Watching the Pirates

This is a rolling list of ebook pirate sites. I use the word "pirate" because the sites are offering unlawful downloads of my work without my consent. If you are an author, please check to see if these sites are doing the same to you. If so, report the matter to Amazon's legal department (via KDP) and to your publishers BEFORE PIRACY TOTALLY KILLS YOUR SALES.

http://www.ebook3600.com

http://magic-downloads.net

http://www.downloadprovider.me

http://www.mediaplaynow.com/

If you are aware of any similar sites please leave the details by commenting below, anonymously if you wish.

Many thanks

Publisher Thwarts Ebook Copyright Thieves

Publisher Hachette UK has succeeded in having all its books removed from Mobiles24, a user-generated mobile content platform.
Hachette UK is is one of the largest book publishers in the UK, and consists of several publishing companies, including Headline Publishing Group, Hodder & Stoughton, Orion Publishing Group, Octopus Publishing Group and Hodder Education Group. In 2006, it acquired Time Warner Book Group, which then morphed into Little, Brown Book Group.
We first reported back in February that the publisher was moving to have its eBooks taken off Mobiles24, and issued a ‘letter before action’ to the site’s owner, Mark Worthington, after it made a number of its eBooks available to download for free without permission. Worthington had been given until Wednesday 29th February to comply with the request to remove all unauthorized Hachette content, which has now happened. As The Bookseller reports today, Hachette UK CEO Tim Hely Hutchinson said:

“I am delighted with the outcome of our justified action. This sends out a very clear message to anyone who appropriates our files, infringing our copyright and that of our authors. We have always made it clear that we regard copyright infringement as theft: we will pursue any case where we find it and our actions will be upheld by the court.”

This is the latest case in a stream of incidents involving eBooks piracy. We reported a number of weeks back that two websites which had made thousands of eBooks available illegally as free downloads had been forced offline after being served cease-and-desist orders from a global alliance of publishers.
The pirate operation was thought to be turning over more than £7m each year, netted through advertising, premium-level accounts and user-donations. Library.nu had acquired more than 400,000 copyrighted eBooks, and made them available for free on a site masquerading as a legitimate provider. The same operators also ran the affiliated fileshare hosting service at ifile.it, which facilitated the uploads.
It’s not just little download sites that are being taken to task over their illegal publishing exploits. Last May, we reported that a trio of French publishers was suing Google for almost €10m, after claiming that the Internet giant had scanned thousands of its books without consent as part of its on-going Google Books project.
With music and movie piracy dominating most of the pirate content headlines, with the likes of The Pirate Bay facing a number of  legal wranglings, it seems that the flourishing eBook industry is bringing in a new wave of problems for the digital content industries. There will likely be many more similar cases come to the fore in the coming years, as the Kindles and Nooks of the world continue to win ground over their paper-based counterparts.

http://thenextweb.com/media/2012/03/23/hachette-uk-succeeds-in-having-its-ebooks-removed-from-pirate-website/

Publishers Fight Pirates In Europe

Publishers are going after eBook piracy in Europe. An international alliance of 17 publishers, which includes HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, The McGraw-Hill Companies and Oxford University Press, is taking legal against the operators of the websites library.nu and ifile.it.
Yesterday, the Irish-based operators of www.library.nu and www.ifile.it were served with court orders. In the complaint, the publishers claim that www.library.nu illegally acquired more than 400,000 copyrighted eBooks and made them available for free. In addition, the site owners allegedly earned more than $10 million in advertising from the site.
This may not be the first kind of attact on pirate sites. Tom Allen, president/CEO of Association of American Publishers stated: “For every rogue site that is taken down, there are hundreds more demanding similar effort.  I can’t think of a more timely example of the need for additional tools to expedite such action.”
Neither site is currently active. Library.nu currently redirects to Google Books.  Ifile.it has an error message that says “No upload servers currently available, try uploading at a later time.”

http://www.mediabistro.com/appnewser/publishers-fight-pirates-in-europe_b20291

FACT - The Federation Against Copyright Theft

TO AUTHORS IN THE UK concerned about eBook piracy we all need to come down off the fence and do something about it. Make a list of all sites offering illegal downloads of your book and then report the matter either to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or to the Federation Against Copyright Theft at http://www.fact-uk.org.uk/site/contact/com_form.htm

From the FACT website:

FACT’s primary purpose is to protect the United Kingdom’s film and broadcasting industry against counterfeiting, copyright and trademark infringements.

