Hi there, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons,
I'm Wil Wheaton. I wrote Just A Geek, and I created the audiobook you're helping people steal. You may not know this, but I 'm just one guy, without a publisher, so when you help people steal this copy of Just A Geek by making it available for download, you're basically stealing directly from me. You're not stealing from some big publisher with deep pockets who is trying to rip you off with overpriced stuff; you are stealing directly from me, an indie artist and publisher who counts on every sale to make a living. I have to tell you, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons, what you're doing sucks. It sucks a lot.
I worked hard on this audiobook. I invested almost 50 hours into the production, spread out over several weeks. I priced it under the average market price for audiobooks of its length, and I deliberately did not put DRM on it, because I don't believe in treating my customers like they are criminals. I mean, let's face it, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons, DRM only punishes honest customers, because people like you, who steal from people like me, always find a way around it.
I notice that you have a nice big banner at the top of your webpage, imploring the people who are visiting your site to click on the ads you've put there, so you can keep the site running. I also see that you have a link for people to donate money to you. That's, um, that's rather ironic, isn't it? You are stealing from me and other authors, and then asking your fellow thieves to click on ads and give you donations, so you can make money from our work. Maybe it's just me, but that strikes me as what we would call "a real dick move."
I realize that I can't stop you from doing what you're doing. Even if I went through the hassle of filing DMCA takedown notices and filing complaints with the various authorities who handle this sort of thing, you'd just open up a new site somewhere else, and start all over again. But listen, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons, maybe you don't realize that you're actually taking money right out of my pocket, and maybe you don't realize that what you're doing is no different than walking into a store, putting an audiobook under your jacket, and walking out with it. You're stealing from me, guy-who-I-won't-link-to-for-obvious-reasons, and I hope you'll read this, and stop.
I'd really appreciate it if you'd take these links down, and replace them with links to the place where people can purchase it from me, support my work, and ensure that I continue to release audiobooks without DRM or other annoying restrictions.
Thanks for listening,
Wil Wheaton
Discover more from WIL WHEATON dot NET
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Wil, I feel it for you. As a person who has made most of my living from copyrighted material, and generously donated as much as I possibly could to the “copy this for free” sphere, I’m particularly annoyed when the few things I’ve done that require no copying be, well, uh, copied.
Good luck with outing this guy. Maybe you just need to find better retaliation means. 🙂
The funny thing is, this guy’s almost certainly a fan of yours, so the appropriate response would be “Holy crap, I never thought about it that way, I’ll take it down straight away!”
That’s assuming he’s human and not Ferengi, though.
If he is just trying to be a dick, well, Anonymous has a long memory.
I added a comment to that guy’s page/post:
“Wil says “Don’t be a dick”, dick.”
I like to believe that most people are just unthinking, rather than actively obnoxious, no matter how often I find out otherwise. The internet has given rise to a whole new generation of “if I can grab it, it’s mine” and they just don’t GET it.
omg…. this is so fucked up!!!
I hope the dick takes it down.
I’m so annoyed at guy-who-I-won’t-link-to-for-obvious-reasons that I’m going right now and buying the book from the link-to-the-place-where-people-can-purchase-it.
Very nice response.
You’re a class act, Wil.
I’m sorry Wil, that really bites. It sucks when one person really has to be an ass. I have purchased both Just a geek and Happiest days and found them to be very much worth the reasonable price I paid and I encourage my friends to do the same.
I hope the person in question removes the links because it really is a crappy thing to do to someone just trying to make a living doing what they love and entertaining people at the same time. Good Luck.
This isn’t fair. How am I supposed to call this guy a dick without a link to his site? Or has the dick already removed the book? Better yet, can someone please forward my “you’re a dick” remarks to him on my behalf?
Obviously someone that never got the “Don’t be a dick” message.
That really sucks Wil, I hope he takes it down.
I’m sincerely hoping that he/she/it doesn’t realize that he/she/it is being a dick. I sincerely hope that he/she/it just hasn’t stopped to consider the consequences of what he/she/it is doing. That’s why I wrote this note.
The dick better take the book down because if he doesn’t were going to send the angel of death after him. I have yet to see a web site that Felicia Day has not been able to crash with her minions. She could crash it forever. Don’t make us sick Felicia on you, stop being a dick.
What??? You mean you DON’T make 80 gajillion dollars a second in residuals from all those years you put in on Star Trek??? And here I thought you were just another fabulously wealthy celebrity doing an audiobook for the sheer joy of giving something free to all your fans. SURELY you couldn’t need the money, I mean, you’re Will Weeton! You poop gold bricks! Oh wait, that’s Richie rich….never mind.
