Ebay, bless 'em, actually has a rule against "digital downloads," or selling PDF-KINDLE-MOBI-MP3 files that can be stored on an Internet cloud/locker or squirted through cyberspace via e-mail.
THIS guy is doing just that.
I did NOT highlight the offending, illegal sentence in red. The seller did, because quite often eBay bidders THINK they're getting a real book at a bargain price, and want their money back when they discover it's just a file they have to read on their computer.
The problem in reporting this auction? Ebay sometimes doesn't speak English any better than the jerks in Sri Lanka, Macedonia, Romania, Venezuela or Florida who copy off each others' ads just as they go to the illegal forums and torrents and copy off the actual files.
The average person has a 50-50 chance of getting an abuse on their favorite author removed.
Ebay may or may NOT read the ad copy and understand it's a "digital delivery" violation. Or care.
That's why it's so important that James Dashner (and every author) and every publisher join VeRO and file takedowns. Ebay is the most high-profile site on the Internet for pirated goods. Most people have no idea how to find a free file on James Dashner's book series, but in coming to eBay to maybe get a used set cheap, they come across THIS type of ad, think it's legit, and buy it.
Dashner obviously isn't hurting, and if he's aware of the problem, then he hasn't the morality or intelligence to care about the problem. He's not willing to take one minute away from his Tweeting to file a takedown.
The more takedowns eBay gets, the quicker the pirates get suspended, and the less likely more bootlegs will appear. Pirates are like any thieves. They go for the open window, or the car with the key in the ignition. They think twice about a "Beware of the Dog" sign or an area that seems well protected and policed.
Ebay makes money by NOT removing a file like this, by accidentally NOT reading the ad. The pirate makes money. The publisher makes a little less and that means a rise in list price on next Fall's books, and less of an advance for most authors (other than Dashner and a few other privileged superstars).
It also means that there's less traffic to libraries. If someone can't afford Dashner's books they should go to a library, not to a bootlegger. A bootlegger doesn't have a building loaded with obscure volumes paid for in the name of scholarship. Libraries do; they buy plenty of Dashner's books AND enough of lower-selling authors so that these authors can at least get some kind of advance.
A Dashner fan, an intern at the book company...it doesn't have to cost a PENNY to send in takedowns. Ebay only needs to know they're hearing from an authorized rep who has a "good faith belief" and is acting at the request of the copyright owner. Why leave it up to eBay to "interpret" whether a non-English speaking bootlegger is sending a file legally or not?
THIS seller puts in a dopey caveat in the last line of the ad, but tells the real story in the first line. That's how much of a jerk he is. But he's jerking money off eBay every day and banking it. So he thinks he's pretty damn clever. Smarter than authors or publishers.
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