ecrater Yet another site where ebook pirates sell stolen property

I wonder whether the IRS audits sites like EBay and eCRATER to check that vendors are properly reporting and paying taxes on what they sell?

My guess is, people who make illegal copies (all copies of ebooks are illegal) of books and sell them do not pay taxes on their income. However, they all have PayPal accounts. An audit ought to be relatively easy. Are ill-gotten gains taxable?

They ought to be. At 100%.

I'm sure that most of the 5892 ebooks currently being offered on eCRATER are there legally, because eCRATER complies with the DMCA.


http://www.ecrater.com/category.php?cid=37241

I should think it is highly likely that Kenyon, Evanovich, Hamilton, Nora Roberts, Feehan, Jeffries, Jaid Black, Gena Showalter, Keri Arthur, Jack Higgins et alia are all spending their spare time selling their own books on auction sites, one ebook or collection at a time, and undercutting their own publishers' prices. Not.

ECrater complies with DMCA.

Here's how authors can go about stopping any illegal sales of their own work.

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It is eCRATER's policy to (1) block access to or remove material that it believes in good faith to be copyrighted material that has been illegally posted by our sellers (2) remove and discontinue service to repeat offenders.

I. How to report Copyright Infringements

If you believe that material or content residing on or accessible through the eCRATER web site or service infringes a copyright, please send a notice of copyright infringement containing the following information to the Designated Agent listed below:

1. Identification in sufficient detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed.

2. Identification of the material that you claim is infringing the copyrighted work including information regarding the URL of the infringing materials that the copyright owner seeks to have removed.

3. Contact information about the notifier including address, phone number and email if available.

4. The following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."

5. The following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner to make this complaint."

6. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly infringed

II. How does eCRATER act when receives DMCA notification

Once proper bonafide infringement notification is received by the Designated Agent, it is eCRATER's policy:

1. To remove or disable access to the infringing material

2. To notify the seller that it has removed or disabled access to the material

3. That repeat offenders will have their infringing material removed from the system and that eCRATER will terminate such sellers' access to the service.

III. How to file a counter notification letter

If the seller believes that the material that was removed or to which access was disabled is either not infringing, or the seller believes that it has the right to post and use such material from the copyright owner, the copyright owner's agent, or pursuant to the law, the seller must send a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to the Designated Agent listed below containing the following information:

1. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the URL at which the material appeared before it was removed or disabled

2. A statement that the seller has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the material

3. Seller's name, address, phone number and email if availbale, and a statement that the seller consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which seller's address is located (or Orange County, California if seller's address is outside of the United States), and that the seller will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.

4. The following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that each search result or message identified above was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled."

5. A physical or electronic signature of the seller

Please see a sample counter notification letter.

If a counter-notice is received by the Designated Agent, eCRATER may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that it may replace the removed material or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the seller, the removed material may be replaced or access to it restored in 10 to 14 business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at eCRATER's discretion.

Designated Agent to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement:

Dimitar Slavov
eCRATER.com
1340 Spectrum
Irvine, CA 92618
email: dmca (at) ecrater.com

Please note that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. In a recent case, a company that sent an infringement notification seeking removal of online materials that were protected by the fair use doctrine was ordered to pay such costs and attorneys' fees. The company agreed to pay over $100,000. Accordingly, if you're not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.

Note: If you have a question about a particular product or order that you placed, please contact the merchant directly by using the "Ask seller a question" link which can be found on every product page. eCRATER is a marketplace consisted of many merchants and we do not sell anything.

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This is fairly standard.

I'm copying it so the public can see exactly what hurdles authors and their agent have to leap in order to stop theft, and also the potential expenses they may face.

Please note, there is no mention of restitution. The best outcome for an author is that she discovers the theft before many illegal copies are sold, and eCRATER removes the auction before very many more copies are sold.

The worst that can happen to the thief is that they don't manage to sell any illegal copies at all before their listing is taken down, and just possibly, if they are caught often enough, they may have to sign up all over again under a different identity (or go back to EBay, or Blujay or one of the other auction sites that are now springing up).