But seriously, that sucks. I can only imagine the frustration, coupled with the sheer helplessness of a situation like that. You’d think that given how straight up you are with your fans, that said fans wouldn’t be douchebags about ripping off your work.
Who knows, maybe the guy will see sense. Nah, who am I kidding. This is the internet. And we all know what the internet is for… Well yeah, THAT, but it’s also a place that makes it FAR too easy to steal and redistribute creative works.
Sincerely, someone who actually gives a shit,
Zaranyzerak
Wil,
Absolutely file the DMCA notice and put his ISP on notice by emailing them a copy and enjoining them by name. I’m sure you know that the ISP is easily obtainable by doing a WHOIS search for the domain. Most ISP’s will disable the site containing copyright material, if it is not taken down immediately after receiving notice because they become equally liable for damages.
You do not have to take this and you don’t need to spend money on legal fees to get enforcement. I have had to enforce my rights many times and enjoining the ISP in the matter works, provided the ISP is in the USA.
Best of luck, you don’t deserve this.
Frankly I can’t fathom what goes on in the mind of someone who wants to listen to you read your work for hours, but apparently doesn’t like you very much.
Hopefully many/most people interested in your audiobooks will also read your blog, and realize that you are a decent person, and buy your stuff even if they know they can get away with stealing it. (It works for Jonathan Coulton!)
This is the best response to having work stolen I’ve seen. Honest, sincere and with full integrity. This is why everyone here supports you Wil.
I hope this problem is rectified.
That really sucks, Wil. As a musician, I can identify with the digital copyright Wild West we’re experiencing, and you brought home that it’s more than a fight for music–all creative digitized work is at stake.
On a positive note, I’d been planning on buying the audiobook for some time. This has only forced my hand to pull the trigger. Hope to see more people following suit. Luck and love.
Do people wonder why the prices of indie PC games, indie music, downloadable books/audiobooks, etc are going up? At this point, the economy isn’t just effecting those with crummy 9-5’s, all the starving artists are worse off since the people that want to enjoy things will enjoy them without actually paying the price to.
Buy your shit, guy-who-Wil-won’t-link-to-for-obvious-reasons. Really, stealing is punishable by +5 internet flame…and sometimes jail.
Just as a show of support… I’ve just ordered the MP3 from you! Thanks for making your work available at an affordable price for those of us out here than enjoy what you do.
i’m not the kinda girl who buys audio books, but i’ll buy yours just to help even out the creep vs. good guy quotient.
p.s. i’m on the good guy side, just in case there was any doubt.
I appreciate your continued faith in humanity, but I really want to call him/her/it a dick! That dick!
As someone who has always been so good to your fans and so good to the geek community it’s a real shame that this person doesn’t have the good sense to pay kindness in like.
That people can’t even recognise one of the “good guys” and protect their content is a real shame.
Seriously hoping this guy will take this down. Your efforts to publish your own work and reasonably get paid for it is something that your note hit on perfectly.
So lame. Digital content is the same as physical content in that if you can’t afford it, don’t fucking buy it, but don’t steal it either.
I’d love your audiobook, but I’ll wait til I can buy it directly from you. We all deserve to be paid for our work.
You should take his ass down.
I am sorry, but this is very differnt than “walking into a store and putting an audio book under your jacket and walking out.” In doing that you are stealing a small profit from a large well insured company, that has a margin of theft built into the cost of business and blocking the possibiltiy of that one actual sale. This theft is far more personal, like coming into someone’s home, and far more reaching, blocking many many possible sales from a real person trying to make a living and share his stories and maybe inspire others in the process. And that is way more than a DICK move! When I got the tweet of this post, my heart sunk before I even logged on, but I do not need to call this thief a DICK, he knows what he is. But to Wil I am so sorry and I was inspired to buy an audio copy of JaG to go along with the hard copy I bought at a signing to make up for a small part of the loss and tip the scales even a tiny bit back towards the good guys.
I know, and I’m sure you know, loads of hackers. Can we not take some kind of direct action here? We are not powerless in our fight against fuckwitishness!!
Sheesh… go report him, he’s got google ads and you could maybe mess with his relationship with google, which would be nifty. The guy’s trying to pimp your life out on a sleazy street corner, and don’t get me started on that “donate” button…
I’ll buy a copy now just to spite them!
That’s what I was thinking, too. Google has a very strict policy with their AdSense program that you are NOT to solicit clicks from your visitors. If he’s publicly asking for clicks on his page, then BOOM! AdSense will boot him so fast it’ll make his head spin.
Sounds like fair play to me – he’s taking money from you, this would take money from him. The difference being, you would simply be calling attention to a google rule he is breaking and not actually STEALING anything from him.
