Why EVERY author and EVERY publisher should send those takedowns to EBAY

All it takes is one.

One strong takedown on a perpetual smug bootlegger.

That seller CAN be given a "RESTRICTION" (not allowed to sell for a month or more) or a PERMANENT SUSPENSION.

Here's what one bootlegger sent to a publisher:

The whine was ignored, because this seller had a history of warnings, according to eBay, and had "ignored them. This seller has not been paying attention."

Why wasn't the seller disciplined before? Because the complaints were sent to "REPORT ITEM" via an eBay template, by fans and perhaps bookstore owners, who saw that this seller was offering ebooks "with a download link you will get after you buy."

This is illegal on eBay, but eBay will often choose to slap a seller's wrist a few times. Five times. Ten times.

When eBay gets a TAKEDOWN demand, then things get MUCH MORE SERIOUS.

You can laugh at how this seller plays dumb. Gosh, if you own a book, can't you copy it? And take ALL the money with NO ROYALTIES to the author or publisher? What's wrong with that? And Gosh, isn't it ecological to sell ebooks? And Gosh, I looked around, and I didn't see any law against this.

Sadly, eBay is RIFE with WEASELS and PARASITES and MAGGOTS who try to trick people into buying bootlegs, and try to sneak things past a "web sheriff" or a book company's VERO rep. For example:

Why, what's THIS?

It LOOKS like somebody is selling their collection of paperbacks. Doesn't it?

What a bargain.

Now let's see the ad copy:

What's a bidder thinking now?

Maybe: "Hey, that's still a good deal. I get audiobook versions e-mailed to me. Come to think of it, the actual books might be five times as much money. These audiobooks must be legal, because they're on eBay. The author and publisher probably made a deal to offer these bargains to me. I'LL BUY IT!!!"

Meanwhile...while EBAY and PAYPAL take their cut, and the CHEAP THIEF gets his pizza and beer money for a nice dinner...

BOOKSTORES continue to close.

LIBRARIES shorten their hours.

AUTHORS see chintzier royalty checks and get smaller advances for new work.

The VERO program (Verfied Rights Owner program) on eBAY is simple. An author or a publisher sees a violation, and simply cuts and pasts the auction number and sends it to VERO@EBAY.COM. It takes ONE MINUTE. If you're anyone besides pudgy, lame-brained E.L. James, it's NOT going to be a problem to do.

Join the ranks of intelligent, responsible people (which doesn't include pudgy, lame-brained E.L. James who spends her days masturbating with thousand dollar bills rolled up into dildo shapes). Contact eBay and fill out a form so that YOU can protect YOUR WORK. PS, you can assign anyone to be your rep; you don't have to do it yourself, and you don't need a high priced lawyer. Publishers: you can assign an INTERN to check eBay once a week. You'll see how quickly your company, like Disney, becomes known and feared by the bootleggers. Soon enough, they won't even ATTEMPT to steal from you.

The Plant Paradox - and the EBAY BOOK THIEF PARADOX - EBAY COULD MAKE MORE MONEY BEING LEGIT

Today, anyone typing in "The Plant Paradox" will find 22 BOOTLEG auctions run by BOOK THIEVES.

People who were ready to buy a new copy of the REAL book, or a used copy of the REAL book, get enticed by "bargain" downloads for a buck or two.

They don't know that these are illegal dupe copies, do they? How could EBAY be crass and stupid enough to allow BOOK THIEVES to prosper?

But prosper, they do...EBAY, THE BOOK THIEVES and PAYPAL, all sharing in profits that belong to AUTHORS.

That's just SOME of them.

According to eBay phone support...hmmm...ummm....errr...we have so many listings....errr....not to worry I will report this....why is it the same seller does it over and over? Errr...hmmm...we give sellers warnings....ummmm....I see this seller SANDRO has gotten many warnings and is just not paying attention....hmmm....errrr....I will forward this along....no I can't tell you why the seller hasn't been suspended....errrrr....if you report items sometimes we are too busy....ummmm....

How convenient that they get PAID for their CRAPATHY. The authors get screwed. Some book thieves have gotten HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS off this good doctor's book. The book thieves see which authors don't seem to have a VeRO rep, or don't have anyone caring about their rights...and it's wheeeee...FREE MONEY! All the book thief does is email the file.

Here's an assortment of the book thieves, and their obvious, often illiterate, often obnoxious copy about what they do and how they are entitled to do it.

GOT THAT? Ayyyy, don't ask for no REFUNDS. Is not real book is DIGITAL BOOK you get when ME send EMAIL. Hey EBAY, I am either the author or I am licensed to sell this. Since you are "just a venue" you are not going to ask me to prove it? Ha ha!

Want to see what one of these arrogant bully BOOK THIEVES looks like?

This greasy scumbag looks like he's a prosperous drug dealer. But he's just a penny ante BOOK THIEF. On LINKED IN, he tells the world he runs a web design outfit. Yeah, he's doing SO well with THAT, that he's instantly replying to anyone who bargains him down on and submits "best offer" to him.

Authors work hard and most have a DAY JOB, and they can use whatever royalties they manage to get. EBAY is not helping matters.

An irony is that EBAY is fucking their own legit sellers. There are people who have "THE PLANT PARADOX" in hardcover or paperback, and would love to sell a copy, but bidders are lured away by the cheap downloads. "Say, why pay even $3.99 to "THRIFT BOOKS" for a real copy, when I can get a download for $2.00 and save shelf space, and read it on my fabulous Jeff Bezos KINDLE??"

PS, EBAY is also fucking sales on Jeff Bezos' AMAZON and on BARNES AND NOBLE and wherever LEGIT download books are sold.

It's pathetic that eBay actually has a "Digital Delivery" rule that its myopic drone-employees in Indonesia somewhere don't even understand, and it's ridiculous that THEY MAKE MONEY by shrugging and saying, "Gosh, we don't know WHY these items aren't being stopped..."

Lastly, it's outrageous that book companies don't have a "REPORT PIRACY" feature on their websites that work. SOME of them have one for AUTHORS ONLY, meaning that the template they use is keyed to the author's email. If you try to send in a complaint on behalf of the author, and the email doesn't match up, the book company won't care. Book companies are also half-assed fools who use DIGIMARC and other "Web Sheriff"-type organizations who obviously don't even check eBay despite taking a dollar or two for every DMCA they send in.

Book companies are so stupid, and apparently LOADED with money, they don't even assign an unpaid intern to send in DMCA's to eBAY. How easy is it? You simply email the VeRO program with the auction number. THAT'S ALL. It takes a minute. The violations on "The Plant Paradox" could be handled in less than 20 minutes. So the publisher, and the AUTHOR in this case (who might not know about the problem) are partially to blame.

Mostly, the shame and blame belongs on EBAY and PAYPAL for allowing BOOK THIEVES to prosper.

The good doctor's 22 BOOK THIEVES, is of course far less than for some of the better known books. Pudgy E.L. James would probably lead the list of most pirated authors, except the word "author" doesn't apply to these semi-illiterate, lurid, idiotic, marshmallow-brained hack. So having nearly 100 maggots stealing from HER is not going to cut into her ability to sit around stuffing chocolate into her hole.

The best thing to NOT reading her drivel is NOT paying for it.