FORBIDDEN
You don't have permission to access [URL removed] on this server.
Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
...this is the message I got when I tried to go back on that forum to see if they'd actually removed the download links to my books. Between that and the "Date the ban will be lifted: Never" message I posted about before, I was livid - seriously, someone complains and you just try to block them from seeing what you're up to?! I had no problem accessing the site before with the exact same URLs, so I can only assume that's what they were doing.
So I did a bit of digging, found out where they were hosted, reported them to the abuse team for copyright infringement, and BOOM:
Hello Richard,
You are contacting the right address for abuse notifications at i3D hosted servers.
We have already told our reseller to remove this website from our network and as of yesterday he has asked the owner of that site to take it off our server. The owner of dpgroup.org is now moving his website elsewhere.
I hope this information helps!
Best regards,
i3D.net Abuse Desk
So they're not gone for good, and there's never going to be a way of get rid of thieving little arseholes like that, but hopefully this has been really annoying for the site owner >:D That's good enough for now!
I don't know how everyone feels about these sites, or how much they're used by people on here, but there's nothing anyone will ever say to make me think they're anything but vile shitty little stains all over the internet. It's so much worse because they appear to steal only from smaller publishers and self-published authors, i.e. the ones without the funds for proper legal smackdowns. It's difficult enough already to get people to pay attention to self-published books and be respectful about authors who don't have their own nice tidy shelf section in Waterstones, without having to lose out on profits because of blithe little bastards like this who go skipping around expecting everything for nothing. Every book I sell is half an hour less soul-destroying overtime I have to do at my ~real~ job just to keep on top of my mortgage and bills. I will chase you fuckers down to the end of the earth like Liam Neeson to keep hold of those half-hours!
Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
...this is the message I got when I tried to go back on that forum to see if they'd actually removed the download links to my books. Between that and the "Date the ban will be lifted: Never" message I posted about before, I was livid - seriously, someone complains and you just try to block them from seeing what you're up to?! I had no problem accessing the site before with the exact same URLs, so I can only assume that's what they were doing.
So I did a bit of digging, found out where they were hosted, reported them to the abuse team for copyright infringement, and BOOM:
Hello Richard,
You are contacting the right address for abuse notifications at i3D hosted servers.
We have already told our reseller to remove this website from our network and as of yesterday he has asked the owner of that site to take it off our server. The owner of dpgroup.org is now moving his website elsewhere.
I hope this information helps!
Best regards,
i3D.net Abuse Desk
So they're not gone for good, and there's never going to be a way of get rid of thieving little arseholes like that, but hopefully this has been really annoying for the site owner >:D That's good enough for now!
I don't know how everyone feels about these sites, or how much they're used by people on here, but there's nothing anyone will ever say to make me think they're anything but vile shitty little stains all over the internet. It's so much worse because they appear to steal only from smaller publishers and self-published authors, i.e. the ones without the funds for proper legal smackdowns. It's difficult enough already to get people to pay attention to self-published books and be respectful about authors who don't have their own nice tidy shelf section in Waterstones, without having to lose out on profits because of blithe little bastards like this who go skipping around expecting everything for nothing. Every book I sell is half an hour less soul-destroying overtime I have to do at my ~real~ job just to keep on top of my mortgage and bills. I will chase you fuckers down to the end of the earth like Liam Neeson to keep hold of those half-hours!
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message 1:
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[deleted user]
(new)
Jul 19, 2012 12:07PM
Go for 'em. Hunt them down like rats. I'm sure you can find plenty of other authors to help.
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I've got enough pitchforks and flaming torches for everyone, get involved!
authors who don't have their own nice tidy shelf section in WaterstonesI can so picture that...
If it's any consolation, once (many years ago, admittedly) I asked for Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein and not only they didn't have a shelf for him but I also had to order the book because they didn't have it AT ALL.
HA that's made my day - I am backing you up all the way on this. It's one thing to pass on a book or e-book to a friend to read, but entirely another to put it up for public download. I hope the loss of their hosting is a right pain in the arse for them, and if and when they crop back up, take them down again. I bet they don't even leave reviews when they've read their stolen goods. Parasites. Hand me that pitchfork!
Can you please tell me who you reported them to after they banned you? They did the exact same thing to me and are allowing four downloads out of my six published books.
Hi Tiana,I found their host through something like whoishostingthis.com, although I don't think that's the site I used, and reported them to that abuse team. I'll copy/paste what I emailed to them, which is based off a copyright complaint template I found - hope it helps!
to: abuse@i3d.net
message:
I sent the following message to a forum on http://www.dpgroup.org, which I believe is hosted by i3d.net; however, I've now been blocked from the forum, presumably so I can't tell whether or not they've removed their illegal download links to my novels. I don't know whether I'm right to contact you directly like this, but I do not authorise my novels to be offered for download anywhere but on my page at Lulu.com. Please could you advise?
(They're offering download links to many other copyrighted novels, not just mine. I'm not sure whether you can actually do anything about that since it looks like most of them are hosted at places like Sendspace.com, but the forum is set up so that members have to make a certain number of posts before they can even view the download links which makes it impossible to complain directly to those other sites.)
The message I sent to the dpgroup.org forum is below.
The copyrighted works at issue are the three novels by me, Richard Rider, that are offered as download links on the following pages:
Stockholm Syndrome: http://www.dpgroup.org/mm-romance-e-b...
17 Black and 29 Red: http://www.dpgroup.org/mm-romance-e-b...
No Beginning, No End: http://www.dpgroup.org/mm-romance-e-b...
The URLs where my copyrighted material is located are as follows:
Stockholm Syndrome: http://www.lulu.com/shop/richard-ride...
17 Black and 29 Red: http://www.lulu.com/shop/richard-ride...
No Beginning, No End: http://www.lulu.com/shop/richard-ride...
You can reach me at richardrider1984@googlemail.com for further information or clarification.
Use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is NOT authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Richard Rider
July 16 2012
And the response I got after a couple of days:
Hello Richard,
You are contacting the right address for abuse notifications at i3D hosted servers.
I've looked at the webpages and each post says "This link has been removed, as per the request by author".
We have already told our reseller to remove this website from our network and as of yesterday he has asked the owner of that site to take it off our server. The owner of dpgroup.org is now moving his website elsewhere.
I hope this information helps!
Best regards,
i3D.net Abuse Desk
...so you'll have to report them to their new host now, which is Pallada Web Service. However, I just had a look at their abuse page and they only accept complaints in writing, not by email, so it's going to be much more of a hassle than it was for me. :(
I know it's the most aggravating thing in the world having your stuff stolen like this, I really hope you get it sorted without too much trouble!
Thank you for your thorough reply, Richard. Sigh...yes, I see more hoops will have to be jumped through. This is ridiculous and I wish there was a way to prevent this from occurring, but that seems to be virtually impossible. I was irritated when I saw what was going on but then angry after I saw they had the audacity to ban me after I let them know that they were stealing copy-written material that belongs to me. I will look into this further.Thank you,
Tiana Laveen
They definitely know they're doing wrong, they must have been asked to stop a million times. So sorry you're having to deal with it too! I definitely recommend the way I did it, because I got a response really quickly, and I expect it'll be even quicker if you've got a lawyer: google for one of the places that tells you websites' hosts and contact the host directly, because this kind of thing is ALWAYS against their terms if service. It won't ever be permanent, the site was back up again with a different host within a few days of my reporting it, but I hope it's at least really annoying for them and costs them money from being kicked off and having to set up somewhere new. Good luck!
