Sefy's & Pinoy2201's Newbie Guides!

[Bullworth]

Hell yeah, I'd buy it for $10. You've always done alot to make (S)VCDs as painless as possible with the guides you've posted. If it weren't for them I don't think I would've ventured into the more advances aspects of ripping as I do now. Need some help don't hesitate to ask

[obiwobble]

Blatant thievery. You need to assert your copyright.
I suggest you offer to licence it to them for $39.94
per copy. The 1 cent difference covers thier contribution
to the guide.

BTW the server itself seems to be hosted in Argentina!
See http://www.cheesephone.co.uk/thieves for the trace.

[Sefy]

Thank you for responding, I don't know what you mean about the licence thing, but i'll get someone who knows what they are doing in the regards of making an eBook out of the guide and selling it for 10$, and i'll report how it goes.

As for those thieves, i'll see what we can do to stop them and/or sue them.

[resnullius]

Personnally, i'd sell it for 2$. The reason is rather simple it'll discourage ppl from putting it up on kazaa and such, or even being bothered to look for it there. of course there'll probably be some who'll do it anyways but that can't really be stopped... I'd also check if i where you about putting up copyright on your work espacially if ppl are gonna sue that guy, if you don,t have a copy right he may very well just turn around and sue you for copy right infringments. (i don't know how much registering a copyright costs in israel, and i'm guessing israel's governmental websites will be in hebrew... can't read so can't help there, sorry)
By the way if you want to make it a pdf ebook i can help i you want.

[revjake]

Find a friendly lawyer (there are plenty about), and have him or her send an e-mail to the offending site's upstream provider. Most providers are so skittish now that it'll probably be the death knell for the site, and it'll take around 10 minutes of an attorney's time. Tell ya what---e-mail me, and I may be able to hook ya up.

Alternately, (and I'm speaking from an American perspective here), you could always assign a value to your guide---e.g., "Normally $10, but for a limited time, you can download it FREE!"

-Bingo- Instant theft and fraud charges on the guys selling your guide, since it *is* actually $10.

Or, his server could just get hosed by a friendly DOS attack. Again, this is illegal, so I'll have no part in it, but I'll wholeheartedly endorse whoever does it.

[uteotw]

It's sad but I'm not sure it's going to be easy to sort out.

Here is a story related to a similar DVDtoVCD product sold on the web and you can see that the guy covered his track pretty well.

The original page doesn't exit anymore but it's cached into google.

http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:iRZ7Co9Lbn4C:razz:gray.members.gn.apc.org/carson1...&hl=en&ie=UTF8

If the link doesn't work for you , just search for "Spammers' Hall of Shame carson"

uteotw

[Sefy]

I just want to ease the minds of those who emailed me, even if I decide to make an eBook payable version of the guide, i'll ALWAYS keep the guide free on the websites, so even if some will decide to spread the eBook around, which I am sure will happen, you'd still have the guides on the websites, and i'm only doing this so it will stop others to making money on things they didn't do, and if the guide sells well, i'll make sure the freeware program authors which are covered in the guide, will also get compensation.

[FantasyWares]

Ok, here's the deal...

Who ever checked easterisp.com is retarded...it was .org. Don't mean to offend anyone, but sorry.

That guy you sent email's to is innocent. I checked it out, and it's a fake name, and address. When I send an email to them, their mailbox was full. The most you could do is hack the site, and take some stuff out. I've been trying to derermin where the money goes, but to no avail. It is a simple 3 page site that was registered about 2 weeks ago. It will be there for about a year. And they have many links to porn sites hidden in their codeing. If you find a program called IntellaTamper, from one of my favorite sites, www.eboogyman.com, you can view the entire contents of the site. Less than 50 files. Check it out. I am currently trying to get a copy of their software, but am unable to at the time. Once I do, I will offer it free to anyone who want's it!!!! Oh, BTW, I am currently selling an eBook on eBay for $5 with $2 shipping and 25-50% of the money rasied will go to VCDHelp.com for all of their great help! A link to my auction is here...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2026839892&r=0&t=0&showTutorial=0&e...ndexURL=0&rd=1
PS.
Sefy, it's Heathers husband...lol

[Lumpy1]

Firstly a hearty congratulations to those who produce guides and templates on this site, without them my (and iam sure many,many others') VCDs etc. would still look like crudd.

Being a newbie to freeware etiquete, (and no Iam not planning to do it, iam just curious) I have the following question:

If I produced a disc for sale with freeware on it, and never hid the fact it was freeware or who wrote it, put it on-line and charged say $10 for my time and the disc/case/instructions. Would this be seen as immoral/dishonest?

Again this is purely a question for my curiosity only, I do have tremdous respect for the time and effort which programmers and writers of such things expend, then to give away their work is something I wish I only had the knowlidge to contrbute to. (sorry to sound so corny)

[pinoy2201]

i tried pinoy's page to download vcd templates... not available?

please email me jarrett808@Hawaii.rr.com

Hey Please Right Click And Save As.
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i see alot of people support tyou Sefy and thats great i wish these theives get caught and rot in prison!

[Sefy]

Lumpy1, only include the freeware after you contact the author and ask for their permission, after you tell them the intention.

[bhqmaster]

Shit Sefy I just Heard today 28/5/02 about your guides.
Well I agree sue the bastards or if you cant personally then you have plenty of backup here at vcdhelp. Im sure if you post in the forum looking for legal advice there will be some solicitor who is a member who will only be glad to help you out.

[Sefy]

I tried going to the bbb to sue them, but they only handle people from the US and i'm from Israel, so i don't know what to do.