“Digital content is the same as physical content in that if you can’t afford it, don’t fucking buy it, but don’t steal it either.”
It’s even better in that there are usually legit free downloads, eg trials or basic versions of software, Wil’s free podcasts in this case, so there’s NO sense of entitlement to some crumbs, nor is anyone starved of an acceptable product they desire purely by price.
(Not that it would legitimise it, but I mean even that slim excuse is shot to shit.)
I hope karma bites his thieving greedy arse – in my many decades of life, I’ve noticed that it usually does in the end…
I have to admit it, I’m kind of a big dick.
Maybe you’ve heard of me…
My first reaction at reading this is that web hosting is expensive. Suppose one were to post a link directly to the audiobook he is hosting. Suppose one were to do that on a site that gets a lot of traffic. If nearly every single person who visited that hypothetical site were to download the audio book and then delete it and then rinse and repeat, said thief might quickly find himself with a rather hefty ISP bill.
But that would kind of be a dick move. Granted, a very satisfying dick move, but a dick move none the less. A plea for doing the right thing is taking a much higher road. I think I would have a very strong inclination to take the low road in this case.
I went to the site which shall not speak its name and offered up some chastisement.
Go Wheaton!
So sorry Wil, this guy-you-won’t-post-a-link-to-for-obvious-reasons has to pay: the cost of the audiobook download x how many times it was dl’d from his/her/it’s site, free Adspace on his/her/it’s website for Wil Wheaton, for life, and a public apology, that is to say, a written/typed/vlogged apology on every social network where said Wil Wheaton is a member/a contributor/or is sometimes mentioned.
That’s all I got.. wish I could enforce it, but I’d be willing to bet if the guy-you-won’t-post-a-link-to-for-obvious-reasons isn’t sociopathological and feels even a smidgen of remorse, he/she/it will heed my request for penance on his/her/it’s own.
I’m hanging onto my faith in the good in people too…
P.S. Wil Wheaton gives us plenty of free stuff… can’t understand people stealing… and by free stuff, I totally mean the Memories of the Futurecast.. I laughed so hard at ep 5, my young son hugged me, thought I was crying….
Unfortunately a quick whois lookup (http://www.dnstools.com/?count=1&lookup=on&wwwhois=on&arin=on&portNum=80&target=audiobook-vault.com&submit=Go!) shows a name protection service in Malaysia. That, together with links at the top of the page that go to movie and music sharing sites of similar ilk leads me to belive you’ll get no joy. They have a different attitude and you have no legal recourse.
Holy shit Wil. That totally sucks. I bet that guy is a lazy, unemployeed, peice of shit that still lives in his Mama’s basement. He is a leech that should be shut down for good. I bet if given the chance he would do it again to someone else. So, I hope he is paying attention to what you said and what everyone else is posting here.
Hey, you, guy-that-Wil-won’t-link-to-for-obvious-reasons…you are a DICK!
I’m going to go buy the audio book right now from the appropriate link, even though I already have the paperback. This is shameful that someone would blantantly rip you off. Let’s hope he/she/it comes to his/her/their senses.
Holy crap he’s taking donations via PayPal, surely they wouldn’t be any too pleased either to be involved? That adds a veneer of legitimacy to the unwitting user of that site, if he was holding out his hat via some random money-wire the site would look more like… what it is, if that all makes sense.
I saw that and drew the same conclusion, but he/the site uses Paypal & google, so… maybe at least those aspects of that site aren’t as far out into the unreachable wilderness as they think.
Guy-who-Wil-won’t-link-to-for-obvious-reasons’ site is hosted in the Netherlands. So a DMCA take down request probably would go unheeded. However, he hosts the actual audiobook files on “hotfile.com”, a company working out of Panama City, PA, which claims to honor DMCA notices. I’d send them a DMCA notice as per their abuse page:
http://hotfile.com/reportabuse.html
and make the guy work to try and keep it up.
I don’t have the money for either the audiobook or hard copy, seeing as I’m a poor college student, but once I get a job, I’m definitely gonna buy one of the two in a show of support!
After I read this, I thought of this link: http://www.leasticoulddo.com/comic/20090925
Apparently the site is hosted here: http://www.hardc0re.org/
Their AUP says this:
Illegal Usage
UnderHost servers may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or distribution of any information, data or material in violation of any applicable law or regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property right used without proper authorization, …
Their abuse contact info is here:
[email protected]
I’d contact them directly and ask them to remove the copyrighted material per their AUP.
I highly doubt this person has any morals about what he’s doing, so I wouldn’t expect much of a response, even with all your fans posting comments over there.
