| moeloubani |
06-14-2009 05:26 PM |
Taking down a file sharing website 101
lol this is nuts saw it a bit ago (before database errors :mad:)
i took the guys' names out but you can see them on the sites that got shut down
Quote:
The Illegal WP-Board.com & WorldPlagiates.com
Content Trading Sites have Been Shut Down
Last Updated June 14th, 2009
Up until June 10th 2009 the sites known as WP-Board.com, WP-Board.net, WorldPlagiates.com and BigMouthShirts.net had been operating as illegal file sharing and trading websites -- in clear violation of both Criminal and Civil Copyright laws.
They are now closed and I, James S. Grady of Littleton, Colorado. USA. have control of the site domain names. They will not be returning as illegal file trading forums / boards / sites.
Over the last 18 months these sites, the administrators of them, the file contributing visitors and the t-shirt buying financial supporters, have done great damage to myself and many, many other small business persons world wide. The illegal posting of our content has caused many sites to closed, revenues to drop as much as 60%, and people to be laid off.
One popular model recently had to drop out of college because the revenue she counted on for the last three years sudenly dropped when "TomTom" and "Platoon" (WP Admins) made her a premium model and started giving all her content away -- not just a few pictures, but all of the content of her site.
An entire section of the forum was dedicated solely to my work. It took me years to get any good at the pretty girl pictures business, and monthly its takes tens of thousands of dollars to maintain my sites and continue to produce successfull, highly marketable content. The idea of these people stealing from me day after day was a huge throne in my side. My mean side wanted to just drive over to "Platoon's" house and beat his punk ass with a baseball bat.
The entire situation disgusted me and I decided to see what could be done through proper legal channels. It was a time consuming and expensive pursuit, but well worth it. Over the next few weeks -- when I have a few minutes between lawyer meetings and lawsuit preparation -- I'll be posting a series of short stories or blog entries here laying it all out, step by step.
Step 1 -- Identification and Evidence Collection
Starting the process was easy. It was to identify who was running the site -- meaning who my target would be. "Platoon" is a 38 year old male in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. He is married and has a child is 6th grade. He filed for bankrutcy in 1999 and is on shaky financial ground here ten years later.
I hired a private investigator (former FBI agent) in Dayton to follow him and dig into his operation. This included going into his trash that was placed on public property in the alley behind his house and business. That was a goldmine of information, including printed receipts showing the full name and address of persons that donated to the WP-Board operation to help pay server and other expenses. The investigator, and others working with me online, simply located and organized a pile of rock solid evidence of copyright infringement (direct, contributory and vicarious) and many other actions that would take mister "Platoon" and he partners into court for years to come.
I am not using "Platoon's" real name in this outline. I agreed to that as part of a fast settlement discussed in Step 2.
Step 2 -- Preparing to Sue or Settle.
The next step was to plan the legal attack. This is where I'm very experienced. This is also where I have great lawyer back-up. Luke Lirot in Florida, where I have a studio, and Andrew Contiguglia in Colorado, where I live, have a studio and my main business office.
A Federal Lawsuit was prepared claiming copyright infringement and unfair competition. The suit was not filed, just prepared. On the evening of June 9th I flew 1220 miles from my home in Colorado to Dayton, Ohio so I could personally confront "Platoon". One private investigator met me at "Platoon's" office the afternoon of June 10th. There was no threats or physical contact except the normal introductory handshake.
In addition to the lawsuit I had with me a few copies of the 125 peices of solid eveidence we had compiled. I also had a 7 page cover letter from me to him (without lawyers involved) explaining who I was, what I knew, and what it would be like to be tied up in Federal Court as a struggling businessman with a small child. It also contained a proposed pre-trial settlement. The idea of me getting ownership of the domain names was not in that letter.
I was in his shop about 5 minutes and asked him to let me know within two hours if he wished to accept the settlement offer, or if I should have my people file the suit later that afternoon.
He called before the two hour deadline passed and agreed to all my terms. He mentioned in that call he was leaving the entire file trading / sharing scenes rather than face other angry webmasters like myself. I offered a reasonable amount in cash for the domain names and he accepted.
The more formal settlement gave me all logs, records, files, back-ups and other materials related to the WP forums. It also gave me access to the server by FTP to access ofther potential evidence, as well as access to the admin control panel of the forum software.
"Platoon's" real name will not be used here. In truth he seems to be a pretty good guy -- hard working at his own shop that builds important items needed by our military. He seems to have been led astray by the other admin known as "TomTom" who hides in Germany and gets other people to put servers and t-shirt sites and other items in their own names.
Step 3 -- Making a Public Example
With TomTom hiding in his little German rat-hole, and others foolishly following his every word and acting all tough behind the fake screenames, I know that the illegal posting and sharing of my content will not soon be stopped. I've decided to "Discourage by Example". I'm going to actively pursue in the Federal Court at least 5, and more likely 8-10, of the biggest posters of my content. Its real simple.
The logs and files and IPs addresses and other things collected in the last 60 days make it so darn rock solid that a beginning lawyer fresh out of law school could win. First I'll send a "Cease & Desist" letter as required by the local rules of most Federal Courts. That letters is formal lawyer sounding information and offers a settlement. Some take it, some ignore it, and some in the past have even been dumb enough to try and fight and go into court saying they have a right to do what they want with my works.
I do the most basic work of C & D letters myself and I've never lost a copyright suit. If we actually have to file against any of these foolish people it will be handled by the lawyers that have been helping all along.
The persons I have selected to sue thus far are:
*, Texas. Known on WP-Board.com as "Zabalokis". Review his C & D here
* of Los Angeles, California. Known on WP-Board.com as "Idigit". Review his C & D here
* of Kennewick, Washington (currently in Japan). Known on WP-Board.com as "Denshaman". Service will be on his mother Becky.
* at University of Texas at Austin. Known on WP-Board.com as "CharlieDodgson" and in law school of all crazy things.
* of Bellerica, Mass. Known on WP-Board.com as "ILVSandra".
* of Alexandria, Virginia. Known on WP-Board.com as "datagram".
* of Rensselaer, New York. Known on WP-Board.com as "crzydude".
Not all of the C & D letters are prepared just yet because we have to be exact and solid in what we claim. I did the David Banks item today and it took hours to double check and cross-reference all the information, data and logs to make sure we are not under or over estimating the damage a certain poster has done.
What is Next?
For now I have a sucessful business to run and enjoy. I'll be finishing other C & D letters here as they are completed over the next several days. As I said -- I don't just create them, I have to be exact and double check everything to make sure it can be proven in a court room should the need arise.
I encourage you to check back here often. I'll post more as soon as time allows. If you have questions or comments please feel free to send them using the form below and I'll reply as soon as possible.
James S. Grady
40 W. Littleton Blvd #210
Littleton, CO. USA. 80120
1-877-686-5393.
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