Is it worth taking down pirate ebooks from the public web?

[sourcejedi]

Good question! Not to contradict the other answers, but in some cases you can get a share of the ad revenue that funds the site. (Based on how many people visit the download page for that file).

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by sourcejedi

Good question! Not to contradict the other answers, but in some cases you can get a share of the ad revenue that funds the site. (Based on how many people visit the download page for that file).

Thank you, I didn't know this.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by sourcejedi

Good question! Not to contradict the other answers, but in some cases you can get a share of the ad revenue that funds the site. (Based on how many people visit the download page for that file).

I've seen this posited several times on this forum, but I've never heard of a pirate site that runs off of financial incentive. Can you link to a news story about such a site, or any verifiable information?

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

I've seen this posited several times on this forum, but I've never heard of a pirate site that runs off of financial incentive. Can you link to a news story about such a site, or any verifiable information?

There are file storage sites that require paid memberships to download; it's very possible that someone other than the site owner gets a cut.

Ad revenue based on hit counts is possible for any site with memberships, although I doubt a download page, even a very popular one, that can't be openly advertised is going to get enough hits for that to be financially useful. (The site hosts, however, are often ad-supported.)

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

I've seen this posited several times on this forum, but I've never heard of a pirate site that runs off of financial incentive. Can you link to a news story about such a site, or any verifiable information?

Sounds like an urban myth to me. Why would they waste money paying people for doing what they do for free anyway?

Some of the rapidshare type sites will credit you with extra download allowance based on the amount of traffic you generate, and you might get referral commission if you were daft enough to add your affiliate link and provide copyright owners with an easy way of identifying you.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

There are file storage sites that require paid memberships to download; it's very possible that someone other than the site owner gets a cut.

Ad revenue based on hit counts is possible for any site with memberships, although I doubt a download page, even a very popular one, that can't be openly advertised is going to get enough hits for that to be financially useful. (The site hosts, however, are often ad-supported.)

This is conjecture about the way things could work. I'm asking for actual verifiable evidence that at least one 'pirate' site operates on financial incentive.

[sourcejedi]

Not sure where I saw it. I might be wrong to mention it w.r.t. ebooks. (As people have been saying the numbers for individual ebooks are not very impressive).

I tried "file hosting site revenue sharing", and this came up:

http://www.easy-share.com/earn.html

1. We pay you when someone downloads your files. We pay up to $40 up to $5 per 1000 downloads (for files under 50 megabytes).

2. We count all premium account sales generated from file downloads and pay up to 65% of your total sales.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by sourcejedi

http://www.easy-share.com/earn.html

Not much of a pirate site...

Originally Posted by Easy Share FAQ

Q: Can I upload any type of file?
A: No. Easy-share.com serves people of all ages and cultures from all over the World. We do not want to offend anyone in any way. We make every effort to ensure that the shared content does not violate any law and is completely inoffensive.

The payment model is also not based on ad revenue, which is what you initially claimed. It's based on downloaders creating a paid account in order to download more/faster. If you entice people to pay for a premium account, you get a pittance in return. That's more like transferring money from possible infringers to other possible infringers, as opposed to transferring money from advertisers to infringers.

I was hoping more for an article (it's against TOS to link directly to a pirate site) explaining how a bastion for the lawless makes monetary payments for the act of infringing on someone else's copyright/patent/etc.

[sourcejedi]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

Not much of a pirate site...

Ahem. LMGTFY.

site:www.easy-share.com

I don't know much about music, but it claims to include Britney Spears - Till The World Ends.mp3 if that helps.

The payment model is also not based on ad revenue, which is what you initially claimed.

Yep. It looks like I conflated two completely separate things.

I was hoping more for an article

Me too .

[swelsh]

Ok ... I see an issue that hasn't been mentioned. Just another view? I purchase a book or movie or magazine, I paid for it, and I want to share it with my family. I own that copy, I paid for it. I die and leave it to my family. Are they expecting my family to burn my library. Bull..... Does anyone expect that author, who read another author's work to destroy it? Bull... I have put out good money for my library and it is substantial. I own it and my family WILL inherit it, because I paid for it and it is now personal property. Does the author wish to be obscure? Like passing private notes in grade school? There is such a thing as going too far. Mr. Ploppy mentioned he would rather be someone's fav author than ... .? He is right, it is hard to love an author who doesn't want to be read.

[carld]

Not wanting to have your work pirated is not the same thing as not wanted to be read.

[sourcejedi]

You might have missed the original thread, swelsh. We had the moral argument and some rather entertaining analogies, and it was driving out the more specific question.

Imagine you're talking to Mr Burns. Being hated is not a problem per se; what matters is whether or not this course of action (see thread title) would save him more money than it costs. E-reads and Muso TNT was the specific example.

Note that E-reads' books are entirely innocent of what you seem to be accusing. They don't use DRM, so there's no obstacle to passing them on to your children.

[dbeman]

Originally Posted by Todd Young

I just don't get why people upload the files in the first place. If it's a file sharing site, what is the incentive to upload something that you know is copyright. What do you get out of it?

The basic idea is one of give and take...if I upload a file to a pirated site then maybe someone else will be motivated to do so with their files; perhaps uploading something that I may want to download.

There are private sites that require would-be members to contribute to the site before being granted access; and moderators will warn and ban users who don't contribute on a regular basis.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by sourcejedi

Ahem. LMGTFY.

site:www.easy-share.com

I don't know much about music, but it claims to include Britney Spears - Till The World Ends.mp3 if that helps.

Hey look, if you're gonna try to be snarky, at least get it right. Here's how you use LMGTFY

And seeing as that file breaks their TOS as spelled out here, you may wish to notify them so they can pull it.

Originally Posted by Easy Share TOS

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The Easy-Share.Com (hereinafter: "Easy-Share") renders web hosting services for its users based on the following provisions.
I. General Priovisions

(1) Easy-Share provides its users with an infrastructure which enables the users to save any files on Internet servers. After the saving process the respective user receives a download link with which his/her file can be downloaded worldwide via the Internet as well as a deletion link with which the file he/she has uploaded can again be deleted from the server.

(2) The files saved at Easy-Share shall be treated confidentially. Easy-Share does not have a search function which could help search through the Easy-Share infrastructure. Easy-Share does not open or view its users files; the files are neither catalogued nor listed in directories.

(3) The services offered by Easy-Share are basically free of charge. However, Easy-Share offers premium memberships which significantly increase the service capability and ease of use which are subject to costs.
II. Content

(1) By using Easy-Share.com you understand that all postings, messages, text, files, images, photos, videos or other materials ("Content") posted on, transmitted through, or linked from the site, are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. You are entirely responsible for each individual item of Content that you post, email or otherwise make available via the site.
You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with the use of any Content. Under no circumstances will Easy-Share.com be liable in any way for any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed or otherwise made available via the site. You acknowledge that Easy-Share.com does not pre-screen or approve Content, but that Easy-Share.com shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to refuse, delete or move any Content that is available via the site.
Easy-Share.com in no way endorses or permits the uploading or sharing of any Content that contains illegal or obscene material, or that is in violation of the applicable laws of the country in which you are uploading the data from. Easy-Share.com reserves the right to remove any content that we believe in good faith to be copyrighted material that has been illegally copied and distributed.

Notice you can't even search easy share for illicit materials without the help of Google.

Calling this a pirate site, is like calling a car a murder weapon. Sure a car can be used to kill a person, but that's not what it's intended to do. Even if it happens all the time.