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Sony eBook Thief!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Peter iNova
  • Start date Start date
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Well Peter, I'm sorry for your troubles but the world doesn't stop because someone made copies of your book. I'm sorry you didn't find my comment humorous. It was intended to be.

On the serious side anyone who puts material out on the web without any copy protection at all shouldn't be surprised it gets ripped off. I'd have been surprised if it hadn't. By the way, the solution is not to come in here and start making threats. Especially since this is the group that showed you support and encouragement while you were writing your book.
Peter iNova said:
John Burns said:
Wow. It might even be Phil. New house, new BMW. All those travel
expenses to go to the shows add up.
Click to expand...
Not funny.

-iNova
Member said:
Mike Fitzgerald said:
But I'm curious about your reference to "a purchaser from this
site". Do you mean you have reason to suspect it's a subscriber to
dpReview?

Mike
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--
John
Click to expand...
--
http://www.digitalsecrets.net
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--
John
 
Peter iNova said:
Suffice to say that there has been a bunch of back-channel eMails
flying about this. I know exactly who and where he is.

And here's the news of the hour: the guy settled before it went to
hard ball. Would be nice for everyone if all legal things settled
this quick.
Click to expand...
congratulation!
 
Peter iNova said:
Thanks to the vast majority of people who are honest, fair-dealing,
and responsibly law abiding, our social dealings go well most of
the time. I'm sorry that the other sort of people think they can
just get away with anything they wish.

You'd think that somebody trusted with surgical procedures,
perscription writing authorizations and major medical licenses
would be above this sort of thing.

-iNova
Click to expand...
Not the same thing, but our local TV news had three unrelated stories back-to-back last evening---

(1) a prominent cardiologist who pled guilty to sexual contact with an adult female patient
(2) a pediatric neurologist who has admitted to fondling young boys in his care
(3) a nurse who has been arrested for running a child pornography website

Creeps and crooks come in all shapes, sizes, and professions. I think rational people could drive themselves nuts trying to figure out what motivates them.

I'm glad to see that you've brought this scam to an end.
Ed
 
There are laws against KNOWINGLY receiving stolen property. Since ebay prohibits selling pirated software, any ebay consumer can bid with confidence that they are bidding on a legitimate product. The fault here is not with ebay buyers, but with the seller, who unquestionably knows this software is pirated. To come in here and threaten people is really bad business. Especially when you cannot back up the threat.

Do you really think the U.S. Attorneys are going to band together with local law enforcement officials to root out a handful of purchasers of your book and then prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law? Even if you gave them names of purchasers, do you think they would follow up? Remember, you can complain, but only a prosecuter can bring charges. Even if you proceeded with a civil action against a purchaser, if would be your obligation to prove that they knowingly infringed on your copyright. Good luck. How much do you think that would cost?

I sympathize with your situation and hope you can stop the illegal sale of your intellectual property. It is your property which you worked very hard to create, and you deserve all benefits from the sale of the product. Having published myself, I understand the misery you have gone through to perfect a work that you are proud to put your name on. (at least it was misery for me!). Push hard to protect your property. Make an example of the pirate, but think twice before you threaten end users. It just isnt cricket.

Bryce
Member said:
I was doing two things: general caution and backing it up with
basic wisdom. Your (and my) speeding is one thing, but willfully
receiving stolen property shipped across state lines is a huge
hassle if you have to even appear in court about it once--just to
have your hands slapped and be dismissed.

Pirate copies of all sorts of stuff are out there, but Interstate
Commerce has very tough statutes against receiving or selling
stolen property.

When the eBay deal sounds like it's too good to be true: It is.

-iNova
--
http://www.digitalsecrets.net
Click to expand...
 
John Burns said:
Member said:
Wow. It might even be Phil. New house, new BMW. All those travel
expenses to go to the shows add up.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Peter iNova said:
Not funny.
Click to expand...
With respect Peter, I thought it was , and I reckon I'd have plenty of company. An appropriate bit of light relief from someone who's been around here long enough not to need a bucketload of emoticons in order to define it as such.

There have been more than a few of us who've sympathised with what's happened to you and endorsed your stance in principle. Time to lighten up and move on I would think. As noted by others, a good deal of your success -- well deserved, let me reinforce -- would surely have been through exposure, via this Web site, of your undeniably excellent products and essays.

Two smalll points or order arise:

Firstly, you not infrequently allude to your products within threads. Notwithstanding that the relevant posts are usually full of genuine, free and helpful advice, the question of site advertising policy does tend to raise itself. Thus far I personally haven't had a problem with this. Others might, however, and their objections could be difficult to counter. It would be a shame to let this become a forum for business skirmishes.

Secondly, isn't it more correctly Phil's prerogative to decide in what spirit the remark should be taken?

Mike
 
I hate to see anyone lose their intellectual property. I wish you luck, though I'm not sure what laws apply. Louisiana's laws are substantially different as they derive their law from the Napoleonic Code and not English Common Law.

Please let us know how this turns out. This kind of garbage is rampant on eBay. I've seen many even more obvious violations.

