How about a cool $500 for ya?
So, I knew my app would eventually end up on pirate sites, which there isn’t too much I can do. What I don’t like is that I actually spent some time helping a guy that eventually pirated my app (and host it on his repo). So, I’m asking for your help. Anyone that can contribute a valid name, address, or anything needed to prosecute, you’ll get $500. He goes by @KraKsX, his email is kraksx@gmail.com, and his domain is i4iphones.info. So according to Twitter, his geo-coordinates are in north New York. Of course, I’ll get with my local police department (TPD) which I’m sure can get the info via warrants or whatnot, but I’d like to see what you uber elite people can find out. Information on the whois is private, so any information there will be for whoever the proxy registrar is.
Please EMAIL me the information at sean AT mydomain
Update: Mystery solved. Thanks net detectives!
Update 2: I’m giving this guy a break. Not that I didn’t have anything on him, but I figured that since I’ve had many breaks and second chances in life, I’d give him one.
My http://www.appnotifications.com application had 99.3% hacker the first day it appeared on hacker website, over hundreds of users. The worth is my app requires server, therefor cost money for me to run (and time to make sure the server runs smoothly).
I also had people asking me why the app was not working, when they were using a hacked version (I’m tracing this).
What a world…
I think you should be the bigger man here and just let it go. 1) It doesn’t look good for you to go down into the muck just to fight one guy. Look at how people revile the RIAA even though they’re well within their rights. 2) I’m sure there are plenty of people that pirated your app and later paid for it (like me.)
Ya I’ll never buy anything from this tool
@JMR
@JMR
Comparing a lone app developer to the RIAA is not exactly a fair comparison. Sean is a lone app developer who’s income feeds his family, not a huge corporate entity. Since Sean spent time helping the guy out, it’s also a breach of trust which I would take personally.
Also, I would imagine that the number of people who pirate an app and later pay for it is extremely low.
Wish you the best of luck on catching the scumbag Sean. I do not have the skills to track this guy down, but if I did it would be on the house.
@JMR Being the bigger man doesn’t pay the bills. Sorry.
@Ed Thanks. Why not just leave? Miami needs you.
For what it is worth, all signs point to this guy: http://www.facebook.com/dkrakie
But I want to thank Sean for his hard work and great app. I was lucky enough to be a beta tester, but as soon as my Paypal gets sorted out I’m gladly throwing two bucks your way. It is worth much more.
@sean
I really doubt you’re going to recoup the cost of litigation…
For Sean to go out of the way to talk to the guy about issues he was having with the App, and then for him to not only pirate it but also host it for distribution is pretty low. Besides KraKsX is a registered sex offender so I don’t fill the least bit sorry for him if he gets in legal troubles.
I hope Sean cleans this guys clock. GV+ rocks. Is it not possible to put in a kill switch for programs that are purchased?
I just wanted to post to say thank you sean, love the app. I have a small writeup going up on my blog tomorrow and I was checking your site for information for it when I came across this post. I wanted to voice my support for you on this and encourage you to pursue it. As a photographer I have had to deal with breach of copyright issues throughout my career and I feel your pain. Thanks again for your hard work!
if you go to the doctor and you dont like his advice you still going to pay for it. But you had the choice to not go. Take the guy down with what ever means. People here can say let it go, but it isnt their table that food is being taken from.
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1812823&page=5
sean see post 75…..
Sean, I was going to mail this to you, but just so you other guys understand, this ‘John Nguyen’ is a professional grifter / shyster. There’s no ‘bigger man’ argument here, the guy is a criminal pure and simple:
His dom email used: unsecretarygeneral@gmail.com
A google search of THAT email yields a long trail of bum domains and Western Union fraud like:
http://forums.crackberry.com/f146/possible-365878/index5.html
It’s what I wrote about in my blog to Saurik and others. If you whack jailbreaking on Windows you whack MOST of the piracy against developers on the iPhone:
http://mindtaker.blogspot.com/2010/01/dear-saurik-and-iphone-devteam-stop.html
Mac Jailbreakers are MOSTLY hackers in it for the tech. Win Jailbreakers are MOSTLY endusers in it for the free crap & piracy, just like Windows. They are, by volume, mostly thieves.
The truth hurts, but this is what needs to be done to put these non-technical shysters OUT OF BUSINESS.
-Drunken Economist
http://mindtaker.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/drunk_economist
Thanks gang.
Happy to hear it’s solved
Sean, saw the the little twitter exchange between you and ub3rk1tten about integration with VoiceGrowl for push updates.. This would be fantastic!
I’m with you Sean, get him and hit hard. These whiners and thieves who complain about buying and paying for apps always expecting something for free. Bunch of spoiled punks.
AWESOME JOB ON THE NEW UPDATE… KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK….
So you need an address and other info i will be glad to help Arteyzips@yahoo.com
dont give him a break, make him pay for his crimes
Sean, while there seem to be a number of folks out there who will screw you out of your work for the price of a cup of coffee, there also seem to be a number of faithful happy users who not only appreciate your work but want to see these aforementioned shysters PAY.
I guess what I’m asking is, where is the PayPal button? Oh. Nevermind, I gave before to your email address via PayPal. I’m more than happy to do so again.
I bought your App Store version. Used the free version on Cydia. Bought the GV+ version yesterday on Cydia Store. Just can’t see stiffing a developer who stands behind his apps out of $1.99.
Bought it yesterday. The best $2 dollars spent. Thanks Sean for this great application.
Thanks gang.
I’m very much with Sean on this. If I didn’t have a product that couldn’t be hacked, users would be stealing it by the thousands. We aren’t rich, we are iPhone developers/hackers just trying to get by.
I personally know an attorney who has tons of apps on his iPhone and he refuses to pay for even one. It makes me so disgusted with people. He gets $200/hr for his time, but expects everyone else to work for free just because he can download a “copy” of the app on his device. The people who have money seem to be the ones who do the most pirating sometimes.
I also helped a customer of mine a week ago and I needed a list of apps on his phone and 95% of them were cracked. There was only one other purchased app on his phone besides mine. That really made me angry and I don’t even want to help him considering how many other devs he ripped off. I know this person is not poor and this person is quite well off actually.
FYI, I am totally against the RIAA and all methods of punishment through the court system. Beejive has the right idea where they lifetime ban you if you are caught pirating their app. That is fully within their rights as a developer in my opinion. So far I only have one user that I have banned.
Users should stand with us developers on this because pirating hurts everyone!
not to upset everyone, but I like the idea of demoing with a pirate copy, some paid programs are crap to what they claim (multiflow). I buy apps I keep to encourage ongoing support and updates. After using Gv mobile v1 for free, and being interested in its ongoing support, I figure its in my best interest to buy the latest, and support its development. Frankly, I didn’t want to wait 24 hours to get the hacked copy. Hopefully other people will consider the payments they make to devs as supporting good products. If you use a hacked copy regularly, for $2 you should feel pretty guilty about not supporting developers like sean. Remember, to date, there is absolutely ZERO alternatives for this type of app.
Sean- Why not give out registration numbers? Or does nothing stop it being hacked?
@qwertypo I don’t mind demoing it…but most people demo it…forever.
I guess that means no $500 reward payout?
Good on ya, Sean.
When I put my phone id number up on twitter in the hope of getting to demo the beta this guy Krax or whatever his name is was the guy who told me that I shouldn’t do that. So he helped me. Good that you’ve given him a break!