Protecting membership content from being shared

[Tucky]

Ok so I have been asked to integrate a membership area into a clients wp site which will enable her to charge her clients for specific products/services. These will be recipes, videos and pdfs. She's worried that people might share these protected items with their friends and thus her losing out on sales.

Is there a way to prevent them being shared? Can you stop pdf's from being downloaded? Can you restrict membership access for their logins by IP? I'm guessing some people will want to login at work and at home so how does this work? Also some ISP's don't give static IP's.

Not done this before so any help would be appreciated.

 

[TacoCat]

It is really hard to protect digital property, especially if you are giving out PDF's and Videos. If the written content would be on the website and not downloadable, then you could restrict the right click, so her non-tech clients couldn't just copy and paste the content somewhere else.

But besides that I know that you can download pretty much all the content.

Even Udemy has really big problems with that, those who know how can download every premium course for free.

I think the main think your client should focus on is creating a community on the membership area, as that could be one of the main reasons why people pay.

If we take Udemy as an example again, I usually don't pay for courses, I put my pirate hat on and just take it, but before you guys start flaming me, if I find the course good and usefull I buy it afterwards. But the thing is, sometimes, especially for the programming courses, I sometimes need the instructors help, and I can get that only by buying the course. So basically I'm paying for the community and help not the material itself.

Hope this helps.

 

[eliquid]

She needs to get over it.

I've bought or had access to tons of paid area only stuff. You can't protect it easily at all. This is how everyone making shit tons of money only goes through with membership stuff where the goods can be downloaded.

Tell her to stop worrying about pennies when she could be making dollars. Her situation is not unique and its the cost of doing business.

 

[CCarter]

This is a tricky one to do, I personally don't think it's worth the time and effort, BUT you CAN prevent it by poisoning the water.

1. You are the source of piracy. You take the videos and edit all of them to they only play half way through with the content. So if it's an hour long video, you delete the last 30 mins, then edit in at the end 30 mins of content repeating stating "to get the full version, please visit our website at XYZ.com" - have that repeating over and over and over for the last 30 mins.

Then you torrent each video and upload them to as many torrent sites as possible, and seed them for as long as possible. The way to find the torrent sites that rank is by Googling the latest movies, films, and new albums out and getting a list of those. Find ones where audiobooks are prevalent as well by Googling famous audiobooks, example "The Art of War Audiobook Torrent."

So now you are the source of these fake torrents flooding the internet with content. Since your content is not a major movie, no one is going to bother trying to place a "nuke" label on it. And whenever people try to Google the content all your torrents are the ones that come up, which are halved anyways. (Note the reason I state to half and not do only 5 mins, then 55 mins, is to get the user hooked into the content. That way they will be more willing to pay for the complete version, instead of just saying fuck it after listening to 5 mins of it, cause after 30 mins they've already invested time in it.)

50 cents and Robert Greene did this technique with their book "50th Law", and I had a big-ass grin on my face when the last chapter was missing, so I had to go get the official one from iTunes. Now the thing is this technique was used by a local hip-hop artist in Miami named "Trick Daddy" at the beginning of the century.

It was 2000 and his new album was about to come out and piracy was still in it's infancy but getting whole albums was still doable through leaks. So what Trick Daddy did was put out every song but only 1-2 mins of it, and mashed up the playlist so it looked legit. So about 3-4 weeks before the album was to drop, leaked versions came out and they flooded the city.

Problem was this was the early days and Napster and the other software were just getting started, so there was like 1 source for music, and the way Trick Daddy did it, he had bootlegs selling these albums for $5 a piece, which was hilarious, in the streets. So when people went home to play thinking they got the new Trick Daddy album it would play for 1 min, then suddenly it would get cut off and then loudly state "Whoa Whoa Whoa Trick Daddy, Miami niggas don't play..." over and over for the next 3-5 mins or however long the song was suppose to go on for.

Anyways that was essentially poisoning the would be bootleg's water source, and when the album came out it was in demand and people actually bought it in stores cause only tainted versions were out there. There is a lot more to this story cause I'm recalling this from memory from 15 years ago when I was still living in the States.