And, also, what is this book exactly? I think I need some sort of book to learn to use my F-717 (my first digital camera).

Lee
 
Lee280zx said:
And, also, what is this book exactly? I think I need some sort of
book to learn to use my F-717 (my first digital camera).
Click to expand...
Hi, Lee. Don't mean to jump in here but the EBook refers to a Sony F707/F717 book on CD-ROM and includes tons of photos and Photoshop actions. However, before spending the $50 you may want to condider that the F707 and F717 are actually pretty different cameras when you get into the details. Since the EBook came out virtually as the F717 was first shipping, I have to believe that a substantial portion of the EBook focuses on the F707 (although Peter was one of the first to review the F717 and included plenty in the EBook on it). I am hoping that Peter announces an updated version that includes more F717 content and distiils all the nuances that have been/will be discovered in the first several months of F717 release. Just my opinion of course.

--
Jay Jervey
Sony DSC-F717
 
By all means, jump in! So is this the Sony eBook I see mentioned so often on this site?

And the fellow who started this post wrote it?

I agree that as an F-717 owner I'd rather wait for an updated book--thanks for the tip!
 
Lee280zx said:
By all means, jump in! So is this the Sony eBook I see mentioned
so often on this site?

And the fellow who started this post wrote it?

I agree that as an F-717 owner I'd rather wait for an updated
book--thanks for the tip!
Click to expand...
I haven't seen any post from a purchaser that has complained. it's still too expensive for me to bother buying. i won't call it a rip-off; I'm confident from other posts here that it has real value and people that have commented on the cd have done so favorably, but if I'm going to pay $50.00 for a book the author is going to have to give me an actual book. if somebody wants to do it on the cheap and give me nothing but a cd then they aren't going to get that much money from me. I don't want to encourage what I consider to be gouging. No flame intended, but that's my opinion. It's over priced. Over priced for me anyway. If Peter makes great money on it, good for him.

I didn't, and wouldn't purchase it from the scam artist that posted illegal copies on ebay, but it doesn't surprise me that somebody who charges 50 bucks for a cd "book" will subsequently learn that others are trading it, copying it or giving it away. It would happen at any price point but the more expensive it is the more apt people are to copy it instead of buy a legitimate copy. It's not an excuse and doesn't make it right but there it is.
 
I haven't bought a copy of Peter's book either, so disregard my comments if you will. However, I can't see the problem with publishing the book in this format - there are many aspects of the e-book that just wouldn't work in paper form, including quite a lot of software, and Photoshop actions, which just wouldn't have any meaning if they had to be described in words on a page.

Instead of thinking of the e-book as being over-priced maybe it should instead put in context the true value of the information available freely to us here on the forum, from each other?
santa said:
I haven't seen any post from a purchaser that has complained. it's
still too expensive for me to bother buying. i won't call it a
rip-off; I'm confident from other posts here that it has real value
and people that have commented on the cd have done so favorably,
but if I'm going to pay $50.00 for a book the author is going to
have to give me an actual book. if somebody wants to do it on the
cheap and give me nothing but a cd then they aren't going to get
that much money from me. I don't want to encourage what I consider
to be gouging. No flame intended, but that's my opinion. It's over
priced. Over priced for me anyway. If Peter makes great money on
it, good for him.
I didn't, and wouldn't purchase it from the scam artist that posted
illegal copies on ebay, but it doesn't surprise me that somebody
who charges 50 bucks for a cd "book" will subsequently learn that
others are trading it, copying it or giving it away. It would
happen at any price point but the more expensive it is the more apt
people are to copy it instead of buy a legitimate copy. It's not an
excuse and doesn't make it right but there it is.
Click to expand...
 
Actually, when ANY deal sounds too good to be true, it generally is.

Go get em' Peter. You have a right to be as upset as your are, despite what some of the other posters are stating.

-Ken
Peter iNova said:
dave clark said:
Tim Lauro said:
technically the buyer is guilty. morally too as the ad clearly
states it's a copy.
Click to expand...
Well maybe in some technical way it may be true, yes, - since the
Dentist was "honest" enough to mention he is selling copies.

Technically, most of us break the law every day by exceeding the
speed limit for a fraction of a second, but obviously common sense
wins out (most of the time.) That was the thrust of my last
message. Peter's remark seemed a little heavy handed - especially
since he was addressing his "friends" at the STF.

By the way, I like Peter and am glad for his participation here and
may one day buy his book. :-)

David Clark
Click to expand...
I was doing two things: general caution and backing it up with
basic wisdom. Your (and my) speeding is one thing, but willfully
receiving stolen property shipped across state lines is a huge
hassle if you have to even appear in court about it once--just to
have your hands slapped and be dismissed.

Pirate copies of all sorts of stuff are out there, but Interstate
Commerce has very tough statutes against receiving or selling
stolen property.

When the eBay deal sounds like it's too good to be true: It is.

-iNova
--
http://www.digitalsecrets.net
Click to expand...
 
