Securing a pdf file. IT gurus please help.

terra · Post by **terra** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 7:39 am

Gday all,
This is a (possibly slightly weird) request for help in securing a pdf file or similar.

Short story.
I have a powerpoint presentation (my hard earned IP) that a blind person wants a copy of so his computer can read it to him. It may fall into other hands who seem to want to steal my IP.
How can I lock it down?
Serious request for IT knowledges. Thanks for helpful replies.

Long story....
Gave a health presentation to a BIG corp company today (they are an IT company, think BIG... No, think BIGGER). They really loved my stuff and hoping for more work - This is not a brag but it could be a much needed big break for me (plus, my presentation was bloody good IMO)
.
However, there are others involved who seem they may want to plagiarise my material, to "cut out the middle man" or rather, to not pay me for future work. These aren't people from the IT company, but an agency who deals in this stuff. They are very money grasping, and to be honest not very good at what they are doing.

They made lots of casual requests for the files I presented with wishy-washy reasons, when I baulked they seemed a bit like kids trying to get away with something 'naughty'... They wanted to video my presentation, but when I asked why, they could give no good reason etc etc - so I said no. Again, they just acted real sneaky.

I've heard this stuff happens with IP, but i've never seen it. I'm not wanting to be suspicious, but things compounded and it all smelled a bit... At the end I walked over to get my USB memory out of the presentation laptop, as one of the agency women was in my file about to do what looked like a save as, she jumped back as I walked up. I 'casually' pulled the usb out of the laptop before she finished what she what ever she was doing... I could be off course with this, but it just smelled.

Anyhow, there was a blind guy, a bit hard of hearing too, in the audience. He was really trying to be involved in the presentation, it struck a chord with him for various reasons. He asked for a copy of the presentation so he could have his computer read it to him as he missed a lot of it... He was legit, from the IT company - and a good guy. I'm happy to give him a copy.

Although I will try, I may not be able to send it direct to him, it might have to go via some 'other' hands. How do I lock down a pdf or similar copy, to at least make it an effort for someone to copy.

Thanks for any helpful replies.

Testiclaw · Post by **Testiclaw** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 10:18 am

Added new material to dropbox.

Shafpocalypse Now · Post by **Shafpocalypse Now** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:43 pm

1. Limit access, which you are trying to do.
2. Watermark your PDF.
3. Copyright it.
4. Password the file

There really isn't much you can do if someone decides to steal your stuff. And not a lot you can do about it. There is a very big example with a S&C coach named Ian King from Australia having had basically 100s of pages plagiarized by a very well know fitness guy in the US, and he's documented this and he may be suing, but nobody really cares that such a huge Ip theft took place

T200 · Post by **T200** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:46 pm

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:1. Limit access, which you are trying to do.
2. Watermark your PDF.
3. Copyright it.
4. Password the file

There really isn't much you can do if someone decides to steal your stuff. And not a lot you can do about it. There is a very big example with a S&C coach named Ian King from Australia having had basically 100s of pages plagiarized by a very well know fitness guy in the US, and he's documented this and he may be suing, but nobody really cares that such a huge Ip theft took place

Who is Ian King alleging ripped him off? I used to enjoy King years ago but haven't heard his name in a while. Henkin had one of his certs.

Shafpocalypse Now · Post by **Shafpocalypse Now** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:49 pm

Cosgrove. King has these completely crazy videos on youtube demonstrating this...King was super pissed.

Shafpocalypse Now · Post by **Shafpocalypse Now** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:50 pm

http://www.kingsports.net/Integrity/org ... iarism.pdf

nafod · Post by **nafod** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 3:09 pm

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:http://www.kingsports.net/Integrity/org ... iarism.pdf

Wow. Cosgrove is a dick.

The dangerous place to be is someone with a really great idea but not yet a broad audience. Ripe for the picking.

Maybe do your presentation as a youtube video with a voiceover, so it is out and copyrighted and sets your marker down in the public square.

TomFurman · Post by **TomFurman** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 3:10 pm

Cosgrove did the same to Lyle,..almost word for word. Unbelievable.

T200 · Post by **T200** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 3:11 pm

I believe King. Cosgrove and 99% of all NSCA/Perform Better presenters don't have shit to say of any merit to anyone who isn't a total noob.

That said I LOL at thinking the NSCA gives a fuck about his stupid complaint (did King generate an original thought initially? I'm not sure that I think he did either). I would guess King has not interacted with them much.

