Jehle Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Here's the deal: In short, ProjectGuitar.com is the victim of theft. Images, MP3s, tutorials of all of our hard work has been downloaded by someone, they have burned that information to CD-R's, and are selling them for their own personal gain on eBay. That sucks and I'd like to put an end to it with your help. We've had little success getting eBay to remove the auctions so far. To see the current list of auctions go to this page on eBay... BetterBytes Guitar Auctions You can see the listing right from their site here... Better Bytes Guitar Listing ^that link is shut down^ moved to here... Better Bytes NEW Guitar Listing For more back ground you can go through this thread: http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...?showtopic=2928 What's been done so far: I've contacted eBay and the Seller about copyright violations on many of the auctions. One auction has been removed (last I checked), but the number of listings continues to grow, and eBay has been hesitant to remove any other of these auctions since. I don't know why. I've contacted ASCAP because my tune "Vegetarian Planarian" appears on that auction. ASCAP cannot represent me legally, so they really can't do anything. However, they did direct me to pro-bono lawyers that deal with these types of cases here... Volunteer Lawyers for the Creative Arts. I've already contacted them in Georgia about the copyright violation, for using a copyright song for profit without consent or permission from the owner. Better Bytes is in Georgia, so the choise seemed obvious. What needs to be done now: First, if your work is featured on Better Bytes auction listing, you need to go through eBay's Vero program here... Vero - Verified Ownership Program Or, a complaint to eBay here might be worth it... Contact eBay You might also want to contact one of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Creative Arts if you have an MP3 on there. By US law, it's copyright protected the moment you recorded it. The MP3 may suck, but you own it and someone can't sell it without your consent or permission. Know thy enemy: Who is Better Bytes? http://www.betterbytes.net "Ken" BetterBytes Computer & Web Services P.O. Box 490325 Lawrenceville, GA 30043 Quote Link to comment
GEdwardJones Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Hm, I live in Lawrenceville (it's an outer suburb of Atlanta), that PO Box is probably even located at my post office (there aren't a lot in the city). I wonder if they have a physical location. By the way, you might want to contact the USPS, selling your stuff via the mail might constitute shipping stolen goods via USPS/mail fraud, which is a big nono. Quote Link to comment
weezerboy Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 hey again, while complaining to ebay i noticed that this guy has other sales. i saw halfpipe plans, did a search for halfpipe plans and the identical ones are being given away at www.humdog.com. sound familiar? i've e-mailed the webmaster for said site and am waiting for a reply...i'll keep you posted. dan Quote Link to comment
Jehle Posted October 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Hm, I live in Lawrenceville (it's an outer suburb of Atlanta), that PO Box is probably even located at my post office (there aren't a lot in the city). I wonder if they have a physical location. By the way, you might want to contact the USPS, selling your stuff via the mail might constitute shipping stolen goods via USPS/mail fraud, which is a big nono. Thanks Edward. That's just the sort of information that I'm looking for to build the case against them. For the record, I'm not suggesting that we TP his house or whip him with a wet noodle. I hope I don't sound like a little old lady. I'm just trying to work with the system to put an end to the auctions. Quote Link to comment
weezerboy Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 or whip him with a wet noodle aww thats ruined my day ....wow what a great 200th post to have Quote Link to comment
Jehle Posted October 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 i've e-mailed the webmaster for said site and am waiting for a reply...i'll keep you posted. Interesting. You might want to send them a link to this thread so he can see what we're up to, and see what we know. Quote Link to comment
GEdwardJones Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 No, nothing so immature. I was thinking of reporting him to the local BBB and/or Chamber of Commerce. If they have a physical location it would be easier to go in, pick up a copy of their crap and present it as evidence that these guys are selling what amounts to bootlegged CDs Quote Link to comment
Ace Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 In the meantime, how about a couple fake ebay accounts and bid $200 on all of his articles? Btw, their website sooo sucks...would you hire somebody with a site like THAT to do your webdesign? so long ace, who is proud to be immature... Quote Link to comment
