Author
gwanath
Good Poster
Added: Dec 07, 2007 6:32 am
I found this forum through Google - definitely one of my better discoveries.

So far as Rapidshare goes - it's obvious to me that this is an endemic problem based on how the system works. there's almost nothing we can do to prevent it that I can conceive of (and I've thought about it a fair bit).

That said, I'm really appreciated of all the content posted, and the deletions just give me a good motivation to check early and check often for new content in my areas of interest. Probably the best defense possible.
DiabolicAngelz
Respected Poster
Added: Dec 07, 2007 5:50 pm
horatio wrote:
This is why so many posts are being deleted on so many boards. Just came across it by accident.

http://www.apaai.com/


This site is temporarily unavailable.

Could you please explain what the site was about?
*Curious*
horatio
I'm probably spamming
Added: Dec 08, 2007 1:57 am
Basically the site was an anti piracy of porn site , trying to get webmasters to pay for their services , ie the deletion of files on rapidshare , megaupload etc. Apparently they employed a team of people employed to delete files.

Strange the site is down , perhaps they've given up Laughing
svinto
Retired Legend
Added: Dec 15, 2007 4:18 am
No I don't think they have given up.
I think they have realised that the url have so to speak been compromised and they have changed it.
Suddenly they got a lot of hits from a lot of forums that could read thrue the indepth detailed descriptions on how they where going to hit us.
A trainingmanual for how to avoid detection and removal.
A pity I didn't saved a copy while I was there.
_________________
[URL=http://www.casimages.com]screenshot[/URL]
Chanter
I'm probably spamming
Added: Dec 15, 2007 10:55 am
svinto wrote:
No I don't think they have given up.
I think they have realised that the url have so to speak been compromised and they have changed it.
Suddenly they got a lot of hits from a lot of forums that could read thrue the indepth detailed descriptions on how they where going to hit us.
A trainingmanual for how to avoid detection and removal.
A pity I didn't saved a copy while I was there.


I came across something related to this on aP2P forum. I guess that I'm not allowed to post a link to the forum here, but here is the text of what I read.

Porn industry bands together against Bittorrent
09/07 2007 | 04:19 PM Posted by: Janko Roettgers
It's been a well-know fact that a lot of the content swapped on P2P networks is porn. Even so, adult entertainment companies have been on the sideline of the fight against P2P piracy, leaving the mass lawsuit campaigns to their colleagues from the music industry and relying on mainstream Hollywood for anti-piracy lobbying.

It looks like this might change soon though. AVN is reporting that 65 porn industry representatives met in Los Angeles Wednesday to discuss their options in the fight against piracy. From the article:

"Several figures estimating the extent of piracy of adult material were mentioned at the meeting, and the consensus seemed to be that piracy accounted for about a $2 billion loss from the estimated $50 billion gross income from adult material worldwide."

Some of the producers at the meeting thought that the situation was even more serious. AVN quotes Megan Stokes from Shane's World saying:

"As the younger people who know exactly how to do this [download content] keep coming further and further into our bracket, I would suspect that within the next five years, there's not going to be anybody that we're trying to sell product to that doesn't know how to download it for free."

Some of the companies present apparently expressed reservation against a too aggressive legal strategy, arguing that instead the porn industry needs something like iTunes to make it easier for people to buy single scenes. There were also mixed feelings about DRM.

Five companies nevertheless decided to go forward and form a lose alliance with the goal of eventually establishing an industry association to initiate anti-piracy lawsuits. Part of that would be actions against commercial infringers that sell bootleg DVDs.

A web forum started by the companies in question makes it clear that they definitely want to go after P2P piracy as well. The forum alfready lists various Torrent sites, and members are encouraged to "take screenshots of the suspected infringements".


The association (Anti-Piracy Association of the Adult Industry) seems to have changed its url to http://www.antipiracyboard.com
svinto
Retired Legend
Added: Dec 15, 2007 2:20 pm
Seem to be a selected group thing.
I got the startpage but nothing else.
_________________
[URL=http://www.casimages.com]screenshot[/URL]
Chanter
I'm probably spamming
Added: Dec 15, 2007 4:59 pm
svinto wrote:
Seem to be a selected group thing.
I got the startpage but nothing else.


I've found a little bit more information about this which might be of interest. I seems that antipiracyboard.com is part of an operation called Onemanmarketing. Here is some of the introductory text from the onemanmarketing.com website -

Eric Helsel - Aka DJ Airek

Director of Intenet Operations - Special Projects Manager

Currently Serving As Director Of Internet Operations and Special Projects for Shane's World Enterprises

• I was recently recruited to head up the rebuild of Shane Enterprise's online assests and existing enterprise content inventory. Currently the project rebuild is in the scope and execution stage with subcontractor entities aggressively working to finish phase 1 of the build. The promotional and branding engine is underway simultaneously. In conjunction with the rebuild of Shane's World v2.0, I am directly responsible for the day-to-day operations of the program. Expected completion of the projects scope is Spring/Summer 2007.

• Industry Anti Piracy Association Creator - In August of 2007, I spearheaded and organized over 65 adult studios to create an anti-piracy organization within the adult content producers community. I organized the group, led the discussion on the core issues facing our industry, and contributed in appointing the board and guiding the association into the execution stages of the groups intended operations in the fight against piracy. The association will play a vital role in returning some percentage of profits lost to piracy through prevention and prosecution. The association will plan means of approaching the piracy dilemna and adapt to our environments through the advancement of our technologys and open philisophical mindsets. Out of the box thinking is a must.
I also own antipiracyboard.com which I purchased but haven't developed yet.



