer, attacks community and content creators, And Sys-Con defames me & And Sys-Con libels me *again*) constitutes a lapse in judgement or freak occurrence or [...]

  by Aral Balkan - More lies: Sys-Con editor is really actress from LA, Sys-Con writer is British male supermodel on 2009-04-01 21:20:51

• Defamation is big word and if they are really doing this you have legal recourse. I've not read your twitter but if they are attacking you, contact a US lawyer, they will be happy to represent you.

  by Kirk on 2009-03-30 18:32:02

• wow. They are going a bit far away. And shooting their own foot.

  by Fernando Colaco on 2009-03-29 13:56:33

• I wanted to reply on their article on the website. Unfortunately, one has to register to leave comments on their site, which I, at this point refuse. The fact they threat themselves, their medium and their target community like this is astounding. It's a single trip to the end of your company if you disrespect the people who form your community like this. It takes a small man to respond like "they" do. Regardless of what they are saying, using slur and insulting someone's mother like this in public on a professional medium says enough about the business attitude they have. Now, let's do a call upon the community to remain their calm and destroy sys-con in an organized manner.

  by John Doe on 2009-03-29 14:37:33

• i wonder if Engin Sezici is actually writing articles, or if he's being used like you were!

  by josh russell on 2009-03-29 16:29:14

• Looks like you successfully got them on the back foot. I hope you're able to pursue them to the fullest extent over this one, Aral. Good luck!

  by Dan Glegg on 2009-03-29 22:52:39

• Man... This is just so low. They never had any integrity, but this is insanely low. Good thing you're not afraid to show their dirty laundry! I love it when Let's hope many more bloggers joins in on this? I'm sure that given just a little more exposure - the remaining few advertisers (like Microsoft) will leave the sinking ship. J

  by Jensa on 2009-03-30 07:29:11

• Aral — wishing you good luck and all the best with this! Can't believe how nasty people can be - not a good testament to human nature, how sad.

  by prisca on 2009-03-30 21:07:04

• Not only do they not seem to learn about the fiasco unravelling around them, they are actively adding fuel to the fire to make it worse. How can a media company have so little grasp on handling such relationships?

  by Amy Harrison on 2009-03-29 13:46:01

• learn from - not learn about....

  by Amy Harrison on 2009-03-29 13:46:36

• Talk about self destructing. Good bye sys-"con". You won't be missed.

  by Luke on 2009-03-29 13:50:23

• Honestly, I've been following your story about this since talking about it on Twitter, and if I'm honest, this company SOUNDS like it's run by a few 15 year olds. Taking personal stabs at you, and saying things such as "Turkish Fags Who Live in London: Aral Balkan" is not only childish, but also makes one ponder on how such a company as Microsoft actually sponsors them, like you stated. Let alone the "homosexual son of a bitch" part! Let's hope your lawyers will get this stupidity sorted out once and for all.

  by Lewis Beechey on 2009-03-29 13:51:06

• Josh: The mind wonders whether there might not be several pseudonyms at play here. On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog :)

  by Aral on 2009-03-29 16:36:46

• Aral: Following your tweets I am appaled at the attack on the part of this guy or team of people that are suppose to present a professional company. Hope that your lawyers can find a way to go after such senseless homophobia!

  by Nazim Beltran on 2009-03-29 17:17:45

• Darn thing is, I happen to be straight. Not that it matters at all or that I would take being called gay as being offensive, far from it! What _is_ offensive are the terms they've used (both terms are vulgar and derogatory in Turkish), and, of course, the "son of a bitch" bit doesn't amuse me the slightest. The main issue here, however, is that they have published a defamatory article about me and that is the textbook definition of libel.

  by Aral on 2009-03-29 17:43:46

• Don't forget to File > Save As... Those webpages so that you have a hard copy of them as well since they can just as easy remove them from the server. Sorry to hear about this, I've been following this stuff on mesh's tweets and it's been the suck. You'll come out on top.

  by Scott on 2009-03-29 17:51:54

• Man, Aral, I can't believe this. I've dealt with Sys-Con in the past and thought they were pretty shady but this is just unbelievable. If there's anything that I can do to help you let me know. Mike Downey

  by Mike Downey on 2009-03-29 20:11:57

• Thanks, Mike, Dan, and everyone else who has been expressing support over this; I really appreciate it.

  by Aral on 2009-03-29 23:25:03

• This is getting really ridiculous. Sorry to hear this Aral. Oh, another thing: Once you register your email with Sys-Con, they have no respect for your privacy and it gets passed / sold to who knows how many other companies. How do I know? I use a different email alias for each site or company for tracking, and I have a ton of spam to my Sys-Con email account. I have disabled this email account for good this morning.

  by Dave Yang on 2009-03-29 23:29:10

• Hang in there, Aral - I can't believe the press won't pick up on this then it will be interesting how they handle it. Try not to take this too personally, they would do the same to anyone!

  by Andrew Mann on 2009-03-31 09:19:12

• This is absolutely crazy. I've been following complaints about Sys-Con from a Writer's Weekly email I received, and I hope they get what they deserve. Why wouldn't they think you'd look into the translation of the post titles? Anyhow, this is why I LOVE screenshots...for when foolishness like this arises. Good luck.

  by Yona on 2009-05-21 14:29:06

• [...] Media has again and again tried to spread libel about Aral Balkan because he originally bad-mouthed them on Twitter [...]

  by Sys-Con once again attacks Aral Balkan with stupidity and ignorance | Barklund.org on 2009-07-15 14:44:37

• I can't believe this, aral im so sorry to hear them write that about you.

  by Mustafa Kurtuldu on 2009-08-11 11:09:20

• [...] Shortly thereafter, they published the first of their libelous articles about me, titled (in Turkish), "Turkish Fags Who Live in London: Aral Balkan" in which they called me a "homosexual son of a bitch". The details of that article are documented here. [...]

  by Aral Balkan - My Sys-Con Nightmare on 2009-07-27 14:48:58

• It's just amazing how stupid people can get. I support you 100%, hope you get them for doing this.

  by tayfun on 2009-07-27 21:38:44

• Take them down. They're an unethical business company from the start, so don't show any mercy in litigating them for every wrong they've done you. The more people know about it, the less they'll support this travesty of a company.

  by dudemang on 2009-07-27 23:39:37

• [...] call it content syndication, some call it scraping. Farewell for now at least [...]

  by Did Google Just Slap Ulitzer.com? | Hobo on 2009-08-25 03:44:38

• [...] writes for Sys-Con, which has a serious spam and defamation problem [1, 2]. After all that abuse came a Google ban, but there is seemingly a new domain replacing the former (or maybe a separate [...]

  by Comes Antitrust: Microsoft McCarthyism Exposed | Boycott Novell on 2009-09-01 08:22:23