Birds of a feather flock together
Absolutely true! And why shouldn’t they, after all they know their own kind and it is much easier to flock together with your own kind. However, as humans go…the same applies there. Different types of humans tend to stay together as the believe in safety in numbers.
What has this to do with machine embroidery, you say…quite a bunch dear friend. We humans, are classified as types. Somehow the chemistry of the types tends to recognize the other type and hence the phrase, birds of a feather flock together.
Interesting in the past two years, I have watched some new digitizers come onto the scene. Now mind you, these same individuals (no names please…don’t want to raise any more bp than is necessary) who used to flock together on warez groups sharing anything and everything under the sun that had to do with software, be it programs, cracks and or embroidery files. Now, the same individuals have found that having all those files is really not hurting anyone so why not cash in a bit from their lootings…aha..I think you know where I’m going, don’t you. Ofcourse, Ebay. The most wonderful of all online auction house where one can find anything and anything under the sun. And if you have a bit of brain, you can actually get rid of all the trash that has been sitting in your backyard…all in how you present it. Please understand that I am not implying that all auctions on Ebay are trash and that all sellers are brainless…I used to sell on Ebay quite a bit and even do now and then. I’m referring to those who really have no idea that “you can fool some of the people for some of the time but you can’t fool all of the people for all of the times”.
Hence started a saga of home made CDS with thousands of embroidery designs, all for the price of $9.99 or even low. The cds themselves cost nothing, do not need a label and sometimes, do not even need a cover for the cd. Well, great going Jose I would say. The brainless thought they had found a gold mine…. WRONG. What they found was a sure way to land themselves and their innocent buyers into a heck of a lot of trouble than they had ever imagined. For starters, they came in to the limelight. An activity that was done in a hush hush atmosphere now was an online crime worldwide. Caution was admonished to many of these Ebay sellers but they kept becoming more and more daring and changing IDs faster than you can brush your teeth.
So, now we come to the coalition story. ESPC, Embroidery Software Protection Coalition. The company had been around for a while catering to the major commercial embroidery concerns. With a Great Notions known detective spearheading the movement, an absolutely wonderful scheme was hatched to not just get the sellers but also the buyers on Ebay. Ebay and ESPC made an out of court settlement (despite the various rumours abound that favour one or the other coming out ahead…reality is no one really knows the facts in that except the companies involved) and ESPC went to work.
The law says that in a crime where sale of stolen merchandise is concerned, the seller is definitely guilty but the buyer is also responsible to some extent. Knowing that the merchandise is stolen or repeat purchases from same seller could jeapordise the buyer’s position of Not Guilty. After all, lets face it…we live in an internet world where information of what is the cost of whatever is available to us at the tips of our fingers. However, in some cases, the buyer may get off easy claiming innocence but ofcourse returning the stolen merchandise.
ESPC took advantage of this and the buyers left, right and center started to receive notices of payment of fines for purchasing stolen merchandise as well as to return the merchandise to ESPC….A perfect way to teach those who think they may hoodwink the law.
Hence comes my story of birds of a feather….Too much information…wait for the second part.
Birds of a Feather Flock Together-Part II
Continuing with the ongoing saga of birds of a feather…hang on…it’ll all become clear here in a minute.
So, ESPC came up with an extraordinary yet simple method of getting not just the sellers but also the buyers of illegal CDS on Ebay. The action ofcourse roused tremenduous amount of arguments and directives by those who really were hurt the most…the sellers. Hence my reference to birds of a feather. Comments from registration of ESPC to where they file their taxes, to who is the leading attorney and what gossip she has in her private life…blah blah blah. All this in aid of what…helping those birds that were so rudely thrown off their nests (Ebay)…tsk, tsk, tsk.
As I had said earlier there are several new digitizers in the machine embroidery field who had found selling designs on Ebay (their own mixed with tons of others which really were not their own…hehehe) a lucrative business venture but sadly it was put to rest because buyers weren’t buying and the sellers had to lower their prices till it was ridiculous to even list the item. Yet these brave souls kept on listing taunting ESPC and Ebay, changing IDS as fast as they could, until Ebay came up with a new technique of tracking IPS of members and finding out previous IDS.
