On cropping pics & changing watermarks
 

So how does it work really?

Say a webmaster from a different country who's got his servers setup in a country outside the US, then steals content from small sites, change their watermarks and uploads it back to his server.

Do content thieves like these really gets arrested? Or do all they have to do is stay away from the US and everything will be a-OK for them?

It has happened to a friend of mine; she had her whole site ripped, movies re-cut, pics re-watermarked, and even the texts stolen. Someone in France set up a similar page with her content.

If someone gets arrested, no matter where, is often only a question of how much money the victim was willing to invest. How much money someone is willing to invest depends on a prospective outcome. The guy who did that to my friend did not get arrested, and didn't pay anything either, mainly because it turned out he was a deadbeat.

Does it make sense to push a suit in France, for 10-20 grand, just for revenge purposes, if it is already clear that nothing will come out? In the end, most people say: "No" and let it be.

Although the guy that took down wp-board pirates is going after more than North American thiefs.

If you're ready to push charges, they will get arrested. If you're not, then not.

Most copyright/trademark owners are not willing to bother with real legal action, thus most thieves get away with it.

Yes they do. We have had people arrested but not enough.

Wow so people are really out there taking everyone's content, how are the big pay sites staying alive?