Jay Jervey said:
Lee280zx said:
And, also, what is this book exactly? I think I need some sort of
book to learn to use my F-717 (my first digital camera).
Click to expand...
Hi, Lee. Don't mean to jump in here but the EBook refers to a Sony
F707/F717 book on CD-ROM and includes tons of photos and Photoshop
actions. However, before spending the $50 you may want to condider
that the F707 and F717 are actually pretty different cameras when
you get into the details. Since the EBook came out virtually as the
F717 was first shipping, I have to believe that a substantial
portion of the EBook focuses on the F707 (although Peter was one of
the first to review the F717 and included plenty in the EBook on
it). I am hoping that Peter announces an updated version that
includes more F717 content and distiils all the nuances that have
been/will be discovered in the first several months of F717
release. Just my opinion of course.

--
Jay Jervey
Sony DSC-F717
Click to expand...
Sony was kind enough to lend me a pre-production 717 so I could incorporate it into the eBook well ahead of the publication date.

I have my own production unit now (purchased over the counter like everybody else) and the nuances between cameras are very small, comparatively. Control re-erg, Histogram, slight tweak to the color , a simple hot shoe and a focus zone indicator is a relatively short list of feature tweaks to incorporate into a shooting and using practice.

I'm keeping the 707, of course, and recommend it to anyone who wants a sheer bargain in digital cameras these days.

-iNova
--
http://www.itssony.com
 
Isabel Cutler said:
Peter's a pretty responsible guy. I'm sure he will post addenda
where necessary...like suggestions for adjusting the tendency for
the flash to slightly overexpose.
Isabel

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipets/?yguid=11497599
Click to expand...
I've covered this in posts around here. The external flash can't be dimmed by anything but the internal + - setting and when that doesn't do it, the only next thing is a slight ND over the lens itself. Filtering the flash tube isn't a solution since that will only let the flash fire longer (like 1/10000 sec instead of 1/15000 sec) and you will get the same exposure.

One would hope that Sony will offer a tweak (free ND? Firmware update?) for cameras that are particularly hot.

One of the very BEST ideas that Sony missed is in-camera Firmware updates. Let's hope that next autumn's 9:1 zoom f/2-3.5 black-body 747Pro includes that. Oops! Did I just rumor?

-iNova
--
http://www.digitalsecrets.net
 
santa said:
but if I'm going to pay $50.00 for a book the author is going to
have to give me an actual book. if somebody wants to do it on the
cheap and give me nothing but a cd then they aren't going to get
that much money from me.
Click to expand...
santa said:
but it doesn't surprise me that somebody
who charges 50 bucks for a cd "book" will subsequently learn that
others are trading it, copying it or giving it away.
Click to expand...
This is total nonsense.

The media chosen for publishing a book is a decision that can take many things into account, including advancing technology. More and more books are going to be published as ebooks, whether you like it or not, and this does not necessarily imply that the publisher is trying to do something "on the cheap".

Furthermore, the price of a product in a capitalistic society is determined by supply and demand. It is NOT determined by production expenses, unless you prefer the communist plan economy system.

If Peter iNova decides to publish his book on a CD-ROM and if he sets the price at $50, then these are his decisions and none of us have the right to say that this justifies stealing his work. We have the right to refrain from buying his book and we have to right to suggest that he change his business model, but we do not have the right to rip him off.

Rennie
 
I paid $50 for a Photoshop 6 WOW book that came with a CD of actions, but the iNova book is more helpful. Sure it's equally helpful at showing me photoshop as Peter's was at using the Sony 717, but Peter includes a lot more customized and useful actions with his. It's also searchable as it's in an electronic medium. printing it out at the office on a laser printer is simple and cheap too.

Lastly, I know Peter only from here, but have a closer knowlege of him than anything or anyone remotely associated with the WOW book. I feel better spending even $10 more for that alone. Especially since he does go out of his way to participate here and chime in with advice comments and help. Sure his being here helps sell books, but I don't see any WOW associated people even caring.

tim
Member said:
santa said:
but if I'm going to pay $50.00 for a book the author is going to
have to give me an actual book. if somebody wants to do it on the
cheap and give me nothing but a cd then they aren't going to get
that much money from me.
Click to expand...
Member said:
but it doesn't surprise me that somebody
who charges 50 bucks for a cd "book" will subsequently learn that
others are trading it, copying it or giving it away.
Click to expand...
This is total nonsense.

The media chosen for publishing a book is a decision that can take
many things into account, including advancing technology. More and
more books are going to be published as ebooks, whether you like it
or not, and this does not necessarily imply that the publisher is
trying to do something "on the cheap".

Furthermore, the price of a product in a capitalistic society is
determined by supply and demand. It is NOT determined by production
expenses, unless you prefer the communist plan economy system.

If Peter iNova decides to publish his book on a CD-ROM and if he
sets the price at $50, then these are his decisions and none of us
have the right to say that this justifies stealing his work. We
have the right to refrain from buying his book and we have to right
to suggest that he change his business model, but we do not have
the right to rip him off.

Rennie
Click to expand...
 
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