Established in 1983, FACT works in three key areas:

• Online piracy in all forms – with a focus on those distributing large volumes of illicit film and TV content

• Hard goods piracy – organised criminal networks operating in the UK (and worldwide) have adopted audiovisual piracy as a crime type to generate substantial illegal profits

• Prevention and detection of illegal recording in cinemas – over 90% of the counterfeit versions of movies originate initially from a copy recorded in a cinema

FACT works closely across the UK with Police, Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs, UK Border Agency, Serious and Organised Crime Agency and the other agencies. FACT also has a close association with other industry enforcement bodies.

FACT’s Intelligence Unit plays a key role in assessing, analysing and reporting on the threats to its members’ businesses from criminal activity and tasks FACT’s own investigators as well as producing strategic documents available to partner agencies.

FACT plays a key role in creating awareness of the dangers associated with counterfeiting and continually gathers evidence to prove that film piracy is linked to other criminal activities, from benefit fraud to violence.

FACT has an important role in ensuring that the government and public understand the threat to the UK’s film and television industry and to the community at large from the growing threat of DVD and online piracy.

Film piracy in the UK is:

• A business generating £200m a year for criminals
• A crime which affects other people and the wider community – involving benefit fraud, people smuggling, drugs and other serious criminality
• A real crime, punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment

The seemingly innocent purchase of a cheap DVD from an irregular source can therefore have far reaching effects. For further examples of the effects of DVD piracy in the UK, please go to our Media Centre and view the latest case studies and statistics.

While the Federation is not a statutory body, it is accepted as a prosecution authority in its own right and facilitates the investigation and prosecution of those involved in this type of crime.

http://www.fact-uk.org.uk

Echo McCool - Review by Colesy999

This book is an absolute must have for 77p on the kindle. Having said that, it's worth £7.00 new!

The description is of an unmatched quality and combined with a breath taking story-line equates to quite literally the best book you have ever read.

And you should see my collection of books...

Colesy999 Review on Amazon.co.uk 

Echo McCool - Thu Barton Review

Big thanks to the lovely Thu Barton for this review on Goodreads:


The character of Echo McCool reminds me very much of the Princess Merida character in the Disney Pixar film BRAVE. Both are feisty and strong and red-haired and grew up in a British folklore world. Echo McCool was first published in January 2011 but Pixar must've been working on Princess Merida for a long time so I'm not sure which came first - but both are totally awesome! 

Thu Barton's Review on Goodreads 

Echo McCool - Tom D Harris Review

Son to a missing father, son to a murdered mother, brother to a kidnapped sister, Jason Fleeting will have his vengeance in this life...not the next.

When twelve year old Jason falls out of a tree and into a coma in the grounds of the children's home where he lives, he finds himself on a beach at the edge of time; somewhere between the living and the afterlife.
Here, he meets a beautiful dryad, Fenella, who recites a tale of ancient conflicts, war, bravery and death. She also reveals that Jason and his sister, Lauren, are descendants of a human-dryad and tasks Jason to return to earth to save her daughter, Echo McCool. In turn Echo will help Jason to rescue his sister from her kidnappers.

With Echo rescued from Witch Wood, she uses the dryad gift of Gewita to look into the past to unravel the mysteries of Jason's past and his sister's kidnapping. Together they delve deeper and deeper into the sinister secrets of the Cobalt family and the eerie Ravenstone Manor.

With the help of a (rock) band of minstrels, as echoes of a female Robin Hood resonate through the pages, they encounter dodgy coppers, arson attacks, collapsing tunnels and other endless confrontations, but don't panic - Echo knows Kung Fu.

A pacey, page turner from Roger K Driscoll, packed with great characters and a great sense of fun. This action adventure flirts with crime and mystery as fantasy smashes headlong into reality.

Echo and Jason may not be able to predict their futures in the Gewita but in the words of a popular indie-rock band.

I predict a sequel...I predict a sequel...

Echo McCool - Tom D Harris Review

Echo McCool - Imperatrix Review

I bought this for my 10 year old but because she loved it and kept going on about it I decided to have a read as well. Echo is half-blood Dryad girl who gets shot by this poison arrow in the dark ages and escapes by hiding in this hollow tree, but she doesnt realize that shell get stuck there and the poison will put her to sleep for something like 800 years. In the present a 12 year old boy called Jason is in this coma and having a near death experience where he meets Echos mother who says shell heal him and tell him how to find his kidnapped sister Lauren if he rescues Echo before lumberjacks cut her in half. He agrees and awakens Echo and they go off together to rescue his sister and restore an inheritance to a new friend. Overall this has good characters, its very readable and fast with loads of action and tension. Were both looking forward to the sequel already.