I also found the following information on a porn industry forum called X-Biz -



UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — A diverse group of adult industry members gathered in a conference room at the Universal Sheraton hotel Wednesday night to discuss the growing threat of piracy. The meeting, attended by approximately 75 people, succeeded in creating an open dialogue and saw the seeds planted for the creation of a new anti-piracy organization.

Organized by Shane’s World who hired a professional moderator to keep the roundtable flowing smoothly, attendees found much value in getting key players in one room to identify the remedies — legal or otherwise — that content producers and copyright holders could take to protect their works.

Resulting from the meeting was the formation of an ad-hoc advisory board that meets next week to crystallize ideas and suggestions that came from the meeting. The group, comprised of content producers, is going to begin the process of strategizing and setting some “hard and fast” rules for the organization on paper.

While the meeting was intended to function as the first step to start discussions on an industry-wide response to piracy, it wasn’t intended as a problem-solving session but rather the first in a series of brainstorming sessions designed to formalize a response to the threat that has the support of key content producers and other members of the business.

“I didn’t come to the meeting with any preconceived expectations, because frankly, I didn’t know exactly what it was supposed to accomplish, but I knew it was important to attend and whatever winds up coming out of this important first step I want to be a part of,” Falcon Foto President Jason Tucker told XBIZ after the discussion wrapped. “Ultimately, we may not get together as an entire industry, but the people that attended tonight, I believe, can make an impact and a difference. That’s why I’m here.”

Tucker’s company has filed numerous successful lawsuits against copyright infringers over the past couple years and he expressed relief that other companies might join him in the fight to aggressively police their intellectual copyrights and content from piracy.

“We know what the problem is. This meeting was a collective meeting of the minds to see what steps we could take to combat it on a big scale,” Tucker said.

Many attendees targeted the Internet and torrent sites as a huge problem because of how fast and widespread illegally pirated content gets distributed. One prevailing feeling was if through legal redress torrent sites get shut down, there will be new ones popping up the next day. The Internet presents a global problem not easily solved.

Noted industry attorney Gregory Piccionelli told XBIZ that a prudent way to stymie offending sites is to go after their record keeping — something his firm has done successfully.

“I believe that if this ad-hoc group is set up the right way, it can attract talent; lawyers who will take cases on contingency because we will have an entity that is recognized and means business,” Piccionelli said. “There is no such group like this yet for producers of adult content. My belief is that we have to set something like that up here and we are on our way to doing that.”

Airek, director of Internet operations for Shane’s World, who was integral in the roundtable’s formation said that he was going to begin work on AntiPiracyBoard.com, a website for the industry to use to report content theft. The board is going to be used to timestamp infringement with screenshots along with companies whose advertisements appears next to unauthorized content.

“Ultimately, we need to show all content thieves and pirates out there that we’re willing to put our time and money into an organization that is going to protect our content from being ripped off,” Airek told XBIZ. “Coming off the success of this meeting, I have faith we’re purposely moving in that direction.”

Attendees included Hush Hush Entertainment's Andrew S, AIM's Sharon Mitchell, legendary director Andrew Blake, adult industry attorneys Clyde DeWitt and Allan Gelbard, New Sensations’ Rhonda K, Red Light District's Jon Berg, Matrix Content’s Norman Bentley, BlazingBucks’s Mark Schecter, Lightspeed Cash's Steve Lightspeed, TheContentStore.com’s J$tyle$, AsiaDivaGirls.com, Digital Playground, AAA News' Sid Grief, Adam & Eve Pictures’ Mischa Allen and representatives from anti-piracy groups GAPA and AICO.
Deity
Respected VIP club member
Added: Dec 15, 2007 6:15 pm
It's rather silly. All the owners have to do is PM a mod or admin of any forum or torrent site & they will add the sites to their prohibited/banned site list. The problem here is that the guys reporting the links don't own the content. Posters keep hot linking to their FHGs or blogs and they don't even have to search for uploads, they have a trail to follow.
Chanter
I'm probably spamming
Added: Dec 15, 2007 9:47 pm
You're right, of course, that hotlinks to industry forums and blogs make it real easy for content owners and other objectors to go straight to their target. My understanding is that this forum bans hotlinking, so I guess that we are not contributing to the problem.

I know that everyone is angered by the fact that links are deleted almost as fast as they are posted, but should we not also be concerned about the possibility of prosecution by the content owners?

I am fearful that things are going the same way as the music business, where the RIAA actively monitors pirate downloading and launches vast numbers of prosecutions. I am personally familiar with a recent case in Europe where a girl received a heavy fine for downloading a few hundred MP3 files. She was also ordered to pay compensation to the RIAA and the whole business cost her in excess of $3,000 by the time she added lawyers fees. My understanding is that the prosecution came about after she was ensnared by an RIAA "honeypot" posting.

I'm no lawyer and my understanding of the situation is doubtless a long way from being correctly informed. Is there anybody out there who really knows the facts and can provide some information on the direction that the content owners are likely to go?
Deity
Respected VIP club member
Added: Dec 15, 2007 10:16 pm
Hot linking is not banned and I have personally edited posts and used the code feature. People may not like me changing their post , but I do not like having one idiot screw things up for the rest of us. Perhaps hot linking to other websites could be banned. There is a code feature and a website that can be used http://anonym.to/

FHGs are banned. People are too lazy to read the rules or upload a picture.