Legitimate eBook Lending Community Closed After Copyright Complaints

Ian Lamont writes "LendInk, a community for people interesting in using the lending features of the Kindle and Nook, has been shut down after some authors mistakenly thought the site was hosting pirated ebooks. The site brought together people who wanted to loan or borrow specific titles that are eligible for lending, and then sent them to Amazon or BarnesAndNoble.com to make the loans. Authors and publishers who were unaware of this feature of the Kindle and Nook, and/or mistakenly assumed the site was handing out pirated copies, were infuriated. LendInk's hosting company received hundreds of complaints and shut the site down. LendInk's owner says: 'The hosting company has offered to reinstate Lendink.com on the condition that I personally respond to all of the complaints individually. I have to say, I really do not know if it is worth the effort at this point. I have read the comments many of these people have posted and I don't think any form of communication will resolve the issues in their eyes. Most are only interested in getting money from me and others are only in it for the kill. They have no intentions of talking to me or working this out. So much for trying to start a business and live the American Dream.'"

Can't he sue?

[rebelwarlock]

Surely this falls under harassment, or something equally court-worthy. The American dream isn't to start your own business, it's to sue some rich asshole and get showered with money.

Fully Automated Solution

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

for Complainer in Complainers:
          print("Dear " + Complainer + ", \n");
          print("No.");

Re:Paradigm Shift Backlash

[msauve]

"This was just the equivalent of a book club"

The first rule of book club is: You do not talk about book club.
The second rule of book club is: YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT BOOK CLUB...

Re:Paradigm Shift Backlash

[Baloroth]

"This was just the equivalent of a book club"

The first rule of book club is: You do not talk about book club.
The second rule of book club is: YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT BOOK CLUB...

It'd be a little ironic if you couldn't write about it, though.

Re:Can't he sue?

[Br00se]

She's a Christian. No surprise there; those types are always quick to judge...

So by that definition, I guess you are a Christian too.

Re:Paradigm Shift Backlash

[TubeSteak]

The third rule of book club is: You bring bagels and coffee when it's your turn

Re:Publish and they'll perish

[canajin56]

People are currently scraping forums looking for authors complaining about the site and bragging about getting it taken down. Their works are being compiled into a single torrent for easy piracy ;) The idea is to get all of these beyond-retarded inbreeds tilling at TPB so that they won't bother burning down any more libraries.

Re:Crowdsource

[mwvdlee]

I suggest hosting the site at Amazon Web Services.
Surely the irony of them shutting down this website would have imploded the universe.

Re:Authors still attacking their Facebook page

[Anonymous Coward]

I smell a torrent of 1-star reviews coming to Amazon...