Do Trolls Talk to Each Other?

[The-Gobbler]

I'm pretty sure trolls read this message board, but I'm curious, do they talk to each other? Like, if you make the mistake of paying one, do the others somehow know about it and smell blood in the water and then come pecking?  I paid a troll (perhaps stupidly) and then all of a sudden two more popped up.  It makes me paranoid that they publish something somewhere that says "there's a sucker here".

That said, a more realistic theory is that this industry has just hit full force and they're all just trying extra hard to attack while they still can, while their legal loophole is still open.

Any thoughts?

[Greg Troy (KeepFighting)]

Were all the letters via Pic-Scout (605 Fifth Avenue South Seattle Wa)

[The-Gobbler]

Nah, as far as I know none of them were. 

[Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)]

they certainly do talk to each other, hell Poet Troll Linda Ellis had Getty Troll Timothy B McCormack file an amicus brief and also had him show up at oral argument in at the Georgia Supreme Court..both epic fails I might add..I doubt they communicate that they have found "suckers", but anything is possible with these douche bags.. I'm curious as to where you 3 letters came from and if picscout was involved on some level..my guess would be most likely. Tis is exactly why we also stress to vet every single image, after you get one letter..In most cases it's a bot/spider finding the images and not a real person.

[The-Gobbler]

Right... well they've all been direct from the company.  Masterfile & Pixsy in this case.  I don't want to mention the other one for fear they'll identify me but it was a one-off law firm.   Only one of them sent me a physical letter (the un-mentioned one) and none of them say anything about pic-scout, though who knows what tools they use. 

As an aside, running the Masterfile image on TinEye turns up dozens of sites that are using the image - most likely all infringements and all targets for Masterfile.   It's pretty obvious that Masterfile changed the pricing on that particular image once it got loose to be worth $1000s of dollars whereas dozens of similar images are still priced at a mere $65.  It would be hilarious if it weren't so evil.

[Matthew Chan]

The answer is absolutely "yes".  When it comes to the copyright extortion business, "competitors" do compare notes and they do discuss ELI.  It is all about maximizing their collections and using new tactics and strategies to extract more dollars from every victim.

ELI is very much the aggressive counter-punch to those people and we are hated for discussing very unorthodox, unconventional (but legal) ideas.

That is why there are certain things that DON'T get posted on ELI anymore. ELI is the common enemy/adversary.

In fact, because copyright extortionists read ELI extensively and track our posts, we have to withhold certain information and the only way to learn about certain things is through an ELI Support Call. I discuss things and share information (as appropriate) on an ELI Support Call that many of us know within ELI but don't publicly post here on the forums.

Traditionally, we prefer to be open and transparent but we have learned that ELI (and me in particular) have very real enemies. And given that the copyright extortionists are always watching ELI, there are a few of us who are forced to keep information close to the vest.

The copyright extortionist industry is a small business where most of the major players know each other.  We have heard from various channels that ELI is ultimately what brought many of them together.  It is the price paid for ELI being so effective in educating and informing so many people over the last 7 years.