You can't stop the leak at http://www.thepiratebay.org/ How will you do with that?

In Denmark there has been a court rule against that specific site which means that most of our web-service companies have blocked access to www.thepiratebay.org

So I guess that's a way of excluding the public...

www.thejesperbay.dk

Its not stopping anything

Hey Websheriff, why the hell did you remove the 30 second album samples from Amazon? What harm could they cause? They promote the fricking album! Also you were a bit late there weren't you? I recorded them all and am listening to them right now!...

Chill, have a Donut.

Stop feeding this troll.

/ban
/close

hes cute isnt he, but he didnt like my donut poo

Whou, gone for a moment and now the law's here.

I think it's interesting how the world changes.

20 years ago, who would have thought there'd be a need for a strange kind of blurry ghostly instance in a medium called the internet, representing copyright laws and trying to earn his life-money in this way.

The idea of the web sherriff is actually a pretty good one, I wonder why this didn't happen way earlier, like 10 years ago.

You want to collect data about the people spreading links and the making marketing-guys lifes hard.

You want to also show everone amongst the online fanbase, that they are being watched over. You don't harm or threaten them, everything goes really smoothly. You know, you have to actually try and become something like their friend, so they respect you over the friend-level, not the law-level, cos that failed to work multiple times in human history. Authority always has it's enemies, and on a medium like the internet, where personal contact isn't given, you can very easily not care about authority.

So some of the rules you seem to learn when going to web sherrif-school:

Sympathise with them, answer their stupid questions about donuts and make it look like you are actually finding it funny.

Whatever they do, try to not look pissed off, remain not under or above but among them and make them see you're no harm.

Be grateful and thank them for their understanding and respect, so they feel comforted. Take away the big brother-feeling. You are also representing the band, so it's a very delicate move to dive into the bands holy grail - the forums. Fuck up there and not only will you not be hired again, but you also caused damage your client.

I actually wonder, if w.s. knows someting about the band. Maybe he's / she's really a fan, who knows? Maybe they got the WEL lying around their office.
Or maybe they don't even know what it is.

The idea is but really brilliant. You tell your clients you got the big picture-overview over all important zones on the web: YT / MS / FB / Sharing-sites / fan forums / google etc., and you promise the client to make it all really clever this time. No things that will piss of the fans and make them run away. No copy protection that doesn't properly work, no strict threatening, no heavy lawsuits, no big things making the band and the labels look bad, just really under the surface-actions, but in the right spots, even becoming friendly with their fans.

I actually should have had this idea.

Web Sherrif, do you have open job-slots still? Seriously? How's the salary?

I also got some questions.

Regarding the watermarking, I don't know if you really read the whole board or if you got time enough for that, but there was a thread about the funcionality of the watermarking.

I actually think it's just a big hype. It will work, but stuff like "playing the song from an mp3 over a speaker and then recording it and the watermarking will remain intact" seems highly unlikely due to inevitable scrambling of the watermarking. Shouldn't be a big problem to remove it or render it unreadable.
Of course you maybe can't admit that it's qualities regarding it's stability are pertty limited, but I'd like to know what you think about it.

I also would (sincerely) like to thank you for giving the fans something to aim at (I guess you're lucky here with us, wouldn't wanna know how a Metallica-forum looks like, with all the members being pissed about shit all the time already) and also for giving us the possibility to talk to you about these things. I'm eager to see how long you will be able to remain active here and if it is possible to hold a position like this with some sort of grace for some time.

Cheers,
Ekko

WEB SHERIFF
Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-3238013
Fax 44-(0)208-3238080
websheriff@websheriff.com
www.websheriff.com

Hey Ekko,

That's pretty deep stuff - although also apposite in many ways ... .. save for the suggestion that we might pre-plan our friendly approach ... .. to be quite honest about it, we simply don't see the need to bark instructions at fans and bloggers - nor to lecture them about copyright and trademark laws (unless they ask of course) ... .. again, most fans just share a healthy enthusiasm for their favourite artist(s) and, unlike some other, industry bodies, we don't consider that it's appropriate to persecute them (or prosecute them !!) for it.

As for how to get a 'legal' promo, there's only one way to obtain one legally and that's to be on the mailing-list of the band or record label ... .. after release, however, when leaks are no longer an issue, most labels (and Web Sheriff) tend to take a laid-back approach to it and let the fans enjoy trading / collecting.

As for 30 second samples from Amazon, this isn't really how the album should be represented (but, sadly, some retailers try and insist upon it and it generally is then limited to their sites).

Last, but far from least, we do know about - and listen to - the music we are involved with ... .. we always get comparison copies way-up-front (one of the few perks of the job !!) and are able to immerse ourselves in the music ... .. all of these promos stay under-lock-and-key in our offices however. : ( ... .. and, as for eradicating watermarks, there are numerous things that can be tried, but it's not as easy as you might think (depending, of course, on the type of technology used).

Hope this answers some of the further questions raised.

Best,

WEB SHERIFF

WEB SHERIFF
Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-3238013
Fax 44-(0)208-3238080
websheriff@websheriff.com
www.websheriff.com

Hey EP,

Thanks for stepping-in with some great advice !!

Best,

WEB SHERIFF

What would you do to me if I already had the album.... theoretically speaking of course

No donuts for you

WEB SHERIFF
Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-3238013
Fax 44-(0)208-3238080
websheriff@websheriff.com
www.websheriff.com

Hey 'Jim',

Keep it under your pillow ... .. or on your private iPod (Please) !!

Best,

WEB SHERIFF

I'd rather have the album than doughnuts. Plus, I have a box of Krispy Kremes right next to me