Grandpa's Spells · Post by **Grandpa's Spells** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 4:06 pm

Terra, I have experience in this. Was this a presentation you were paid for, or were using to generate business? Why was the other agency present?

tonkadtx · Post by **tonkadtx** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 4:09 pm

Locking down a PDF will not prevent people from taking screen caps. Watermark and Copyright are good steps. Make a dated video saying you know someone is trying to steal your stuff (this is only for later trolling purposes). The only truly safe thing would be to create an audio file (since the guy is blind) of someone giving or reading the presentation (without visuals).

syaigh · Post by **syaigh** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 4:41 pm

Timely question. I've noticed that its relatively easy to copy text from a PDF as well. Is there any way to prevent copying other than screen shots?

tonkadtx · Post by **tonkadtx** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 5:54 pm

Digital Imaging and Publishing is not really my area, but I did a little poking around. The general concesus is, "if they want to steal your shit, they can". All you can do is make it harder for them.

https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads ... rk.831173/

ccrow · Post by **ccrow** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:52 pm

Could you lock up the file with really good encryption and have them forward it to the blind guy, with instructions to contact you for the password when he receives it?

If you have these concerns, of course first choice is to not do business with these types but sometimes you have to lie with dogs. Maybe go to a lawyer and get some boilerplate nondisclosure agreement and an acknowledgement that IP is yours. Not that you want it to come down to lawyers, but I think many people that will steal when it's in a gray area won't when you lay it out in black and white.

terra · Post by **terra** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:46 am

First up, thanks for some good info and all the replies.

Yep, I understand that anyone can steal anything. I guess my thinking is that, if they are wanting to pinch my stuff it is because they are too lazy to do it themselves and want quick/easy material to sell. Therefore if I make it a pain in the ass to copy, they might also be too lazy to bother reproducing it etc.

Anyhow i contacted the firm directly and left a message for the blind guy to contact me. I will mention my (general) IP concerns and ask the best way to send the info so he can benefit but also protect my stuff. He's an IT guru and a good guy so it shouldn't be a problem.

To answer the other questions...
They were present to see my talk with a view to me doing more work in the IT firm if it was well received. They paid for me to give a presentation but not for the contents of the presentation, they paid good money but originally stated that my IP is mine. For now I'm just gonna sit on it.

Overall the experience was positive as it showed that if these clowns can organise corporate wellness, I can do it better. It has motivated me and there is already interest from elsewhere.

Thanks again for help.

Grandpa's Spells · Post by **Grandpa's Spells** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 4:54 pm

terra wrote:Yep, I understand that anyone can steal anything. I guess my thinking is that, if they are wanting to pinch my stuff it is because they are too lazy to do it themselves and want quick/easy material to sell. Therefore if I make it a pain in the ass to copy, they might also be too lazy to bother reproducing it etc.

Most protection works pretty well against consumers. For a corporation it's a speed bump. They'll just screen-cap/audio record and pass it down the line for somebody to transcribe.

They were present to see my talk with a view to me doing more work in the IT firm if it was well received. They paid for me to give a presentation but not for the contents of the presentation, they paid good money but originally stated that my IP is mine. For now I'm just gonna sit on it.

If it were a free talk, I'd encourage letting them have it. If it's paid work, you can pretty easily say, "I get speakers fees to do this. If you want to talk about doing something together or licensing IP, that's great, but the deal here involved no recording or broadcasting." Including "no recording or broadcasting" in your future deals will make this super-easy to deal with.

Overall the experience was positive as it showed that if these clowns can organise corporate wellness, I can do it better.

Some article just came out showing how most corporate wellness programs yield zero benefit. If yours does, that's a useful part to include in your pitch. Track results.

TerryB · Post by **TerryB** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:12 pm

Can't you record yourself reading the presentation, then charge the blind guy a few hundred bucks for the audiobook version?

Win, win.

Protobuilder · Post by **Protobuilder** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:13 am

The blind guy is an obvious plant to get your IP. "Let Danny pretend he's blind and ask for it directly. Nobody's going to say 'no' to a blind guy".

You should say no and anticipate having a gay Native American in a wheelchair contact you shortly.

tonkadtx · Post by **tonkadtx** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 11:10 pm

I forgot one final suggestion. Winzip 256 AES Encryption is very secure. It meets minimum level DOD standards. You could Zip up the document, create a secure password (or better yet pass phrase), put the presentation on a flash drive and send it to the person. If you want to go to the trouble, you can double protect it by using Acrobat's protection features as well. Then physically mail or pass the flash drive to the person and give him the password over the phone.

If they do not have WinZip, the can use 7 zip for free.

http://www.7-zip.org/

IGX

Securing a pdf file. IT gurus please help.

Securing a pdf file. IT gurus please help.

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