[Retailer] ABC Ebook

jodykihara · May 9, 2011

Hi everyone
If you have e-books published, you might want to check this site to make sure they haven't posted your books 'for sale' without your permission:
http://www.abcebook.com/

I found two of my books there, and I had no legal agreement with this site (meaning, I wouldn't be getting any royalties from the sales! Also the RRP was incorrect). I sent them a DCMA takedown notice and they did take the books down (but did not reply to my email).

Now, checking for your book is difficult as the search functionality on this site is really weird! - I only found my books were there via Google Alerts. I'm still trying to find out if the whole site is illegal -- given that there's no 'About' page or company information, the site does look dodgy. Anyway, just wanted to alert other e-pubbers to this!

cheers,
Jody

Ann_Mayburn · May 9, 2011

Bumping. The books being sold on the website are WAY below what they are going for everywhere else. For example, they have Kim Harrison's book, Pale Demon on their front page for a price I have never seen before for any of her books.

Alessandra Kelley · May 9, 2011

Those discounts look pretty impossible (and a possible violation of Amazon's requirements). Who are these people?

brainstorm77 · May 9, 2011

Talk about low prices!

Unimportant · May 9, 2011

Got to be a pirate site. I've notified one author whose book I found there.

jodykihara · May 9, 2011

I'm 99% sure it's a pirate site... can't find any details about the company, and a friend of mine noticed that their email address is not their site address.

Wow, I can't believe how brazen they are, selling THAT many books (including bestsellers!) illegally!

Unimportant · May 10, 2011

Judging from the sentence structure/syntax, I think they may be operating out of India or China, where US copyright may not be protected.

Alessandra Kelley · May 14, 2011

Is there some way to alert people about this? It looks pretty shady. Who keeps track of pirate sites -- assuming that's what this one is?

melodyclark · May 14, 2011

Unfortunately, it looks like they've shielded their domain location info, which says "shady" to me anyway. Here's the address info for their "domain control". The domain is registered through a Tucows affiliate. The reseller looks to be Netfirms, which owns the control ID below. I'd bet they're hosted there. Netfirms is Canadian. It'll listen to reason, given the concerns about NAFTA. Here's their address: http://netfirms.com The host will need to close down the site due to theft of intellectual property. Just mention those words and watch them vanish (I hope).

Yes, this is all public information.

Registrant:
Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0127024968
96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA

Domain name: ABCEBOOK.COM

Administrative Contact:
Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0127024968,

96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA
+1.4165385457
Technical Contact:
Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0127024968,

96 Mowat Ave
Toronto, ON M6K 3M1
CA
+1.4165385457

Registration Service Provider:
Netfirms, Inc.,

+1.4166612100
This company may be contacted for domain login/passwords,
DNS/Nameserver changes, and general domain support questions.

Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 18-Mar-2011.
Record expires on 10-Mar-2012.
Record created on 10-Mar-2011.

Registrar Domain Name Help Center:
http://tucowsdomains.com

Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.NETFIRMS.COM
NS2.NETFIRMS.COM

Domain status: clientDeleteProhibited
clientTransferProhibited
clientUpdateProhibited

This domain's privacy is protected by contactprivacy.com. To reach the domain contacts, please
go to http://www.contactprivacy.com and follow the instructions.

JulieB · May 14, 2011

Lots of folks protect their domain registration info. I do, because I got tired of the phone calls and the spam and the scammy snail mails. Also, I've been through the "number one fan" crap. Just don't need it.

Having said that, a private registration in combination with a site that skirts the law doesn't look good at all. Try filing a DMCA notice here. That's Netfirms, where the name servers are located. That most likely means they're also hosting it. Their terms of service specifically prohibit this sort of activity, so that's as good a place as any to start. (ETA: Netfirms is located in the US, so the DMCA does apply.)

Good luck!

melodyclark · May 14, 2011

At one time, I owned over 1200 domains. I *completely* understand cloaking domains.

As you've said, when the domain cloaking coincides with suspicious activities, then I'm concerned.

melodyclark · May 14, 2011

JulieB said:
(ETA: Netfirms is located in the US, so the DMCA does apply.)

Good luck!

Actually, the hosting/domains part appears to not be. Their registrar address is:

Netfirms, Inc.
7030 Woodbine Ave. #800
Markham, ON L3R6G2
CA

JulieB · May 14, 2011

Yes, but you need to file with the address in the link above. Hosting companies can appoint a designated agent to handle DMCA requests. That address is their legal department, which makes sense. As I understand the law, they don't have to honor a notice that does not go through their designated agent.

jodykihara · May 16, 2011

Their email address is 'yeah.net', NOT their own domain, which is also very suspicious.

I sent them a DCMA takedown notice and they did take my books down (hooray!), so that's good news.
I wish I could get the entire site taken down, though!

On the subject of cloaking domains, how does one do that? I don't mind that people can see who owns my sites, but I don't like having my address and phone number there for the world to see.

JulieB · May 16, 2011

jodykihara said:
I sent them a DCMA takedown notice and they did take my books down (hooray!), so that's good news.
I wish I could get the entire site taken down, though!

Hey, glad they took it down! It may be difficult to get an entire site taken down, but if enough authors and publishers file notices, it might help.

jodykihara said:
On the subject of cloaking domains, how does one do that? I don't mind that people can see who owns my sites, but I don't like having my address and phone number there for the world to see.

Your domain registrar should offer a privacy service. If they don't, find one that does. There are plenty of reputable registrars that offer private registration for an inexpensive price. Some registrars will throw in privacy service if you are also hosting with them. Shop around, I'm sure you'll find a good deal.

jodykihara · May 25, 2011

Well, the funny thing is, it offers it for my .com sites but not my .ca ones; maybe because my registrar is American and can't offer that service for the Canadian sites...

Either way, I'll have to give it a think as I'm not sure I want to have to add on that much $$$ annually (I have about 5 domains registered)

JulieB said:
Some registrars will throw in privacy service if you are also hosting with them. Shop around, I'm sure you'll find a good deal.

Ooh ooh, that's what I'm looking for... do you know which ones offer it for free?

JulieB · May 25, 2011

jodykihara said:
Ooh ooh, that's what I'm looking for... do you know which ones offer it for free?

Check your PM.

jodykihara · Jun 1, 2011

Thanks, Julie!

CaoPaux · Jun 22, 2012

Looks like one down, 6,832,497 to go.

[Retailer] ABC Ebook

jodykihara

Ann_Mayburn

Smutty McTitters

Alessandra Kelley

Sophipygian

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.

jodykihara

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.

Alessandra Kelley

Sophipygian

melodyclark

JulieB

I grow my own catnip

melodyclark

melodyclark

JulieB

I grow my own catnip

jodykihara

JulieB

I grow my own catnip

jodykihara

JulieB

I grow my own catnip

jodykihara

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless