Read on Twitter
Okay everyone, today I will learn you a thing about how to hopefully get your books off a pirate site that isn't responding to emails or whatnot
Hopefully this is helpful to someone
Hopefully this is helpful to someone
1: make sure it's actually a pirate site, and not just some automated fuckery that's spoofing listings from Amazon in order to get people to click on links and download what they think are ebooks, but are actually malware/viruses.
Be very careful doing this.
Be very careful doing this.
If they seem to want you to sign up for something/pay for a non-book-related service in order to get the file then chances are they don't have it. Tread carefully, make sure you've got adblockers up and good anti-virus/anti-malware while you investigate.
2: make sure it's not just someone driving traffic to Amazon for affiliate income or whatever through listings, or a legit use of an online service.
FFS let's not have a repeat of what happened to Lendink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lendink
FFS let's not have a repeat of what happened to Lendink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lendink
3: The site isn't responding. Email/contact = waste of time. You need to find out who these people are and if can you affect them.
First stop: WHOIS.
First stop: WHOIS.
WHOIS is basically a lookup that tells you about the domain, which is http://shittypiratesite.com for example (not a real site)
You need to find the host.
Here's ICANN's lookup: https://lookup.icann.org/lookup
You need to find the host.
Here's ICANN's lookup: https://lookup.icann.org/lookup
Put the domain in the box, click lookup. Ignore most of it, look at the NAMESERVERS.
This is the thing that tells you who's handling traffic to that domain, hence these are the people you need to shout at. If it's not obvious, then google the nameserver entries.
This is the thing that tells you who's handling traffic to that domain, hence these are the people you need to shout at. If it's not obvious, then google the nameserver entries.
Couple of possibilities: could be a hosting company, like GoDaddy. Google their DMCA policy. GoDaddy accepts complaints here for ex. https://supportcenter.godaddy.com/Infringement/Index?isc=
Could be Cloudflare, who run DDOS protection - and are also used to hide the hosts of pirate sites.
Could be Cloudflare, who run DDOS protection - and are also used to hide the hosts of pirate sites.
Which is not their fault, okay. Like, it's not the fault of Toyota if someone uses a Corolla as a getaway vehicle.
Anyway Cloudflare also have a form for DMCA takedowns: https://www.cloudflare.com/abuse/form They will pass the takedowns to the pirate site host.
Anyway Cloudflare also have a form for DMCA takedowns: https://www.cloudflare.com/abuse/form They will pass the takedowns to the pirate site host.
4: HAMMER THE ABSOLUTE SHIT OUT OF THE HOST with DMCA takedowns for the pirate site.
If they're using something like Cloudflare and they STILL ignore the takedowns then you can actually subpoena their personal info from CF in order to sue them.
If they're using something like Cloudflare and they STILL ignore the takedowns then you can actually subpoena their personal info from CF in order to sue them.
If the host is operating in the US, then they MUST comply with the DMCA or they become legally liable.
If they're not in the US, then shit gets weird.
If they're not in the US, then shit gets weird.
5: non-US hosts follow the copyright law in their own jurisdiction. You just need to find out what that is, and what your legal options are. You'll probably have to find a local lawyer to sue them. YMMV on that.
6: if the host is somewhere in Russia or China then you are likely SOL. There are lawless parts of the world that give zero fucks for anyone's copyright and are untouchable unless they fall apart on their own.
Best you can do in this instance is to get the link off Google and hope it doesn't come back.
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/legal-removal-request?complaint_type=dmca
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/legal-removal-request?complaint_type=dmca
7: set up a Google Alert on your book's title and your author name, so you can watch what shows up in search.
https://www.google.ca/alerts
It'll let you monitor where your book is showing up online.
https://www.google.ca/alerts
It'll let you monitor where your book is showing up online.
8: if it's a torrent (unlikely but possible for collections of ebooks) then you are completely SOL. Get the link off Google and forget about it, because there is nothing you or anyone else can do, legal or otherwise. Sorry.
Anyway this has been a weird day, and now I have to go debug some bubble charts because my job is so glamorous
/thread
/thread
