Hi guys

I'm doing my best to spread the word that this site AO3.life has scraped lots of fics from AO3 and is selling them for profit.

I removed the site link for ao3.life as it's gone now!

I have found at least 5 of mine there and so have my friends.

What can we do to stop them, I don't know? They say we can request our fics to be taken down but I think that would compromise our anonymity.

Update: I found this where someone reported the site and got a reply, so hopefully it is helpful: https://www.threads.com/@k.kinley24/post/DfPo6h2Gqsh/media?xmt=AQG0CjOMyS8v8V0npLV2WEm5QcRdhQLLdD22v4z8BXF-ECKorQjw1UbF_h4GqArnC9oB2IA

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[–] [S] 3 points 4 days ago (1 child)

Ah thanks, how did you find that out? I've told AO3 and I'll tell those others. No idea how to file subpoenas etc.

I'm hoping everyone involved will send emails and it won't just be me. Spread the word, share it on Tumblr, wherever!

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  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago

    To find out that information I raised a general WHOIS query about ao3.life (via any sanctioned online WHOIS tool). The response which I posted to r/ao3 was quite trimmed down but contained the nameservers, which point to Starship. That plus a general search on DDG to learn who administers *.life took me to EuroDNS's page.

    From there it was just carefully checking the corporate webpages for their forms on abuse report / copyright violation report.

    That said, AO3 Legal team notified they are already aware of the issue. But they are volunteers currently being run over by the downtime and security attack, so I'd guess we should do our part to help by, say, mass-reporting the site. Any legal report can be of help, such as a DMCA takedown (if you fulfill the requirements to raise one), a trademark violation report, an abuse report, a C&D, etc.

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