Don't forget that you can "email Jeff" if you have a problem with Amazon.
gizmodo.com/jeff-bezos-if-you-have-a-problem-with-amazon-email-me-1724561248
Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
71–80 of 319 posts
Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
The difference is that Google isn't pirating the book. It is being hosted on Google Docs. This is no different than if someone put the PDF on Dropbox and made it public. It isn't Google's pirate link. It is a link to a pirated file that just happens to be hosted on Google Docs. The difference here is that Amazon is actually printing the pirated book. Google is just hosting a file that happens to be made publicly view…
> The difference is that Google isn't pirating the book. It is being hosted on Google Docs. This is no different than if someone put the PDF on Dropbox and made it public. It isn't Google's pirate link. Google has just exploited a loophole in the law that allows them to provide all the technical expertise and infrastructure to profit from piracy, while remaining legally non-liable.
How is Google profiting from this piracy? There are no ads on the search results page. Considering that one can purchase Python for Kids on the Google Play Store (at least in the US), Google is actually losing money by allowing this.
Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#73As a "Content Creator" and frequent advocate for U.S. Copyright Reform, this is one of the few instances where I think the full willful infringement penalty is absolutely justified. There's only a paper thin "Well they didn't inspect every book!" defense, which immediately falls apart when Amazon is making money by way of the transactions and doing market harm to the actual Copyright holder. It's not "incidental" inf…
Indeed, this kind of thing is what copyright was originally designed for. The fun thing is that even back then they were making mistakes such as the long copyright period in Berne Convention.
Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#74It seems that these large distributors that aggregate from many sellers are once again having quality issues. However, they'll still get my business because of their many conveniences. I'm just less likely to use them for critical things like medicine or heavy equipment.
I just went through something similar with some kitchen equipment purchased through Soap.com. I tried to claim warranty with the manufacturer, and they earned a new customer:
Hello,
Thank you for your inquiry. Soap.com is not an authorized retailer of our
items and we have had some problems with counterfeit
that are having this type of problem. That being said, we can honor the
warranty and replace it with the genuine article, however in the future if you
choose to purchase our items please be sure that you are purchasing from
someone we have authorized to do business with. Is the address you list below
your current address to receive the replacement?
Regards,Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, its those Americans ripping off books and printing them for near free, ruining English artists and writers. Remember the HMS Pinafore- what a royalty massacre, by those lawless Bösentals! There is only one way, to bring those evil-doers back to the light of justice. Tax them for whatever they stole! Oh, sorry, wrong century, wrong villain!
I assume you're trying to imply that danjoc is racistly assuming that these "entrepreneurs" are Chinese? It seems to me you're the one who brought that assumption in. Alibaba is Chinese, sure, but the "entrepreneurs" in question are not necessarily.
I try to relive the historic moment, when printing without royalty was common place- also know as enlightenment. Im not implying racism, its just the anger of the has-something over the ladder climbers beneath taking the same steps, his grandfather took, to get "up".
I mock, what every book on the history on printing could tell you- that this joke was here several times. Although never this cheap before. People who laughed at historys repetition, also laughed over..
Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#76Its ridiculous the amount of energy and effort you have to waste in order to find a product that you don't suspect as being counterfeit on Amazon these days. The other day, I wanted a super bright flashlight that ran on AAA batteries and was of decent quality and price. I had to pour over the millions of listed flashlights, most looking physically identical, with the exception of the brand name printed on the flashli…
I wouldn't be too confident about quality or authenticity of products in brick and mortar retail spots
Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#77Its ridiculous the amount of energy and effort you have to waste in order to find a product that you don't suspect as being counterfeit on Amazon these days. The other day, I wanted a super bright flashlight that ran on AAA batteries and was of decent quality and price. I had to pour over the millions of listed flashlights, most looking physically identical, with the exception of the brand name printed on the flashli…
I only buy when is sold directly "by amazon" if the seller is not amazon then all bets are off.
That doesn't work at all to solve this problem.
Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
The difference is that Google isn't pirating the book. It is being hosted on Google Docs. This is no different than if someone put the PDF on Dropbox and made it public. It isn't Google's pirate link. It is a link to a pirated file that just happens to be hosted on Google Docs. The difference here is that Amazon is actually printing the pirated book. Google is just hosting a file that happens to be made publicly view…
>The difference is that Google isn't pirating the book. Neither is Amazon as I understand it. >It is being hosted on Google Docs. Amazon is just printing the book. >This is no different than if someone put the PDF on Dropbox and made it public. This is exactly what's happening on Amazon. Someone uploaded the pirated file, as their own. Amazon is simply printing the book, and helping you find it via a search interface…
Is Google profiting by the piracy of this book? Also, doesn't Amazon get a cut of this seller's sales? So it would seem Amazon is profiting from this piracy.
Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you also advocate that eBay should verify every item it sells is not counterfeit?
If you consider my perspective is that eBay / Amazon / et al are acting with the least amount of policing effort they can legally or financially commit, then yes, I would like to advocate that a marketplace such as eBay should attempt to verify every item it sells is not counterfeit. I'd like to avoid being unrealistic in that I don't think a marketplace can 100% verify every item and grow to scale, but I'm also extr…
Totally sympathetic to the author here, and believe that the counterfeit should be taken down IMMEDIATELY (checking amazon it looks like this is the case)
If the book was digital then I would say preemptive verification should be done. However, for a physical paper book how could you verify legitimacy at scale?
It's a hard problem. I can't think of a way that doesn't involve destroying a physical copy to OCR, and that's a lot of manual effort.
What would you propose? Not trying to be confrontational, legitimately curious!
Re: Sellers printing counterfeit books and selling under Amazon's brand
#80Amazon does indeed print books through its Createspace print-on-demand division. It’s been used by hundreds of thousands of self-publishers but also indie presses seeking to sell additional copies without investing in a big offset print run. If the pirate attempted to use an existing ISBN (required to match up the listings) I am pretty sure Createspace would automatically flag it [ETA: Not so sure anymore. See http:/…
Interestingly Kindle Direct Publishing does/did do some sort of content check. They flagged me because some of the book content in something I was publishing a few years back was adapted from various blog posts that I had written. I just had to send them some links and confirm that I was the copyright holder or otherwise had rights to use the material. As far as I remember though, the same book wasn't flagged by Crea…
I seem to recall an article that exposed Kindle authors who plagiarized old trade paperback romance novels and sold them for a profit, which might be why Kindle Direct Publishing does check content.