After a bit more investigation, I found that SiteProtect Web Services
appear to be a client of a hosting company called Hostway, whose address
is also 200 W Adams Street, Suite 1001, Chicago, IL 60606.  Hostway
appear to be a perfectly legitimate commercial hosting organisation,
so I presume that SiteProtect are a reseller or have some other similar
arrangement with Hostway.  I have contacted Hostway about the problem of
the illegal copying of material from UK university Web sites and this
was their response:

> Thank you for your inquiry.  Since we have no way of monitoring the legality
> of the content on the web sites of our customers, we rely on the provisions
> of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as a means of addressing copyright
> infringement concerns.  You may view the terms of this act in our Terms of
> Use at http://www.hostway.com/termofuse/index.htm.  We have also reproduced
> its requirements below.
>
> If you wish to submit a specific complaint per the terms of the Act, please
> email, mail, or fax that information to my attention.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Constantine G. Alexandrakis
> Director of Corporate Development
> Hostway.com
> 200 West Adams Street / Suite 1001
> Chicago, IL  60606
> Tel / 312.238.0143
> Fax / 312.236.1958
> E-mail / [log in to unmask]
>
>
> The Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") sets forth the requirements
> for valid copyright infringement notification. If you would like to notify
> Hostway of an infringement of your copyright, the DMCA requires that you:
>
> 1. Send your notification to Hostway's designated agent. You may choose any
> of the following three avenues for this notification:
> a. Email to [log in to unmask]
> b. Fax to Hostway, Attention: Abuse at (312) 236-1958
> c. Mail or courier to Hostway, Attention: Abuse, 200 West Adams Street,
> Suite 1001, Chicago, IL 60606
>
> 2. Include in your notification the following information
> a. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person
> authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf (the "Claimant")
> b. Identification of the copyrighted work(s) claimed to have been infringed
> c. Identification of the material claimed to infringe the copyright(s), and
> enough information for Hostway to locate it
> d. The Claimant's name, address, and telephone number(s)
> e. A statement that the Claimant has a good faith belief that use of the
> disputed material is not authorized by the copyright owner or his agent
> f.  A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the
> notification of copyright infringement is accurate and that the Claimant is
> authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
>

Is there any merit in co-ordinating the formal complaints from all the
UK
universities that believe the copyright of their material has been
infringed by the bogus ECDOL-listed institutions?  Or will each one now
take
separate action?  Apologies that this is not relevant to many people on
this list, but perhaps all those affected could get in touch off-list?

Thanks.

Best wishes,
Adrian

"Pawley, E.L." wrote:
>
> Thanks to Adrian Tribe, Phil Bradley, Simon Virr, Kriss Fearon, Bryan Martin
> for this info! - I shall be passing this summary of the 'bogus web site'
> postings to my management.
><snip>

--
Adrian Tribe <[log in to unmask]>
Web Editor, Birkbeck College, University of London
Tel: 020 7631 6291; Mobile: 07703 288192; Fax: 020 7631 6556