So that's one avenue you can take.

2. Content upgrades, and exclusive updates. Example if you put out a video, state there is a bonus video in the members area, that's behind the paywall that will be available "X date" in the future. So if someone bootlegs the video, they will be missing out on the bonus stuff that's coming out. You can also time your releases, and keep adding new videos, tools, spreadsheets, PDFs, on a rotating schedule that are constant "upgrades" or "updates". That way even if they got a bootleg version, they look at your site and see there is a 2.0, but they got the 1.4 version, they'll want that.

As you keep adding new videos, PDFs, etc, and sending out fake torrents, poisoning the waters, the frustration will have people just get a membership and stay. If there is a 6 month schedule to release new content and that underlying message is conveyed throughout all videos, that means even if someone bootlegs something 2 years old, they'll see that message and realize there is more content for them to get to which they simple cannot have access to cause it's always fresh and the torrents are tainted or old.

3. Support. Like @TacoCat stated, people will stay for support. So if you input into the videos that you are available for live support to all paid members and if they have any questions to ask you, that will give people that bootlegged your content an incentive to become paid members.

--

The situation is if you have content that does not have added value AFTER it has been downloaded, then bootlegging it will be easy. If some guy in the mountains of the Himalayas can see the new Star Wars after waiting 30 mins to download it BEFORE it even hit theaters, there is no way to protect your stuff - unless you have added value AFTER the download which cannot be mimicked. It's also one of the main benefits of SAASes. It's almost impossible to pirate it since it's at a central location, and control can be easily locked down.

It's the MAIN reason Adobe's Photoshop and creative suite is now COMPLETELY cloud based and using a SAAS model of $5 or $15 a month after CS6, and they are making tons of money doing it, more so than with the physical CDs and stuff they used to do. Piracy is causing people to re-think their business model and adding value and going to the cloud is one of the new ways companies are moving towards. There could be a day where everything is subscription based, even new releases of movies instead of going to theaters like Netflix.

What I would do is try to figure out how to turn that membership into a SAAS situation where access to the content and maybe some specialized tools exclusively in the cloud format, and upgrades to the content on a scheduled basis is the way to go.

 

[Tucky]

Woah there Carter, epic reply! Nice one

Yeah we did discuss a subscription based model but she thought a more personalised approach would fit because not everyone would want all the things on there. So she thought they could just buy what they wanted. In reality this is just a small business not a large company so it's probably not going to be a problem but I told her I would find out. I think most of her clients will be moms anyway, so technical ways of accessing the content without paying will not be a problem.

Would be good if I knew how to stop pdfs being downloaded though, so her clients have to be logged in to view the items. That will have the added benefit of bringing them back to her site where they may buy more things.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Most everything's been said but I'd like to summarize how I think of this situation:

• Bootleggers wouldn't have purchased anyways
• The first one's always free in the digital age
• Can't control it, don't worry about it, you'll still make money

You can't focus on unrealized earnings, only realized cold hard cash money. It's not even actually a loss. I'd venture to say that less than 5% of people who bootleg would have bought, and if your stuff is good enough, that 50% of that 5% will probably feel guilty and come back and pay.

You're also almost always going to give something to potential customers for free as their first encounter with you, whether that's your paid product, a youtube series, an e-book lead magnet, etc. I'd create plenty of deterrent and quality elsewhere before launching a paid product, not only to gain attention of buyers but to go ahead and expose everyone to your stuff. The main reason for bootlegging things seems to be 1) the quality isn't there and not worth paying for but curiosity is still there (marketing too good for the product) and 2) They haven't been exposed to you enough to know whether or not you're worth paying for. So this is how they find out, because you haven't proven it on Youtube and with free e-books, etc.

Plus, what are you going to do? Not clearing a million dollars isn't a good enough reason to not make $900,000.

There's no need to build a treasure chamber with 18 guards, 2 gates, a castle, 4 towers with archers, a bridge over a moat filled with dragons, to protect one gold coin, especially when you can forget all the defenses, turn one gold coin into 100 by being offensive, and not give a damn that someone stole 5 of them. The reality is nothing is being stolen or lost, because bootleggers weren't going to buy anyways.

