[Hacker site] VipraSys

I'm always enlightened by the number of graphic novels and art books that can be had on peer-to-peer networks.

http://www.viprasys.com/vb/f139/

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I get a 'page load error' with that link.

Worked for me.

A writer's biggest problem isn't piracy; it's obscurity.

If anyone here sees one of their books on the site, they should send an email to Copyrightclaims AT Godaddy.com, in accordance with this:

http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/legal_agreements/show_doc.asp?se=+&pageid=TRADMARK_COPY

It's the typical DCMA stuff; you have to say you're the copyright holder and verify you didn't give permission.

GoDaddy currently hosts this site, and they are generally very proactive about these things.

A writer's biggest problem isn't piracy; it's obscurity.

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Sorry, Uncle Jim, but I completely disagree.

Yes, obscurity is a bigger problem, certainly. But I really have a hard time understanding how anyone can just shrug their shoulders at this while bookstores and publishers lay people off and teeter on the edge of bankruptcy (as with Borders.) It's very easy to say "Those people wouldn't have bought the books anyway," but that doesn't make it true. How do you know they wouldn't have? I'm sure a percentage of them wouldn't have, but a percentage of them also might. And yes, for some books giving away free copies increases sales. But not all the books being pirated are print books. Some are ebooks--there's pages and pages of listing from EC there--and those books do not exist in any other form. When you download the pirated ebook you possess the book in the only format in which it is available, period.

Not to mention copyright theft is a crime, plain and simple. And it's one I believe no writer should shrug at. We all know about genericized trademarks. Isn't it just possible that if we don't defend our copyrights eventually we will lose them? I'm tired of being told a criminal act is no big deal and it's dumb of me to get upset about it. And I'm tired of writers who seem to think that since ebooks aren't "real" books anyway, ebook authors should just quit worrying when they're being stolen from. Ebook sales offer much higher royalties but a (generally) lower number of sales. If people can get my ebooks for free they won't buy them, and each of those books is worth anywhere from $1.20 to $2.50 or so to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark

I got a page load error. But my computer hates me, so I'll keep trying.

DecemberQuinn said:

Not to mention copyright theft is a crime, plain and simple. And it's one I believe no writer should shrug at. We all know about genericized trademarks. Isn't it just possible that if we don't defend our copyrights eventually we will lose them? I'm tired of being told a criminal act is no big deal and it's dumb of me to get upset about it. And I'm tired of writers who seem to think that since ebooks aren't "real" books anyway, ebook authors should just quit worrying when they're being stolen from. Ebook sales offer much higher royalties but a (generally) lower number of sales. If people can get my ebooks for free they won't buy them, and each of those books is worth anywhere from $1.20 to $2.50 or so to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark

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Agreed! I am going to have an ebook released soon (hopefully soon; I don't have a release date yet), and I figure I'll need all the sales I can get.

My ebooks have yet to show up on any pirate site. I don't know if I should be happy or worried.

DecemberQuinn said:

Sorry, Uncle Jim, but I completely disagree.

Yes, obscurity is a bigger problem, certainly. But I really have a hard time understanding how anyone can just shrug their shoulders at this while bookstores and publishers lay people off and teeter on the edge of bankruptcy (as with Borders.) It's very easy to say "Those people wouldn't have bought the books anyway," but that doesn't make it true. How do you know they wouldn't have? I'm sure a percentage of them wouldn't have, but a percentage of them also might. And yes, for some books giving away free copies increases sales. But not all the books being pirated are print books. Some are ebooks--there's pages and pages of listing from EC there--and those books do not exist in any other form. When you download the pirated ebook you possess the book in the only format in which it is available, period.

Not to mention copyright theft is a crime, plain and simple. And it's one I believe no writer should shrug at. We all know about genericized trademarks. Isn't it just possible that if we don't defend our copyrights eventually we will lose them? I'm tired of being told a criminal act is no big deal and it's dumb of me to get upset about it. And I'm tired of writers who seem to think that since ebooks aren't "real" books anyway, ebook authors should just quit worrying when they're being stolen from. Ebook sales offer much higher royalties but a (generally) lower number of sales. If people can get my ebooks for free they won't buy them, and each of those books is worth anywhere from $1.20 to $2.50 or so to me.

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This. Exactly. It royally chaps my buns to see my ebooks pirated on these sites. I work hard and deserve to have my work protected. It's theft, plain and simple.

Jersey Chick said:

My ebooks have yet to show up on any pirate site. I don't know if I should be happy or worried.

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Requests for mine turned up less than a week after it released ( thanks Google Alerts!). I'm not sure whether to take it as a compliment...But thanks for the link DQ. *hurries off to fill it in*

ETA: I noticed that viprasys has been suspended for spam and abuse

I can't get through either. All three of my books are available in regular and e-book format. I'll keep trying but my guess is the effort to redress this issue will be more costly in $$$ and time than I want to spend.

Besides, anyone can buy an e-copy and then reproduce and sell it multiple times. Some of these sites are peer-to-peer and require membership and I'm unwilling to join just so see if my books are listed.

This runs in tandem with resellers selling my books on amazon. I don't get a dime from those sales. But then again I wouldn't profit if they end up in yard sales either.
C

Worked for me and HOLY amount of books and requests for them!

Still can't access the viprasys site:

Address Not Found Firefox can't find the server at viprasys.com.

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Tried it in Explorer as well. No luck.

No longer works for me. Looks like someone took them down.

M.R.J. Le Blanc said:

No longer works for me. Looks like someone took them down.

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Perhaps they did. I can't access it either.

Wow. GoDaddy is FAST with that stuff, I guess. I'm impressed. ***I assume they are fast; I wouldn't know, because I did NOT file a claim.***

Okay, I really hate to bring this thread back up, but I also really am not comfortable getting email after email after email about it either.


I DID NOT GET VIPRASYS SHUT DOWN.

I had NOTHING to do with it.

Under DCMA law, ONLY the copyright holder can file a claim. Viprasys was not pirating any of my work; therefore I couldn't legally file a claim. Therefore I did NOT file a claim.

Okay? I didn't do it. Please stop PMing me and emailing me and commenting on my blog that this site is back up with a different host or whatever; I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

I just got the alert for my book here too, but you can't post in their forum or email the adminstrator of course. I finally found a moderator that I sent a message to, politely asking for my book files to be removed. We'll see.