Echo McCool - Imperatrix Review

Echo McCool - M J Review

As the father of a young baby girl, I've spent the past few months' bedtimes trapped in the pages of picture books plucked from either my own childhood or the current children's charts, dutifully trawling through thinly-veiled allegories and sledgehammer-subtle moralising. However, having recently met the author of this book, who really enthused me about his work, I decided to shelve the likes of "Dinosaur Sleepover" and "Nicky's Noisy Night" for the time being and instead offer my daughter a serialised glimpse of what she's likely be reading in a decade or so's time.

Aimed at what booksellers now label "young adult readers", this novel strives to build a bridge between classic children's literature and the vibrant, much more fantastic adventures that generally see print or go before the movie cameras today. Driscoll's story takes `Famous Five' sensibilities and injects them into a fast-paced, magic-wielding, karate-kicking tale that plays out before the mind's eye in definition far sharper than 1080p. There's still an adventure around every corner, but if they involve Echo then they're far more likely to sate the appetite of most twenty-first century teens than anything in Blyton's arguably outmoded repertoire.

What I think really sets "Echo McCool: Outlaw through Time" apart from its peers though is the quality of Driscoll's world-building. Though some of his finesse might be lost on the youngest of the book's readers, the author is clearly well-versed in medieval philosophies, and that familiarity really bleeds through in his eloquent prose. It's almost a shame that we couldn't have spent longer in Echo's native time, so evident is the author's ardour, but ultimately the book's humour - and, indeed, drama - is borne of Echo being a girl out of time.

Reading a book like this really highlights just how fickle the world of publishing is, and how fine the line is between a Harry Potter or a Lara Croft and an Echo McCool. Will queues of youngsters be camping out in front of stores awaiting the release of "Echo McCool VII", or playing to death the latest Echo McCool video game? I really couldn't say, but based solely on the appeal of this first instalment in the series, the potential is certainly there. Long may the legend continue. 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B004KAB9R4/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending 

Echo McCool - "An Engaging Fantasy Novel" - Billy Askew Review

This book starts with an enticing opening sentence: "She heard the twang of a bowstring beyond the glade." The story that follows is both original and charming. Echo McCool is a karate-kicking half-dryad girl from medieval times. After narrowly escaping death by hiding inside a hollow tree she awakes in the present day and befriends 12-year-old Jason Fleeting. With Echo's help, Jason goes off in search of his missing sister.

Both Echo and Jason are endearing characters who show tremendous resourcefulness and courage. This is an empowering message to young readers and the book is a pleasure to read. Recommended for readers aged 8-13.

Echo McCool - "A top lister for 2011!" - Sherise Rolan Review

I'm so happy I found a great book to read before the end of the year! I was getting really upset having read one not so good book after another and was losing hope that I'd find anything interesting *I'm a picky reader*. I couldn't stop reading this book and finished it in 1 day! The lore in it is just amazing!! I loved the dryad background of Echo and the story that just went into so much depth.

There are too many specifics in this book to name only a few that I loved. I think that Echo and Jason make the best 'unlikely' team that just works so well together. They balanced out each other to make a perfect pair. ^_^ I liked how while reading I felt scared for Echo and Jason, and other times I was cheering them on as they would battle it out. It was a great story and I would pre-order a sequel in a heartbeat!!!!

Echo McCool - "My New Hero" - LoveReading Review

I love Echo! She is probably one of the coolest female leads I've ever read about. I think girls and women around the world are going to fall for her. Shes rough and tough and doesn't let anyone mess with her, yet she is a great friend and loyal to those she cares for...a real hero! I loved her abilities and that she isn't fully a human at all. The storyline was epic and I enjoyed how she was introduced right in the beginning so that you really get to know her throughout the book. I'm a permanent fan of Echo McCool!!! More please :)

Echo McCool - "Very Impressed" - Rashell Paravak Review

I'm a 34 year old mother of 2 and loved this book. I don't think it's only for children and young teens. It definitely has an appeal and literary "goodness" that adults can fall for as well. I'm proud to admit that I'm a fan of Echo McCool. For me personally, my favorite genres are MG and YA. I think that no matter what age you are you can relate at some point in your life to the emotion in these genres.
I like Echo McCool, my oldest son loves it, it's an amazing story that is worth the time to read!

