Shady method to earn big bucks

You can always use a whois on the IPs, get the ISP and then send a letter to the abuse email of that ISP.. usually they have emails like [email protected] (usually shown in the whois) and show the IP and TIME in that email.. then the ISP should forward the email to that specific user (the ISP will know the email of that user that used that IP at that specific time)

But, I don't think it will be much of a success.

A Much Less Shady Twist to this Method

Download 20-30 non-copyrighted images in some popular genre: celebrities, cars, Lionel Messi, whatever. Create a screen saver from these (one can easily find software to do this). In addition, make it so that the user must register the software with a valid email address before being able to use it (I'm not sure how to do this, but I think it's not too hard). Have the registration form send the email address to your web server.

Next, create a website where you sell this screensaver for an exorbitant $100 (of course, no one will actually buy it for this ridiculous price).

Now upload the screensaver to a popular torrent tracker. Slowly, people will start to download and register it. Once you've collected 100 or so emails, send out a cleverly worded email threatening legal action if they don't purchase the software. Then kindly direct them to your website.

There's no need to capture IP's. For $100 it's not as if anybody is going to buy the bloody thing, so you know that if someone registered it they obtained it through piracy.

Bloody hell, really guys...apart from the ethics involved I think there are easier and far nicer ways of making some money.

mathdoc said:

Why would you need it offshore? You simply inform the "infringers" that they have violated your copyright (which is true), and then they voluntarily deposit money into your paypal account.

Click to expand...

Paypal? You FAIL big time. lol... "ask them to deposit it into your paypal account"....LMFAO

Your screensaver idea FAILS too... Complete rubbish and a total waste of time. You will hardly get any downloads for it... and your "Cleverly worded legal letter" will be ignored .. no one cares about a new site selling a screensaver..LOL.....rubbish..complete rubbish.

I really think that people would be so relieved on the fact they arent going to jail or court, they'd pay up so fast.

It depends on how "pirating" is being defined. If it's for personal use, and the person knows how to present that argument, the prosecution doesn't have much of a chance.

If however, the person is copying and reselling, and it can be proven, THEN there's a serious problem.

Been at the legal game for quite a while, so that's my input on that topic and its likely outcome in court.

AntiCorruptionDude said:

It depends on how "pirating" is being defined. If it's for personal use, and the person knows how to present that argument, the prosecution doesn't have much of a chance.

If however, the person is copying and reselling, and it can be proven, THEN there's a serious problem.

Been at the legal game for quite a while, so that's my input on that topic and its likely outcome in court.

Click to expand...

The whole point is that you're bluffing. You're not actually going to take any legal action. You just hope the threat of that will get people to pay up.

AbuSymbul said:

i have a more effective twist to this method but im not going to post it since it also targets us blackhaters and i kno if i post it people will diff put it to use because this new twist is sitting on millions and billions of dollars and most of all you could fly under the radar with this one and no one will speak i need to jv with someone i could trust tho infact we could setup an internet Ring for this and actually make millions a day possibly billions i swear im not kiding

Click to expand...

As your last contribution to this thread involved a method using child porn, I for one think I will pass on your offer.

Good luck suing me in my country. Here 99% of all software and movies are pirated. Representitves of Microsoft and other big software conmpanies tried to stop this but nothing actually happened. You can send me all the email you want. I will just delete them with the rest . Don't think that US laws are universal laws.

Though this idea seems realistic, I think it will be tough. Too much effort and risky.

syngenetic said:

Though this idea seems realistic, I think it will be tough. Too much effort and risky.

Click to expand...

I agree it's probably too risky (and unethical) but not too tough.

zverr said:

Good luck suing me in my country. Here 99% of all software and movies are pirated. Representitves of Microsoft and other big software conmpanies tried to stop this but nothing actually happened. You can send me all the email you want. I will just delete them with the rest . Don't think that US laws are universal laws.

Click to expand...

This method doesn't involve suing anybody. It clearly won't work on everybody, or even a majority, but I suspect it would work an a sufficiently high percentage of people to make a decent profit.

barca said:

As your last contribution to this thread involved a method using child porn, I for one think I will pass on your offer.

Click to expand...

Yes, you are right. It is too much...

OK so if you have content that is yours and copyrighted, it gets popular, then someone uploads it elsewhere, this isn't fraud.... think about it

This idea actually has a lot of potential. In terms of legality, in the US it's 100% legal if you own the copyright....bottom line is that your copyright has been infringed. It's that simple. This is the RIAA's (Recording Industry Association of America) entire business model. It's true that you would probably only want to go after people who are in your country, and you would need to work with a law firm for the subpoenas, etc. but that's simple enough - just record all of the IPs and go after those that are in your country.

I believe the RIAA gets the subpoenas en masse - e.g. they have a lawyer file one motion with a long list of ISPs and IP addresses and then once granted they send the subpoenas out to the ISPs. You could theoretically even just get a standard application for subpoena form and file it yourself for just the filing fee. Then you just get back a huge list of people to send threatening letters to . For like $500 you can go to incorporate.com and form a very legit and scary sounding company....you could even make it sound like a law firm without actually claiming to be a law firm....something like "Winston & Winthorp LLP".

As far as the moral issues......the RIAA does this as a matter of course, and have found that suing your customers is a very profitable business. At the end of the day, although it's easy to do, sharing stuff that isn't yours is against the law. It's pretty ironic that people in a blackhat forum would take something done by corporate America every day and say "that's way too evil for me" .

Nice guys finish last. Stomping on your neighbor is the American way.