LOL…well, as the saying goes…know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. It was fold time for many sellers but in the meanwhile lots of innocent buyers got caught in the seller’s illegal activity of being part and parcel of having stolen merchandise. As I said earlier, it is simple logic. You buy something and find out that it is stolen. In this case, a letter from ESPC letting you know that…what do you do? Do you ignore…that will get you moved into the line for further legal action, or do you pay attention, contact the company and sign away that you will take care in future and not purchase illegaly as well as return the stolen merchandise. Simple really but not so…remember those sellers(digitizers)….well, they won’t go away would they. They had to stir up the pot so to speak and stir it amongst those who are innocents. So they open up a Yahoo group, invite anyone and everyone with this wonderful opening paragraph in their letter:
Most of you have heard of the ESPC (Embroidery Software Protection Coalition). In theory, it sounds as if it was supposed to be a good thing, but has turned ugly and a lot of us have been unfairly targeted and terrorized by the tactics of this organization.
Ouch! Libel, slander…you name it. So,now these poor people who were in only for having the mistake of purchasing stolen property are in for more surprises. A sneak preview at the listing of members of this Yahoo group….AHA…”Birds of a feather” ROFLOL….
To those who may be the victims, my simple advice…ante up. You did wrong, even though it was not intentional. Learn and move on with life. Don’t let those who know nothing of what they are talking about…(except they do have a personal gain here) get to you. There is no terrorism here except by those few who have lost plenty(illegal sales on Ebay) and terror they have spread well and good. Listen to logic and reasoning. No one out there is so very concerned that they would turn their world upside down to help you. Help yourself and move on. As for the birds…well, they will move on also to some other venture.
Comment Received and Answer: (To avoid multiplication I’ve combined part 1 and 2 together)
You tarnish with a very big brush. Certainly the illegal sellers should be removed. However, to target the innocent purchasers only hurts the entire industry. Unfortunately, the attorney sending these letters does have an unfortunate reputation in the community. The letter does not say which designs are allegedly stolen, copied etc; it also does not state which company claims its designs were allegedly illegally purchased; it also states that ESPC owns the designs; obviously a misstatement of truth.
To ask an innocent purchaser to pay several hundred dollars for the privilege of not knowing what they are accused of, when the alleged mishap occurred, to whom etc., smacks of a shakedown and fear tactic. I would suspect that most of the innocent purchasers have no idea which of the designs, or from whom, they are supposedly in trouble for.
To also state that a class action lawsuit will be taken is also untrue; the law does not work that way as I am sure you know since you have obviously investigated the law and all the facts of each individual case.
Undoubtedly there are some people who knew or had a very good idea that what they were purchasing might be illegal. But, to send a generic letter and expect to receive “hush” money in return is just plain wrong.
Personally I have never bought on ebay and you can be sure I won’t. So if you, as an honest seller, sell on ebay, I won’t be buying from you either. I do not know if you are part of the ESPC but I suggest you delve thoroughly into how it operates before offering advice to anyone to “just pay up”.
Lynne, I’m a purchaser, and I’m a seller. On one side (as a purchaser) I’m innocent and do not have any liabilites but on the other hand (as a seller) I do…what do you think? Is that how it should be?
To tarnish someone without facts is libel and slander. In your post regarding a “attorney” you have said so, is this a fact or is this from the rumour mill.
ESPC represents literally all the major machine embroidery companies: http://www.embroideryprotection.org/about_us.html will show the names. You state that this is not true. Do you have this as a fact, or is this more of rumours.
It stands to reason then that a company representing the protection of intellectual property of so many companies would mean literally thousands of machine embroidery designs sold on Ebay and on other auction houses. The thousands of designs like Disney, cartoon characters, etc then belong to the IP of ESPC (as it is the rep for all the companies).
When someone is found to have purchased stolen goods, what happens. Please do me a favour and call up your local police station and find out. When someone is found to have the Intellectual Property of someone without permission, that is wrong and the person to whom the Intellectual property belongs to has the full right of the law to persue whether in court, whether by communication etc etc…in this case a letter asking for return of property and compensation for loss income.
Please since I do not know how a class action lawsuit works, then enlighten me.
I’m sorry you find my thoughts not to your liking, I can’t help that. There are many things in life all of us do not like, not necessarily the same things. That is life. Thanks, Hugs, Sadia