Does anyone have information on the fradulent app AIO Downloader?

[Wraithious]

So I was searching im my browser to see if my new game was searchable on the web, and came accross it, and all my other apps, on aio downloader, and they claim you can download all my apps for free, and also show that people have downloaded my paid apps as well, some of which have more downloads than i have records for in google play!!! What is that all about? How can i find out more and report/take action against them?? Have any of you had this problem?

I just want to say I put ALOT of time into my creations, 9 months on my first paid app and 6 months on my second paid app, even my free apps took months to build and things like this are killing my buisiness, I've made $6.99 in a year off ALL of my paid apps, it's hard enough to be seen on google play unless you are 'popular' or have friends that download rate and review your apps to get you going and your name out there, and these fradulent *explanitives here* can get your apps without even showing that they were downloaded and give them away for free, it's not acceptable!!!!!!!
look at this video i found on youtube of some addict sounding kid bragging aabout aio downloader this makes me sick!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Nocturne]

I've never heard of this before, but from what I see you can only get this app from "dangerous" sites... ie: every single link I saw was marked as untrustworthy or unknown by WOT and those few unknowns I visited sparked a malwarebytes alert. So, I'd say that obviously the app is not trustworthy either and so there may not be much you can do, just like there isn't much you can do about your app being hacked in China (for example). I would maybe speak to a lawyer (Jas Purwal is an excellent consultant and from what I understand very very reasonable with indies) and then take it from there, although I would email the devs if you can find where and request politely that they remove your app and that you aren't in agreement with it being supplied so that there is proof of your non-compliance.

 

[FrostyCat]

This is obviously the work of a profiteer who doesn't give a rat's butt about anyone's rights, no use for diplomacy. You are asking a fox to stop pawing at your henhouse. Just report AIO on Google Play to help de-legitimize it, then move on and focus on your paying customers.

 

[Nocturne]

Just report AIO on Google Play to help de-legitimize it

That would be fine if it was on Google Play? If you've found it please link, as I would certainly report it.... I couldn't find it at all on any of what I consider to be "legit" app stores and distributors, only on shady ones.

 

[Wraithious]

Thanks @Nocturne ill try the nice way first then if it comes down to it ill check out the lawyer option

 

[FrostyCat]

That would be fine if it was on Google Play? If you've found it please link, as I would certainly report it.... I couldn't find it at all on any of what I consider to be "legit" app stores and distributors, only on shady ones.

It looks like <REMOVED>. It says "file manager" on the lid, but the reviews suggest that the downloader is part of it. Also, same complaints about shady adverts.

Edit: Please delete the link for me once you are done with it. I don't want to give them lasting backlinks.

 

[NPT]

Issue DMCA takedown requests targeted at whoever is hosting your content.

DMCA was put in place precisely to handle what your experiencing.

 

[Shihaisha]

So I was searching im my browser to see if my new game was searchable on the web, and came accross it, and all my other apps, on aio downloader, and they claim you can download all my apps for free, and also show that people have downloaded my paid apps as well, some of which have more downloads than i have records for in google play!

I don't want to shock you yet more, but apart from that aio downloader thing, there are many other programs and hundreds of websites on the Internet offering for free to download almost all paid games from GP. Every successful paid app is pirated and redistributed literally within hours after release, and after that 99% of all installs of your paid app will come from pirate sites. If you are lucky, you'll get the remaining 1%, heh. That's why almost all indie devs gave up on releasing any paid apps on GP since long ago, and use ads for monetization instead.

Issue DMCA takedown requests targeted at whoever is hosting your content.

DMCA was put in place precisely to handle what your experiencing.

Konami, Square Enix, EA, and all other big names companies are completely helpless, and all their paid mobile games are hosted on a few hundred websites on the Internet right now. Do you seriously think a small indie dev can successfully fight all those countless websites that grow in numbers every day? Good luck with that. Realistically speaking, if somebody pirates your game directly on GP, or releases a hacking program on GP, you can complain, and it will be removed. As to everything else that happens outside of GP, there is nothing a developer can do about it.

 

[NPT]

I don't want to shock you yet more, but apart from that aio downloader thing, there are many other programs and hundreds of websites on the Internet offering for free to download almost all paid games from GP. Every successful paid app is pirated and redistributed literally within hours after release, and after that 99% of all installs of your paid app will come from pirate sites. If you are lucky, you'll get the remaining 1%, heh. That's why almost all indie devs gave up on releasing any paid apps on GP since long ago, and use ads for monetization instead.


Konami, Square Enix, EA, and all other big names companies are completely helpless, and all their paid mobile games are hosted on a few hundred websites on the Internet right now. Do you seriously think a small indie dev can successfully fight all those countless websites that grow in numbers every day? Good luck with that. Realistically speaking, if somebody pirates your game directly on GP, or releases a hacking program on GP, you can complain, and it will be removed. As to everything else that happens outside of GP, there is nothing a developer can do about it.

