Ripped off -- again
So I paid my 99 cents and took a look at it on my son's Kindle. Every single word was directly copied and pasted from my site. No effort was even made to smooth it over. Regarding Schlesinger, the so-called author copied my hi-lo page, which does quote Schlesinger, with permission. The name of the author, S.T. Wong is a blatant attempt to confuse buyers with the legitimate Stanford Wong.
I filed a copyright infringement report with Amazon. The last time this happened, with a book on pai gow (tiles), Amazon did the right thing and timely too. Hopefully they will this time as well.
Same at all levels, my sister in law caught a student cut and pasted a gambling article from yahoo news for a high school paper, not one word changed. In my day at least we put it in our own words.
were sold. Got a couple of good reviews.
Quote: AZDuffmanGood luck, amazes me how blatant some people can be.
It's a sad commentary on human nature. I don't know how such people sleep at night, but I'm sure they do so just fine. I'm still angry at myself for little stuff I did 30+ years ago.
If there is an afterlife, I don't want to be forgiven of my sins but the opportunity to be punished for them.
"Don't poke the bear."
Quote: WizardIf there is an afterlife, I don't want to be forgiven of my sins but the opportunity to be punished for them.
This is what I envision for you as punishment:
ZCore13
Quote: AZDuffmanGood luck, amazes me how blatant some people can be.
Same at all levels, my sister in law caught a student cut and pasted a gambling article from yahoo news for a high school paper, not one word changed. In my day at least we put it in our own words.
I honestly have to say that I am super glad that I am not in school nowadays. I graduated in the mid 90s and computers weren't really out yet. We still did our reports by getting books out of the library. If I had access to the internet and wiki like kids do now, I probably would have done something similar. I hope I would be smart enough to at least put it in my own words.
Quote: WizardIt's a sad commentary on human nature. I don't know how such people sleep at night, but I'm sure they do so just fine. I'm still angry at myself for little stuff I did 30+ years ago.
If there is an afterlife, I don't want to be forgiven of my sins but the opportunity to be punished for them.
No, No. You don't beat yourself up over previous mistakes. You learn from them and grow, and try to best person you can and the person you want to be.
I happen to believe this IS the afterlife (well one of them). I believe we were all somewhere else before and were probably sent here as punishment. What we do here will determine where we go next. It is sort of a series of levels up and down. Which way you go next is completely up to you.
But I am sorry that someone stooped (<-is this a word) to the level of stealing your work. Some of the evil that goes on in this world is what leads me to believe this is one of the 'punishment' places. Probably far from the worst of them though.
Quote: 98ClubsHopefully your "Team Wiz" gets the bastard's money as well, or if not, some rough-house time.
"Don't poke the bear."
I was wondering about that. But if amazon pulls the book (deleting it from peoples' kindles) then they have to refund the purchases, so there is no money.
You could sue the guy if he is in the US, but most likely he is in a country where you would have no legal recourse. India, China and Russia are the main ones.
Maybe you should publish stuff from your web site into Kindle books?
Quote: GWAEI honestly have to say that I am super glad that I am not in school nowadays. I graduated in the mid 90s and computers weren't really out yet. We still did our reports by getting books out of the library. If I had access to the internet and wiki like kids do now, I probably would have done something similar. I hope I would be smart enough to at least put it in my own words.
People did stupid stuff in my day. Early 1990s I had a business class where 3-4 students had to write a joint report. Basic stuff but the lead had to harmonize it. IOW, make sure people didn't say blatantly different things and make sure it read like one report not 4 little ones. Well the prof said it was amazing how many reports came back looked like cut-n-paste and they didn't even read what was slapped together. Given half the class was gone 2 years later no surprise looking back.
I don't know how often Amazon pays their authors but once they pay someone in a jurisdiction that has utterly no respect for copyright laws they know they will never get the money back, so its fairly obvious you won't receive it.
You should speed up your surveillance program and you should speed up the process of examining suspicious items to confirm if they were ripped off from your sites or not.
Its time to start doing with text what map companies do with maps. One map company put a fake town in the middle of a desert and named the town "thief" in Spanish. It was pretty hard for the defendant to deny the map had been copied.
Anyway, it shows there is a market that others see... perhaps you should focus on that market also: Gambling 103?
Do what you can to shut this guy down, but also take it as a compliment.
Also, if you haven't already done so, start a new marketing campaign for Gambling 102. There's obviously a market for it. :)
Not to derail, but...
That's the premise of the 1991 romantic comedy "Defending Your Life." Check it out if you haven't seen it.Quote: kewljI happen to believe this IS the afterlife (well one of them). I believe we were all somewhere else before and were probably sent here as punishment. What we do here will determine where we go next. It is sort of a series of levels up and down. Which way you go next is completely up to you.
-Roman Maronie
Quote: EvenBobThis is what I envision for you as punishment:
What does it mean if I think I would actually enjoy that?
Back on topic, I've noticed a bunch of Amazon reviews noting the book is a work of plagiarism. I've also said the same.
For those forum members who wrote a review, thank you!
There was no need to bring DMSCR into this,Quote: onenickelmiracleGuy is probably in India living the high life with 1000 books written.
Quote: SanjayPatelThere was no need to bring DMSCR into this,
Bye bye
Quote: Amazon
Dear Michael,
Thank you for your message. Please be advised that we are in the process of removing the following Kindle titles from all Amazon sites:
Blackjack : Dominating the game. (And making money in the process) ASIN: B00JJPADZ4
It typically takes 2-3 days for a listing to disappear once it has been removed from our catalog. We trust this will bring this matter to a close.
Best Regards,
{name redacted}
Copyright/Trademark Agent
Amazon.com
Quote: WizardJust got this Email. Kudos to Amazon for doing the right thing.
