Mods? Admin? Question........

Hi Bill,

Flawed as it may be, my own philosophy about piracy is this...

I go into things online with the full prior understanding that anything I write or produce, whether it ba a Tweet, blog post, paid ebook, whatever, it's going to eventually be taken and republished or shared somewhere. I could point to 3 sites right now where the main draw for visitors is that those sites have just about every WSO ever produced available for download for free, and cracked if they have DRM or passwords.

I know that if I had an offline shop, lets say a shoe store, and I had 2000 pairs of shoes on the shelves, I'd have a lot of money tied up in stock and if I sell those shoes I make a profit on them. But if a percentage of those shoes were stolen, I'm out money because I had to pay my wholesale supplier for them in the first place. So in that case, theft costs me money and costs everyone money because in order to cover those losses I have to charge a bit more for the shoes I actually sell at retail.

But an ebook or other digital product that I write, upload and sell (IMO) is different for me in that I don't have money tied up in stock. Yes, I took the time, skill and knowledge to product the content and host it, then had to take the time to market it, etc.

But through good marketing to honest people is where I make the money. And I don't stress about it much more than that because it's like playing whack-a-mole and it ends up consuming you with frustration and bitterness. I only go after the most obvious perps and then only with a stern DMCA notice.

I prefer to spend my time and energy on producing and marketing instead.

People who appreciate your work and effort don't have a problem paying you for it and those who don't, well, would they have bought from you if they couldn't get it from you or would they just move on to the next freebie they could get their hands on?

I know, rhetorical question, but as I alluded to above and as you indicated in your reply

"My options right now for protecting my Intellectual Property rights is to:

* Stop producing and start chasing pirates; or
* Employ an expensive legal team to chase pirates for me.

Both options have the capacity to destroy my profits and business rather quickly."

Those companies on the SOPA list above can do their own policing.

Paul

You know Bill, if you are going to stop producing, golf is a much safer retirement activity. Arrrr.

Ahh, outsource so you have more time for golf. I get ya.



I agree with as much personal freedom as possible, but also acknowledge the need for legislation to provide rules and a framework for behavior.

The problem with most trade legislation is it contains draconian measures designed to protect large corporations at the expense of individual freedom.

Why should there be any intellectual property laws at all? Once you release the first Mickey Mouse movie it is automatically Public Domain. If Disney wants more movies they can make new characters. Once "Satisfaction" hits the airways, bang everyone owns it. If a band wants to make more money, write more songs. Oh wait.. The Stones did... lol

Once I know the words and how to play, why not be allowed to release my own version of a song and perform it at bars so I can make some coin too? Why should anybody be the only person allowed to monetize an activity they did in the past?

And of course corporation = person in the eyes of the law.

Mahlon

@Paul: If you send a notice using DMCA, you are relying on government legislation no different than SOPA.