Echo McCool - "A Quality Book" - Northgate Review

Echo McCool Outlaw Through Time is one of those cross-over books:the storytelling seems to be aimed at children, and the two maincharacters are twelve years old, but the story can be enjoyed by adults too. I think the optimum age would be slightly older
children, say 11 or 12. Echo McCool is a slightly Lara Croft-ish
character because she can do Ninja type fighting, and so on.
The story is mainly about Echo who, at the age of 12, escapes her
foe in medieval time and sleeps inside a hollow tree for hundreds
of years. She awakes in modern times and meets Jason Fleeting and has loads of adventures with him.
I think that the end was a little too abrupt: most people would want to keep reading! However, this didn't spoil the book for me at all. Overall, this book is quality and you should go out and buy it!

Echo McCool - "Enchanting" - Sammi Williams Review

I picked up this book after seeing some recommendations that fans of Stig of the Dump would enjoy it. So, being the Stig fanatic that I am, I decided to give it a try. Echo McCool (a twelve-year-old half dryad girl from the 13th Century) gets chased through a forest and shot by a poisoned arrow. But she has a magical card to play, she hides inside a hollow tree that, in time, will cure her of the poison. But the spell lasts a lot longer than she thought and she finds herself in the 21st century, when she is awakened by a boy called Jason Fleeting. Then the story becomes an enchanting tale of a unique friendship. Although Echo and Jason have had very different lives they learn a lot from each other. They have many adventures, some funny and some exciting. I would recommend this book to readers of all ages.

Echo McCool - "Excellent Adventure" - Rich Evo Review

I don't usually write reviews but the setting for Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time is inspired by the area where I live so I decided to go ahead and give it a read. The author starts out in Medieval times when the half-dryad girl Echo McCool escapes death from a poison arrow and hides inside a magical hollow oak tree. Then there is a clever time twist when Echo awakes in the present day and teams up with Jason Fleeting, a boy with plenty of problems that Echo helps him to solve. The story builds up to a spectacular and heart-stopping climax. I don't want to give away the ending but this book will have you glued to the pages and will keep you thinking about it long after you've finished.

Echo McCool - "My 11-year-old niece absolutely loved it!"

I purchased this book for my 11 year old niece, and she absolutely loved it! It was one of her books that she wouldn't stop talking about. The other day I was sorting through my kindle library and started reading this book on a whim and I actually ended up reading the entire thing myself.

It's a great read for kids, with lots of action and very descriptive writing. And if you happen to be an adult who appreciates a well-written story, then I'd recommend it to you also. 5 stars!

Echo McCool - "Wonderful Book" - Ima Kindler Review

To me "Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time" by Roger K. Driscoll, while listed as a YA, has equal appeal to both the YA and adult reader.

Echo McCool is a half-blooded dryad. At the beginning of the book, she is shot by a poisoned arrow and, to escape the villian and survive, she jumps into an old, large, hollow oak. Too tall for her to get out, she enters the big sleep--better labeled the long sleep.

Enter 12-year-old Jason Fleeting who is dying in a hospital. He meets Echo's mother, a guardian of the gateway. She tells him she can heal Jason if he will rescue Echo from her tree before some loggers saw her in half. Jason works his own bargain, he wants to find his sister--who was kidnapped by their mother's killer.

Bargain stuck, Jason runs away from a children's home. Together, he and Echo set out to solve the murder of Jason's mother, rescue his kidnapped sister Lauren, and restore an inheritance to a new friend.

This is a fast read and I look forward to Echo's, Jason's, and Lauren's next adventure.

Echo McCool - Andy McMiles Review

I bought Echo McCool Outlaw Through Time for my eleven-year-old daughter. We read it together and we both loved it. This is a fun book for any age and it can appeal to both boys and girls. That is pretty powerful in my opinion. It is a real growth experience for the young reader and it helps with growing up, and learning about the great adventure that is life. Thank you so much to the author Roger Driscoll for the hard work and beautiful imagination.

Echo McCool - "A Novel to Rival the Rest" - Doug, Brooklyn Review

I think that the world will be hearing a lot more of Echo McCool. I thought her character was so well created and the blend of being a wielder of magic, with the self-abilities of a fighter was excellent. The fact that she is not just another human, but of dryad blood adds the icing on the cake for me. So many authors re-use fantasy characters that have been written a thousand times before (not that this is always a bad thing), but I loved the fact that this was something new and created fresh in the authors imaginative mind. I like the pace, which keeps moving forward, never hitting dull "dead zones" where you end up skimming through half of the book.

Soooooo, in a nutshell this book rocks!! = )