I Bill E-book Pirates: Part 3 - ULTIMATUM

Yesterday, I posted Part 2 in this series of blog posts, "I Bill E-book Pirates". Please read Part 1 and Part 2 so that you'll be able to follow the nature of this post.

This morning, I logged on to the Internet to find that, as I said in my previous post, the e-pirate is in fact checking up on my blog and my posts regarding his/her disorderly conduct. The pirate picked up on the clues I left for him/her, and today, I found that their blogger profile has been set to private and their personal blog has been renamed and allows only invited users. By changing aliases and privacy settings, doesn't mean a person cannot be found. You may try to run and hide, but the internet reserves no secrets...for anyone.

Quite, honestly, I'm a little tired of the game of cat and mouse that this pirate and I have going on. So I've decided to end this ongoing chase...

THE FOLLOWING IS A MESSAGE FOR 

THE E-BOOK PIRATE THAT I HAVE EMAILED THEM

Dear Mr./Ms. Anonymous (for now) E-book Pirate:

I know that times are tough and you may not have the financial means to pay the balance of the invoice I have emailed you on two occasions. Therefore, I am willing to clear the balance on one condition: 

You must email me an apology that I will post on my blog. I will not include your name or let your blog be known, but if you do not respond, I will contact the owner of the popular book blog you write/review for with a follow up blog post including your name, your blogs, and your picture and possibly the invoice for the 600 digital copies of my book. I will also contact the publishers that offer your blogs sponsorship and report you. Your book blogger days will surely be over, as no author or publisher will trust you to review their books. And that very important blog you review for will lose all sponsorships. I'm sure the owner will be less than happy to have that happen to her blog.

For me, a simple apology is enough to clear your debt--this time. You can decide how much you value your integrity with not only the book blogging community, but with the entire Internet world. Think well and hard about your decision, as you only have 3 days to email me your apology.

Sincerely, 

Nely Cab

info@nelycab.com 

P.S. Your invoice is still past due. 

*To all other pirates, this was my decision on a good day, but I may not be as lenient on you on a bad one. 

READ PART 4 OF I BILL EBOOK PIRATES HERE

I Bill E-book Pirates: Part 2

If you read my last post, you know that my book was pirated on a mobile file sharing site, and upon finding the person's email on their profile, I emailed the e-pirate in a very business-like manner. You can read that blog post here.

Well, as expected, I didn't receive a reply to my email, nor did I receive payment for the invoice I sent the perpetrator. But what I did find is that the pirate has desperately been trying to erase all of his/her social networks. He/She has deactivated everything from book blog, Facebook blog page, personal profile Facebook page, the mobile sharing website profile, Pintrest, etc. etc...all except for Goodreads, where he/she changed the user name, but the link to their page has stayed the same. The profile setting, however is now set to "private" and oh no, deary my... I've been unfriended by this person on Goodreads. The person has visited this blog. As a matter of fact, they have seen the previous blog post, and will probably see this one.

If you are reading this Mr./Ms. Anonymous E-Pirate (and I know you are), you've stolen from me. My books are like my children. They start with a notion and turn into hope, and then with much struggle they become stories. It may take three months, a year and a half, ten years or longer, and all that time is the sweat from my brow and money from pocket that you've taken. Furthermore, A past-due Collection Notice is in your NEW email. Please be so kind as to review it.

Moving along...

Pirates, a word of advice: If you're going to upload books illegally to file sharing sites, first I recommend that you Google yourself. This person's name is all over the internet, along with his/her picture. I have screenshots of all the websites this person was on. I have screenshots of the same exact links, which now shows the pages have been removed. It's called evidence, and I have a lot of it. Remember, everything on the internet is public, and anyone can access it at any time. Every post and comment has a trail. It all leads back to you. So, Mr./Ms. Anonymous Onyx Pirate, I know about those other blogs you administer. Such a shame that you belong to such a popular and hugely sponsored blog. What will your sponsors say? Oh by the way, I know where you've been, and I know what your other usernames are. I also know you follow my blog.

Yes, I know all of you readers are eager to know who this person is and want me to out them. I've read all your comments on the previous post, and I thank you for your support. The thing is, I won't state the person's name because it's just not my style...but hey, my style can change. So to all you pirates out there, Liam Neeson has the perfect words from me to you:

READ "I Bill E-Book Pirates: Part 3" HERE

I Bill E-book Pirates

Today started off quite normal. I drank my delicious coffee, checked my email, checked my social networks, and then decided to go in search of free/pirated download Google links to my book to send take down notices to, before I started writing. Usually, I don't find any links, but today, oh I hit the jackpot.

I found a mobile sharing website that allows people to upload files and 'share' them. Some of these files are freeware and others are uploaded illegally. Well, I came across one of these links and it said that my ebook had been downloaded more than 600 times! My first reaction was, "I'VE BEEN ROBBED!"

But what can I do? I thought to myself. Nothing, but send a takedown notice. Really? That's it? So, I sat and I thought and I thought...all day. Then I saw that this blogger--who shall remain nameless--had posted their email on the mobile file sharing website. The light bulb in my head turned into a flood light and I was momentarily blinded. Turns out the blogger was on my friends list on Goodreads and Facebook. I had sent this person swag. I had trusted this person, and they stabbed me in the eyes and in the spine of my book!

I guess the blogger liked my book so much that they wanted to share it with the entire community on that website. How thoughtful and splendid! I mean, it was only over 600 people that were really interested in my book, right? Technically, this blogger is acting as a distributor, like a bookstore. Then I remembered, hey my book is copyrighted! So what did I do? The only thing I could think of doing when a bookseller wants to buy my book, I sent the blogger a very neat and nice looking invoice for 600 digital copies. And that's a discount because technically it was over 600 copies, and I did not bill the blogger for those extra copies.

In the email subject line, I wrote, "Thanks for your purchase!"

And now, I await the reply.

READ I Bill E-Book Pirates: Part 2 HERE.