The best recourse is probably to file a policy violation report with Google for the Adsense ads. He’s displaying them on a site distributing pirated materials, which is against their TOS, and he’s also got a nice big banner at the top asking you to click them, again going against their TOS (as a couple of other people already pointed out).
If you click on the “Ads by Google” at the top of the ad block on the right and scroll down to the bottom, there’s a link to report the site. I doubt it will take Google long to shut down his account once they get several complaints about the site.
I really wonder how much money you’re losing over this though Wil. I suspect most people who would actually pay you for the audiobook would still do so in spite of it being available on that site. The ones who download it there probably wouldn’t actually pony up the money anyway, being the cheap, dishonest bastards that they are 😀
It’s terrible to have that happen! I’ve been meaning to dig into your book, so I purchased a copy. Too bad the purchasing system doesn’t work correctly; time to email the 10quicksteps.com guy!
Uh, echoing everyone else’s sentiments, how does one slam guy-who-you-won’t-link-to-for-obvious-reasons with a. an Overwhelming Strike, b. Wheaton’s Furious Cock Punch of Anger, c. give him Jerry’s dice to roll a save against Felicia’s Minions and d. reorganize his molecules on a faulty transporter if we can’t storm his castle with pitchforks, torches and rabid fishwives?
I won’t steal your optimism, Wil. But this wasn’t done “inadvertantly”. The guy is a dick. AND! a Ferengi and there is no Rule of Acquisition that will save his dumbo-eared arse if your fans find him on their own. There isn’t a proximity sheild that will save him.
You give yourself away: the blog, the podcasts and your undivided attention to fans @cons. You deserve better than this.
And now with less barely controlled anger: ditto on ep. 5. Had to explain just how much of a geek I am to the housemates cause I was laughing so hard. I shared. it went over there head. [sigh]
Guess if I was surfing for, you know, free downloads and maybe just assumed if it’s online with a legit-sounding domain name it’s probably legal, I’d be really put off if a lot of downloads’ comments sections were everyday guys like me mentioning they think they got a virus from the site, or something.
I’d probably not feel so inclined to click where they ask, or tip any site that I thought might risk my security like that. And hey, you know people make mistakes and average net users seldom know exactly where they picked up a bug. Just saying…
There are always idiots and jackasses to spare on the the Internet. I’m sorry, Wil, that one of them is screwing with you.
I hate the sense of entitlement some people seem to possess. They act as if the world owes them “stuff” for free, “stuff” better than they themselves could ever imagine creating. To them theft isn’t theft- if they can take it, it must be meant to be taken.
It is nice to imagine that one day people will become less like the dick you describe. I like to believe that such people are not the majority. But I suspect we are breeding more and more of them, and it saddens me.
Wil, Thanks for the post.
Many of my clients have trouble with this, hence I focus on connecting brands & their consumers. So it is a thin line, when you are putting digital download for individuals to share, however, sometimes you can’t do anything about it.
The way you have carried yourself in expressing this is the only thing you can do, while hopefully, expressing your idea gets in the head of that guy and he decides to listen to your requests. If not, hopefully this post inspires someone to create a way to stop this.
Lets maybe brainstorm some solutions with a community of like-minded individuals rather than rant and rave. Thanks again Wil!
At least the rebound effect from this inconsiderate act has been that your plea has motivated me and several others here it seems to actually pay out for a copy of the audiobook. I, too, bought a copy of Just A Geek in book form but I figure I’d help to defray some of the financial damage that this dude-who-shall-not-be-named may have inflicted on you and your family by buying an audiobook in place of at least one that got away on that guy’s site.
I’ve continually meant to make purchases of the audiobook versions of JAG and HDOOL anyway but never seemed to want to “pull the trigger” as a previous poster put it until now. I’m still going to hold off on the audio version of HDOOL until I actually read the *ahem* Special Edition first. Been waiting to read that for awhile, so I have no problem waiting a while longer :).
Unfortunately, I got LinkLok’d during the PayPal transaction while paying for the JAG audiobook and wasn’t able to download the audio file just yet (Anyone else have this problem?). I’ve shot off a mail to David trying to sort out where the transaction went south out, so hopefully I’ll work things out and get the download file by the weekend. All good things, eh ;).
Hope the dude-who-shall-not-be-named-and-shamed will see this online plea of yours and rectify the situation before too much time passes. Remember to play nice, kids, in this digital sandbox.
Wouldn’t it be worth a few minutes of your time to just send him a note and ask him to stop? Chances are it would work, either because it will slightly scare him, or shame him. (Although it might be good to take down the open letter basically telling him you won’t pursue it further than that.)