 

[emergentdragon]

One company that went the other way in an industry run over with pirates is stardock
www.stardock.com

The just did away with any copy protection, as it costs them too much to develop and is cracked basically the moment it is published.

Even with their titles like Demigod being pirated like crazy, they are not changing their stance.
Instead, they are focusing on delivering more value to their legit customers.

https://www.vg247.com/2010/08/24/st...ithout-any-drm-grants-free-updates-to-buyers/

 

[eliquid]

I agree with CCarter and it's funny because I was thinking about this yesterday and this morning as the snow falls on my property here in Kentucky. I got to thinking about all these webinars people have been pushing the last week and how I attended almost all of them to learn how they push stuff ( so I can use those techniques later ).

1. When I think of downloads and video guides, I think cookie cutter. Yeah I know people want to join your "thing" and learn how to make their first $1k online, but when it's delivered as a six-part video with PDF transcriptions and MP4's, I think to myself that this is some cookie cutter shit everyone should know if it's in a video that can be watched any time. If the info is contained in a video that anyone can watch at any time, or all stored in a PDF.. then it's repeatable and we all know success isn't repeatable for everyone.
2. With that said, what creates true value that can't be ripped off?
   How about community?
   How about a mastermind?
   How about coaching?
   How about mentoring or a mentor board?
   How about updates and newsletters to members ( bc you have their emails of legit ones )?

So when people think.. shit my PDF's gonna get jacked... well let it. You have 5 basic options above to still make money that can't be ripped off above.

 

[Terrestrial]

Honestly, this is something I am very interested in as well as it is dealing with my project and I am looking for ways to "jack" some of my competitors stuff to make my life easier. Of course I don't really want that done in return cause I don't play fair.

You all are probably Way more technical then I am. So please shoot holes through this so I can learn as well...

A couple ideas came to mind about your dilemma.

1). Maybe you should try tynt.com. Now, I've never used this, but I did revisit the site right before writing this. I have always had this one in the back of my mind since I read a popular IM blogger write about it. It apparently does more than I thought including placing ads on copy/paste content that is stolen from your site, but the initial article I read awhile back from said blogger used it for back links and to mark content as theirs and "hopefully" drive clicks back home.
*As a mention, I just googled tynt and if you scroll down there is an article on how to turn it off, but it seems like a pain in the butt to do.

2). I'm new here, but could watermarking your pdf's be a good option? It seems that people are gonna steal shit. It's given, but at least make sure that what you produce gives attribution so that you are first and might get recognition?
I'd also suggest you might want to spread it around to different sites by way of review or authority on the topic? Like give out a few copies of training to well known authorities in a given niche and juice them with a list share or guest post for giving feed back on "my bad ass course".
Just spitballin'. Saw another thread on here about watermarking and they seem to have that aspect covered.

3). The one I'm trying my bestest to figure out. If you are putting on a course, just use a time out function or a time/login check.
What I mean is, a lot of e-learning courses use a set of questions upfront.
What's you fav color?
Favorite band?
Do you have a dog or a cat?
Who is your daddy?

They use e-learning platforms which have these timers and triggers built in. Two hour course in PowerPoint on one of the e-learn platforms? Three questions. Twenty minute course? One question. You get to decide on frequency, but it stops the view until question gets answered. They use it to make sure you are the one taking the course. Annoying but effective.
Not as cool as Trick Daddy, but who is gonna try to sit through the entire thing to answer questions if they are doing this as a business?

Again, I've been looking into this stuff cause it affects what I'm trying to do. Please,please shoot holes through this if I'm flawed cause I'm always open to get schooled.

Hope it helps

 

[nhgjob]

The only thing I would add to this dialogue is that the site owner could have an intro letter to her subscribers explaining her business and that she would appreciate it if they did not freely share the content. She could offer her members a 50% discount for their friends or something like that. But the key is 1. Connect with your audience so that the customer won't share 2. Incentivize the member to offer their friends a good deal so that it keeps them from giving it them for free.