Ace Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Oh, and have any of you gotten in contact with them so far? I mean, asked them nicely to cut the crap or else? so long ace Quote Link to comment
weezerboy Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 i just e-mailed him like a week ago and asked a rando question about the sale just so i had contact and didn't get blocked which jehle thinks he may have. Quote Link to comment
Jehle Posted October 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Oh, and have any of you gotten in contact with them so far? I mean, asked them nicely to cut the crap or else? so long ace I've attempted to stop about 10 auctions by emailing Better Bytes. In each email, I've explained why he shouldn't sell it, that he should stop using the material, etc... None of them have been stopped and he's put even more auctions on. I figure he thinks he can get away with it because an email doesn't pose much of a threat. He can just filter out any complaint I may have and the problem goes away. Sort of. But with a snail mail address and legal representation I think I might get his attention. Even if he stops selling it, I could still claim his profit as damages. Who loves ya baby! Quote Link to comment
weezerboy Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Who loves ya baby! we do! Quote Link to comment
weezerboy Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 the latest thing i've found is this... more info dan Quote Link to comment
Jehle Posted October 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 the latest thing i've found is this... more info dan Edward, I think you have that address you were asking about. Domain name: BETTERBYTES.NET Administrative Contact: Byers, Kench kench@bellsouth.net 2332 Doc Hughes Rd Buford, GA 30519 US 4043128683 Quote Link to comment
Scott Rosenberger Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Don't forget, Selling stolen goods accross state lines is a violation if the interstate commerce law which is a Federal offense. Call the local FBI office in Georgia Quote Link to comment
GEdwardJones Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU OF METROPOLITAN ATLANTA INC (404) 688-4190 100 EDGEWOOD ATLANTA, GA 30303 Quote Link to comment
Jehle Posted October 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Don't forget, Selling stolen goods accross state lines is a violation if the interstate commerce law which is a Federal offense. Call the local FBI office in Georgia I'm sorry, but YOU ROCK! Quote Link to comment
Jehle Posted October 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU OF METROPOLITAN ATLANTA INC (404) 688-4190 100 EDGEWOOD ATLANTA, GA 30303 Come to think of it, to sell CD's of material like this, he may need a business license. He might not have the license to sell CD's that he burns himself. I know in my county, I would have to have a retail license and a manufactures (sp!) license in order to do that. More food for thought. Quote Link to comment
weezerboy Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 why don't you just call the cops and get him arrested, if the US is anything like the UK the cops will love to find some guy surrounded with counterfieit cds Quote Link to comment
GEdwardJones Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Well, the thing is, he might have a record of complaints logged at the BBB, If you're bringing legal action against him a history like that could go a long way. Quote Link to comment
GEdwardJones Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Thought this was funny: Mission Statement BetterBytes forges business solutions through integrity, customer involvement, and corporate efficiency. We exist to make our world and our community a better place. BetterBytes achieves this goal through value added alternatives that streamline business systems. Please note, in addition to the ripped of PG stuff they also sell hacking tools. Because, you know, integrity (not that you can't be a hacker and have integrity, just that the little script kiddiez who'd buy crap from him are probably launching DoS attacks agains mcdonalds.com because their parents wouldn't buy them Tony Hawk Underground on Tuesday). Quote Link to comment
Jehle Posted October 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 Yeah, I read that. I wonder where he stole that from. Quote Link to comment
weezerboy Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 i don't think kench buyers is his real name though Quote Link to comment
YDoesGodMockMeSo Posted October 30, 2003 Report Share Posted October 30, 2003 has anyone just thought of buying one of the things...and in the feedback just say "You can get this information FREE @ www.projectguitar.com" He can't do **** about it. And its being polite so Ebay shouldn't remove it. And if people aren't smart enough to read feedback before bidding/buying an item...they should get ripped off. Not only that, but you also have proof of exactly what is /isn't stolen from here. Quote Link to comment
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