[Feslmogh]

Hey Sef...
I have passed you problem on to TechTV's The Screensavers and CyberCrime to see if anyone there can help you.

http://cgi.techtv.com/messageboards

[Sefy]

Feslmogh, thanks!
I hope someone closes or sues them, i can't do it, cause the bbb and fbi only take calls from the US residents, and i'm from Israel, so no go for me.

[smokingweed3000]

sefy just get someone u know from the US or even someone from vcdhelp that lives in the US to take care of this.

[Sefy]

I invite anyone that is willing to take care of this and is from the US, to handle this, i'd greatly appriciate it.

[jexster]

Ok i didnt read all of the post in here so im not sure if this was mentioned but unless you have some factual proof that they are using your guide and you have factual proof that proves you made the guide before they did and you would have to have a copyright on it if you dont then there isnt much that can be done about this problem.The most you would be able to do is have alot of people send them annoying e-mails but other than irratating them a little this would accomplish nothing.

[Sefy]

I recieved a copy of their so called "DVD Wizard" it's an eBook containing my Classical Guide, using Images and Text from my guide, if you compare the two, you'll see it yourself, actually, I can send you their "DVD Wizard" if you like.

According to US law from April 1989, anything you write is automaticly being copyrighted and no one has a right to distribute it without specific consent from the author.

[resnullius]

uh Sefy, that's why you should check isrealy laws as the law you just stated only applies to us citizens within the us(that's how i remember it) and it's not a copyright but rather an intellectual property law, you have to have proof that you actually wrote that first... Canada however covers all canadians anywhere they write... international law does not protect non copyrighted material if i remeber right (not intellectual property) ... even if i'm wrong you have to prove you did it first. so if you have any drafts or things of that sort you might want to make sure to keep them or printed versions with the date clearly identified prior to the date of publication of the ebook

[jimb]

Hi guys,

I read what happened and totally disagree with what they did. I get the guide from SEFY a while back and was totally impressed with the work he had done. It helped me emensly.

I would have to go back and check, but didn't you put a copyright notice in the guides?

If you did, that will help a little. Also, if you do eventually get a lawyer, supply him/her with hard copies as far back as possible as they will have DATES that would give proof that you are the author (these should come from the forum, anything with a date. The older the date the better). Forum messages will help also.

Don't let this guy get away with this! He should stop selling the guide and at the very least, pay you a royalty for selling YOUR work!!!

I think we all support you SEFY.

Wish I could help a bit more.

Good luck with this.

Signed: A greatful user......

Jim Brock

http://wwwbrocksgifts.com

jcbrock@carolina.rr.com

[Sefy]

Hi Jim,

Thank you for the comments, they are very much appriciated.
As for a lawyer, as i'm from Israel, I have no juristiction in the US, I checked on the bbb (Better Business Beauro) and the FBI homepages, they only handle US residents.

As for the copyright notice, i've only added it recently because of what has happened.

I'll start working with a friend of mine who is a programmer, on doing the guide as a self running program with no need for a web browser, and that will be the version of the guide that will be sold, it will of course be matched with the latest release of the guide i'll do.

[BigTen2k2]

Well If I needed one I would buy it. But it would have to be better than what you already do...might be a hard task....And as far as suing them, I would put a patent or something to that affect on your work..its free...so when you do sue its a cut and dry case. Right now if you give to the public they can do what ever they want with it, because you made it public. And as much as you have helped people around here if you need some kind of help for your family Im sure there would be alot of people that could give up a few bucks as a (no strings attached) donation. God bless your family and country and keep up the good work.....

[Diezel]

I went to the BBB site, and was in the process of filing a complaint. It soon became apparent to me that I had to be a victim, and in adition, I didn't have enough information ont he company....

Sorry, Good Luck



Diezel

[Diezel]

I found another site just like this one.... www.spiceycomet.com

Unless your material is somehow copyrighted or patented..it'll be hard to prove anything...

[Sefy]

If it will require proving, I have no problem, as i've got the original pages of the guides, and it's practicly known all over the web that i'm the one who wrote it.

[dannyrose]

Sefy, I too am one who has gained much benfit from your work. As a newbie to VCD's and capturing, you're guides are wonderful and are impressive in their detail.

I'm not an attorney, but I have looked at copyright before, and in the states once something takes on tanglible form, it is protected under a basic copyright. The kicker here is I don't think you can sue for punitive damages should the culprit be located, but you can sue for lost revenues, though since the guide was free, that may be a moot point. I also am not sure of the laws in regards to the fact that you are not a US citizen. As said earlier, a good copyright attorney would be of some help, but since money is an issue, you might find some additional information on these web sites. I've referred to them in the past: www.benedict.com and www.nolo.com

Because of the importance of these guides, you might consider having them copyrighted in the future. Shouldn't cost too much and would give you a little more leverage should this happen again.

Take care and keep up the wonderful work!
-D

[Sefy]

dannyrose, thank you for the comments and insights, personaly, I don't care much about the money, as it didn't take me any to make the guides, but i'm not approving of people charging for something that is free, that money they made should go to VCDhelp, and other free webpages to help keep those pages up and running.

They made money over something they quite frankly stole/ripped or however you'd like to put it, and although it's not exactly book material, i still think there should be some law against something like that.

[ap703cs]

what about this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2029588246

You can make money on Ebay !!!

[Sefy]

I'll never understand why people spend money on things they have for free.
I'm afraid i'm not the kind of person that can rip people off, call it a defect in my personality, but if/when i decide to sell my guide, it will be a bit more then an executable with HTML and images, i'll make it worth buying and not just give someone the html's of a guide they can view for free.