|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
08-13-2013, 07:32 PM | #1 | ||
Fully Converged
Posts: 18,163
Karma: 14021202
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Switzerland
Device: Too many to count here.
|
Anti-piracy group wants to catch e-book pirates; vendors now required to help them
TorrentFreak has published a report stating that Dutch vendors who sell watermarked e-books are now required to share identifying information of suspected pirates with the Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN.
Quote:
In a blog entry, Kurt Roeckx, who runs the Dutch speaking e-book store E-webshops, shares his doubt about the legality of working hand in hand with the anti-piracy group. Quote:
Image: peasap/Flickr Last edited by Alexander Turcic; 08-13-2013 at 07:37 PM. |
||
08-13-2013, 08:25 PM | #2 |
eReader
Posts: 2,750
Karma: 4968470
Join Date: Aug 2007
Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad
|
So basically yet another anti-piracy group is ranking IP protection above due process.
Is anyone surprised? I'm not. |
08-13-2013, 08:28 PM | #3 |
Wizard
Posts: 4,538
Karma: 264065402
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Taiwan
Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD
|
They just get the names of the suspects --- they can't automatically convict. They just know where to start further investigations. Due process is what, hopefully, comes afterwards.
|
08-13-2013, 09:06 PM | #4 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,111
Karma: 34000001
Join Date: Mar 2008
Device: KPW1, KA1
|
I've been reading about this today. This is completely absurd. IMHO, it damages a Dutch law called WBP. (Wet Bescherming Persoonsgegevens / Law to protect personal data.) It states that any institution that knows my personal data (store, sports club, etc...) has to ask my permission to pass on that data to any other institute. If someone wants to get a hold of this data without my permission, he would normally need to provide a case to the court and state why he wants access to it, what he wants to do with it, and why he can't do it without that data.
If BREIN can now just say "We found ebook X online, and it states that it is bought at your store, transaction number XYZ. Give us the data of the person that bought it", without going through court, then this is a very bad idea. Who says the book was put online by the original purchaser? As I've stated before, in the Netherlands it is allowed to download media (ebooks, music, movies, series), as it is deemed not to be possible to determine the legality of the source, or of every single file before downloading. (I've had it happen to me that a Google link turns out to be a complete book in PDF-format, while I was just looking for some information such as reviews.) However, it is prohibited to spread or upload copyrighted material. Still, if a file is found on the internet, it is not certain that the person linked to be the original purchaser of that file is also the uploader. It's way too easy to steal notebooks, phones, e-readers, external hard drives, USB-sticks, CD's, or whatever; in schools (college and university), many of these things are stolen each year. It's easy enough to get the files off them and spread them without the consent of the original purchaser. In this way, the honest and original purchaser doesn't only lose his device and his files for which he has paid, he can also be dragged into court for copyright infringement. That's just ridiculous, and *ANOTHER* reason for me to *NOT* buy eBooks in Dutch stores. (Price being the most important one, let alone that I rarely read books that are originally written in Dutch. Or listen to Dutch music... or see Dutch movies...) Last edited by Katsunami; 08-14-2013 at 07:56 AM. |
08-14-2013, 12:56 AM | #5 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,084
Karma: 23748616
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands
Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition
|
BREIN isn't known for being subtle. They want us to pay them money because we have a copier in our store and it is possible we copy copyrighted material with it.
