I'm confused. Once some one buys the link do they get the real url? Could this person share this real url on Facebook?
I understand that with a traditional online store, a customer could upload the downloaded file as a torrent and share it on Facebook, however, the ease of sharing a link compared to creating a torrent is pretty large.
I guess the idea is to use this for content that you never really expected to make much money from, so if it is shared you are okay with that.
I almost feel like the service should have a pay what you want option. Some people may use the stolen free link if the only pay option is $10 but would be willing to pay $5 if it was an option.
I think Sahil addressed this elsewhere before, but my own assumption is that if someone is willing to hand over money for something they understand that creators deserve to be paid for their work and they won't then go ahead and distribute it at no cost. The latter shouldn't be a concern anyway, even if the link was unsharable someone could still download and re-upload elsewhere.
The technical solution I assume (which actually goes against what appears to be the idea of Gumroad -- simple for everyone) would be a Paypal IPN type system.
You can upload directly to Gumroad and that has no issue of unauthorised sharing, but if you use the pay wall for a link type then you do risk it.
They already offer that option (to upload directly to them) it's an option alongside using a link. Even if someone uses the upload link the problem of buying -> downloading -> uploading elsewhere exists, just like it exists on itunes and any other service, so really it's a none issue...
i'm assuming that the link either expires after a set period of time, or is set to become inactive after so many hits overall or within a defined period of time.
I understand that with a traditional online store, a customer could upload the downloaded file as a torrent and share it on Facebook, however, the ease of sharing a link compared to creating a torrent is pretty large.
I guess the idea is to use this for content that you never really expected to make much money from, so if it is shared you are okay with that.
I almost feel like the service should have a pay what you want option. Some people may use the stolen free link if the only pay option is $10 but would be willing to pay $5 if it was an option.