- Report: #570067
Complaint Review: CWG Magazine - Internet
Reported By:
TBan -
North Hollywood, California, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
CWG Magazine
Hazeltine St, NOrth Hollwyood, California 91606 Internet, United States of America
Phone:
3109267191
Web:
cwgmagazine.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
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CWG Magazine Chicks With Guns Magazine, Jim Markunas, cwgmagazine.com, chickswithguns.blogspot.com, CWG TV, cwgtv.com idea theft, unlawfully monitored emails, identity theft, spam email campaigns Internet
Jim Markunas, editor in chief of CWG Magazine (cwgmagazine.com), has recently been discovered to be unlawfully using former employees' email accounts, AFTER they've left the company, to conduct business. Two employees have discovered that he was unlawfully monitoring their email accounts after they'd left the company, and used information in those accounts to purchase web domains and publish other works in order to ensure that CWG maintained intellectual rights over works that were not developed for CWG. More importantly, Jim had assured both former employees that these email accounts had been DELETED in January, not simply "deactivated."
Aside from these illegal activities, Jim has used watermarked photos from Getty without permission or proper credit (according to their site policies), and has admitted to using fraudulent means to get email subscribers: he would post ads on Craigslist for new writers, and anyone that emailed in their resume was added by Jim to his magazine's subscriber list, without them knowing. This is spam, and it is illegal because it is identity theft: he is taking your email and signing you up for a service you don't even know about!
These practices and others reveal the underhanded, unprofessional nature of Jim Markunas and CWGMagazine.com, so avoid them at all costs!
3 Updates & Rebuttals
TBan
North Hollywood,California,
United States of America
Clarification
#2Author of original report
Fri, February 19, 2010
Correct. At the time of the first post, I did not realize the implications of the former employee's email, which is why I added the second post, which speaks to the underhanded practices of domain squatting and unethical use of email addresses to bolster subscriber lists. These unethical practices create their own issues of privacy: spam email, a punishable offense under several new cyber spam laws.
Epyon
Hell,California,
United States of America
California's Standards & Practices
#3General Comment
Thu, February 18, 2010
Management will have unrestricted access to information stored in the computer systems. Personal passwords should not be considered a guarantee of privacy. Employees should not expect any information stored on the firm's computer system to be private. From time to time, especially if you are absent, Management may access your computer or files to better serve our business needs. The employee's personal information and documents stored in the firm's system will not be protected, as described in the state of Californias Standards & Practices for network conduct Confidentiality policy Section 3.3.
TBan
North Hollywood,California,
United States of America
Underhanded tactics and domain squatting
#4Author of original report
Tue, February 16, 2010
I have two reports to make about CWG Magazine: (1) In December of 2009, editor in chief Jim Markunas told me in a private conversation that he personally entered the email addresses of anyone who applied for a writing position with the magazine through Craigslist as a subscriber to the magazine. This is a spam tactic to bolster a subscriber list, and as I have learned through Constant Contact, is a potentially punishable offense.
(2) On Feb 15, 2010, at 5pm, myself and two former employees of CWG Magazine discussed registering a domain. Checking through GoDaddy.com, the domain name in question was available. However, one of the email addresses used went to an @CWGMagazine.com email address mistakenly. By approx. 6:30pm, I went to register the domain in question, to find that it was taken. The WhoIs.com report showed that it was registered to Jim Markunas of CWG Magazine.
Jim contacted me later and explained that he did not register the domain, which suggests identity theft. However, the ONLY reported issue with the identity theft so far is the registration of this one domain in question, and I feel that is strongly suspect.
Do not support CWG Magazine or Jim Markunas, because he has admitted to using underhanded tactics to bolster his magazine's subscriber numbers, and until new evidence is brought forward, I do not believe that he is suffering identity theft, but is in fact domain squatting.
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