I've also heard of (uknown) bands being told to either pay up or remove their own YouTube videos from their website. Also, we have to pay extra for recordable media (CD's, DVD's, HDD's, MP3 players) because they assume you will use it for illegal copying. So it's very double that you have to pay up because you might copy copyrighted material illegally and when you get caught they will take you to court. And where does all the money go? Nobody knows, BREIN is one of the most untransparent companies in the Netherlands. Over the last couple of years some big artists have spoken out that all the money BREIN collects for them (as BREIN tells everyone they are doing) as compensation for loss because of illegal copying/downloading/etc they hardly get any of that money. |
08-14-2013, 01:36 AM | #6 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,306
Karma: 43993832
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Monroe Wisconsin
Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)
|
Quote:
|
|
08-14-2013, 01:38 AM | #7 | |
Evangelist
Posts: 439
Karma: 2248782
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Austria
Device: Inkbook Prime; Icarus Illumina;ImcoV6l;EB600;Kobo
|
Quote:
They might just as well use this information to scare people and extort money from them. Quite likely not really legal or binding, but it's worked before in a multitude of variations (think of "you downloaded a ringtone, now you've entered a contract, cough up the money or we sue!"). |
|
08-14-2013, 02:58 AM | #8 | |
Ebook-Fan
Posts: 398
Karma: 698564
Join Date: Feb 2011
Device: PRS T1
|
Quote:
For this reason it's paradoxal to use digital watermarks in ebooks. It's all in all paradoxal to fight against piracy at all. The history of piracy and the music industry shows, the way it goes: If there are good legal offers for the customers, piracy will reduce till it is insignificant. |
|
08-14-2013, 03:10 AM | #9 |
Uebermensch
Posts: 2,583
Karma: 1094606
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Italy
Device: Kindle
|
|
08-14-2013, 03:17 AM | #10 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,306
Karma: 43993832
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Monroe Wisconsin
Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)
|
And you have to wonder what they will do with that info. Will they suspend accounts associated with those names? I don't know anything about Dutch law but taking action like that against someone who hasn't been convicted of wrong doing would create an uproar round the U.S. I would think. That would be judging them guilty without the 'formality' of a trial. I mean how would they know that the actual person who bought the book was responsible for it being illegally distributed? Someone could have hacked their account (if they have the book stored online) and gotten it that way.
|
08-14-2013, 03:19 AM | #11 |
Treachery of images ...
Posts: 4,069
Karma: 91561091
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Australia
Device: Blackberry Playbook, Sony 650, Kobo Glo, H2O, Aura One, Forma, Libra 2
|
So how hard is it now (or soon enough) to remove the watermark?
I'm sure that for every 'new' DRM invention there will be an equally 'new' stripper, eh. |
08-14-2013, 04:05 AM | #12 |
tec montage
Posts: 435
Karma: 544444445
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: harsh unforgiving places
Device: kindles, lenovo, chromebook, mobiles
|
|
08-14-2013, 04:12 AM | #13 |
Fanatic
Posts: 556
Karma: 3531054
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Germany
Device: In use: Pocketbook InkPad 3, Kobo Glo, iPad Air 2
|
It's curious that some organizations and publishers are so hell-bent on discouraging customers from spending money.
Just like iBooks. I spent hundreds there, but now I can't liberate the books I buy from them, and as a result my money now goes to Kobobooks/Baen/etc. |
08-14-2013, 04:12 AM | #14 | ||
Uebermensch
Posts: 2,583
Karma: 1094606
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Italy
Device: Kindle
|
Quote:
Quote:
If, on the other hand, they were using something horrible like this, then it would require at least two independently purchased items of the same work. Then you could compare them and detect the permutations. |
||
08-14-2013, 07:48 AM | #15 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,111
Karma: 34000001
Join Date: Mar 2008
Device: KPW1, KA1
|
Quote:
Quote:
BREIN functions like a charity. They DON'T want piracy to stop, just as charities don't REALLY want their problem solved for which the charity organization was created. BREIN is doing enough to look like as if they are making a difference. The reason is simple: If you solve ALL piracy and ALL problems for which there are charities, then all of those organizations become redundant... and quite a lot of CEO's and other highly paid people will be out of work. After The Pirate Bay was blocked in The Netherlands, BREIN proclaimed to have won "The War Against Piracy". Oh? Eh.... didn't see all those... like... 2.845 proxies? Or the 5.234.489 other Torrent sites? Or... uhm.... the 10.578.247 non-Torrent possibilities? If people want to pirate, they will pirate, one way or another. As I've often said: the only way to solve it is to follow GOG.com's game example. A lot of choice, a low price, easy to get (download), complete (with expansions, updates, soundtracks, art), no hassle, and after you've paid, the provider of the content stays out of your hair forever, as there's no DRM. Last edited by Katsunami; 08-14-2013 at 07:52 AM. |
||
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
I have a better anti-piracy device | Sydney's Mom | General Discussions | 74 | 06-30-2013 09:37 PM |
Hadopi (French Anti-Piracy Group) Not Long for this World | Ninjalawyer | News | 50 | 08-12-2012 08:56 PM |
Piracy Irony: Copyright firm fined after stealing music for anti-piracy ad. | spindlegirl | News | 4 | 07-21-2012 06:41 AM |
Anti-Piracy group wants to ban you from talking about piracy | Nate the great | News | 39 | 06-06-2012 05:20 AM |
Europe votes on anti-piracy laws | Ramen | News | 127 | 07-15-2008 06:24 AM |