Would you mind pointing out in my post where exactly I said that issueing a DMCA takedown request would end all piracy?

If you want to mindlessly rant, go ahead. But next time try to keep it on target.

 

[Shihaisha]

Would you mind pointing out in my post where exactly I said that issueing a DMCA takedown request would end all piracy?

If you want to mindlessly rant, go ahead. But next time try to keep it on target.

Do you mind pointing out in my post where exactly I said about "ending all piracy"?
If you want to give to people useless suggestions out of touch with reality, go ahead. You apparently know a lot more about effectiveness of DMCA than Square Enix, who can't remove any of their paid FF releases stolen from Google Play and illegally hosted at hundreds apk sharing websites.

 

[NPT]

Do you mind pointing out in my post where exactly I said about "ending all piracy"?
If you want to give to people useless suggestions out of touch with reality, go ahead. You apparently know a lot more about effectiveness of DMCA than Square Enix, who can't remove any of their paid FF releases stolen from Google Play and illegally hosted at hundreds apk sharing websites.

You didn't say it, but your list of publishers and statement about them being helpless certainly suggests it.

And you're wrong about their inability to take down pirated programs. Issuing cease and desist and DMCA takedown is a regular occurance. That being said a lot of business recognise that piracy is a part of the business and therefore do not much dedicate time, money and resources towards it.

I don't claim to know more about DMCA than Square Enix, but I will claim to know a heck of a lot more than you.

A case in point, your advice was to complain to have it removed?

you can complain, and it will be removed

Well guess what the mechanism for complaint actually is?

DMCA.

For example lets say that somebodies program ends up on Softpedia. Here's what they suggest you do.
http://www.softpedia.com/user/terms.shtml

Individuals who believe they have identified a case of copyright of intellectual property infringement in materials available on Softpedia and wish to have that content removed may contact Softpedia by email at [email protected] and submit a request conforming to the DMCA guidelines.

You have contributed nothing to the conversation.

The advise I gave him is the ONLY practical advice that the OP can effectively utilize. It's free, and the only real option for somebody who's software has reaped $6.99.

 

[Wraithious]

Im going to go ahead with DMCA and see what happens, after reading the comments ive come to realize how bad piracy has become, and my download numbers seem to substanciate that MAYBE 1% of downloads are reflected to me, i dont know how these people get the apks off google play, im going to email (or call) google play because i know for a fact one of those apps has 1 download and that was from my daughter, and altho i suppose its possible its HIGHLY unlikly she would pirate it out lol



Hmmm well it seems pretty futile with these takedown sites, they want (average) 200 bucks per app for any decent amount of time to be protected, they have a $10 a month option but that only lasts a month, I hope google play can give me some insite as to how they got my apps off there in the first place and how i can prevent it in the future, and look into what @Shihaisha said about adds, but I never ever wanted to put adds in my games ever, it's the single #1 most annoying thing in every app I've ever downloaded that has adds, id does seem to make people buy the app tho, I have bought quite a few apps just to get rid of the annoying pestering adds, but I just never wanted to do it that way it seems just shady to me

 

[Llama_Code]

Those apps are dumped from Google Play, iTunes, and just about any other portal with games/apps. They are not downloaded from them, and there is not a lot you can do to prevent it.

Sadly, ads are the best way to protect your revenue stream. I can agree about not wanting to use them, but unfortunately you don't have much choice. iOS publishing is bit better because while people can still pirate you app they need a jailbroken device to use it and your average iPhone user won't do that. With Android you can just sideload pirated apps on a stock phone.

 

[Shadeaux Kasteur]

I used the apk file for this a while back myself. I thought it was a way to be able to use Google play on a non android device. After using it for a while, I started to realize that they dont make me pay for apps that would originally have to be purchased after trying to purchase one for the first time. Needless to say, I stopped using them and started using an apk called bluestacks.

 

[Shreyansh]

You can uninstall it by going to apps > configure apps > app links > AIO downloader > app info > uninstall

 

[Falconsoft-Industries]

What about luckypatcher? How do we prevent luckypatcher?

 

[Guest]

I'm surprised there isn't some reddit-style crowdsourced effort to get information about the creators, businesses, addresses, and banking for AIO and similar tools, which would allow the creators or their assets to be sued. I did a whois lookup on AIO and it seemed to, maybe, be based out of France, which isn't exactly a lawless state, but I'm not nearly technologically skilled enough to do more than that or even know if that really indicates a location out of France. If someone handed solid information to a decent lawyer, progress could be made, although it'd admittedly be like whack-a-mole. Even so, I imagine it'd be satisfying to ruin at least one megapirate.

 

[Wraithious]

Yea I definatly agree, it would be great to see them go down, I like your reddit idea that really might be able to put a dent in the leaches like aio!