Excellent. I'd be surprised if anyone was going to buy the thing after all the reviews we left in the last few days. That was pretty funny.
ZCore13
Quote: WizardJust got this Email. Kudos to Amazon for doing the right thing.
I mean it is just rather lazy, to boot, that it wasn't even reworded, just a straight copy/paste.
Good job, Amazon. Remember Wizard, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery =).
Did you do this? If not, why?
Quote: WizardJust got this Email. Kudos to Amazon for doing the right thing.
So if Amazon removes an electronic book like that, what happens to copies already sold? Does the seller keep the money or have to repay Amazon?
And what happens to customers? Do the book files get deleted off of their kindle and phones? And if so do they get a refund? I am just curious how it works.
Quote: PaigowdanIf I were Mike, I'd have bought a copy, then nailed 'em. Not just looked at it, burned a CD ROM.
I have my 99-cent copy on my son's Kindle, should I ever have the need.
Quote: HowManyI would have sued the bastard for 100% of the revenue from the sale of his (YOUR) book.
Did you do this? If not, why?
No. As someone else mentioned, it is probably some guy in India or Russia or has done this lots of times. Here in the US I think the standard is I could sue him for the financial loss he caused me, and the burden of proof would be on me to back up the number.
"Amazon has engaged before with the words of Orwell. In 2009, it deleted some digital editions of "1984" and "Animal Farm" from customers' Kindles after learning that unauthorized versions were being sold. Amazon issued a statement at the time saying it was protecting intellectual property, but also promised to change its policy"
Amazon can delete a kindle book after purchase.
Quote: terapinedAmazon can delete a kindle book after purchase.
Do you mean to say you have to be hooked up to the internet to read what you bought for Kindle?
Quote: odiousgambitDo you mean to say you have to be hooked up to the internet to read what you bought for Kindle?
Only need to be hooked up to buy and download.
Once book is downloaded, no internet needed to read.
Quote: terapinedAmazon can delete a kindle book after purchase.
so how do they do this?
Quote: odiousgambitso how do they do this?
Whenever you are hooked up to the internet, Big Brother Amazon is watching you by monitoring kindle :-)
Even if you won the suit against the individual, U would not be able to collect anything from someone foreign. How about suing Amazon? Would there be any causes to do so? Facing a lawsuit, Amazon would be inclined to settle.Quote: WizardAs someone else mentioned, it is probably some guy in India or Russia or has done this lots of times. Here in the US I think the standard is I could sue him for the financial loss he caused me, and the burden of proof would be on me to back up the number.
Quote: UCivanHow about suing Amazon? .
Amazon is just a venue, like Barnes and Nobel
is just a bookstore. You can't sue them for
selling a book that's been copied. You have
to sue the author and publisher.
Quote: EvenBobIt's been there 4 months, who knows how many
were sold. Got a couple of good reviews.
Interesting how many people assume that there was any real money involved, more than maybe a few dollars.
As an app developer I can tell you that just because something is online doesn't mean it's making millions, or even any money at all. I read a statistic a while back about how 60% of app developers don't make more than $99/year from them, which is the cost of the license to sell them in the first place. I think this is totally believable. I have met at least a dozen developers personally who have spent months making an app only to have it sell literally 2-3 copies. With so many apps online, it's a huge uphill battle to get your app noticed and a battle on top of that to convince anybody that your app is worth any money.
I assume the situation is the same for these copyright-infringing self-published books on Amazon. I'm obviously not saying that they're okay, but I would be surprised if this book made enough money to pay for a trip to McDonalds for the author. Ballpark guess.
Quote: motrekInteresting how many people assume that there was any real money involved, more than maybe a few dollars.
As an app developer I can tell you that just because something is online doesn't mean it's making millions, or even any money at all. I read a statistic a while back about how 60% of app developers don't make more than $99/year from them, which is the cost of the license to sell them in the first place. I think this is totally believable. I have met at least a dozen developers personally who have spent months making an app only to have it sell literally 2-3 copies. With so many apps online, it's a huge uphill battle to get your app noticed and a battle on top of that to convince anybody that your app is worth any money.
I assume the situation is the same for these copyright-infringing self-published books on Amazon. I'm obviously not saying that they're okay, but I would be surprised if this book made enough money to pay for a trip to McDonalds for the author. Ballpark guess.
But it said "Amazon Best Seller" right on the face of the book. Would Amazon allow that if it wasn't true?
ZCore13
Quote: Zcore13But it said "Amazon Best Seller" right on the face of the book. Would Amazon allow that if it wasn't true?
Sorry, can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but I can't imagine they are checking $0.99 self-published books for accuracy...
Quote: motrekSorry, can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but I can't imagine they are checking $0.99 self-published books for accuracy...
No, I'm not being sarcastic. It really did say that. And if they are not checking the cover of a self published book for that type of content or even offensive pictures or text, they should be.
ZCore13
Quote: Zcore13No, I'm not being sarcastic. It really did say that. And if they are not checking the cover of a self published book for that type of content or even offensive pictures or text, they should be.
Well, a couple points:
1) I don't know what Amazon's review policies and procedures are, but they must get a tremendous number of these self-published submissions that won't make any meaningful amount of money. Economics dictates that whoever is reviewing these books probably only has a few minutes to do so for each one and probably only does a cursory once-over for e.g. what you said, offensive pictures. A small starburst on the front cover would be very easy to overlook. In fact, most of the process might be automated and whatever software/tools they have would almost certainly overlook that starburst.
2) Amazon has a lot of lists and sub-lists of "bestsellers." This book could very well have been one of e.g. the top 100 self-published e-books on blackjack without selling any copies at all, if there are only 50 books on the list. (I don't know how exactly the lists are broken down but you get my idea.)
