Protected Manga :rejected:

[phede96]

manga protected with a password, against aggregators.

 

[sterven]

Hard no from me

 

[BzzBzz]

And how would you distribute password? Something like comment or special field in manga description? Do you understand that scraping extra page requires minimal change in bot's code?

 

[phede86]

password distribution is at the discretion of the scanlator, and it would be optional, mangadex is a nice site but has few options for the scanlator.

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

I don't want to copypaste a password for every manga I read.

 

[phede86]

don't read it, there are sites that make money on the scans I put here, and I can't do anything about it.

 

[sterven]

@phede86

password distribution is at the discretion of the scanlator, and it would be optional, mangadex is a nice site but has few options for the scanlator.

So does that mean we have to contact the scanlator personally to get the password?

How will we be granted the password through email, discord, the series page on MD, or through a thread on MD?

Will the password be per series or per chapter?

How often will the passwords be changed?

Will we receive the new password outright or do we have to contact the scanlator again?

The more I think of it the more questions pop up and the bigger headache it seems.

 

[phede86]

it is a problem concerning the scanlators, nothing changes for readers. or you need to create an image protection system

 

[Pika]

I'd like not to have my inbox spammed with "What's the password?" or spam someone with "What's the pass for x series chapter y?"

 

[reu]

@phede96 That's already a thing
Haven't you heard of patreon only posts? Making them officially part of MD would probably destroy the site

 

[phede86]

I, on the other hand, don't like that others earn on things I do

 

[phede86]

@reu because one thinks like a reader, not a scanlator. I'm not in bad faith.

 

[blackyawgdom]

Theres absolutly nothing that will stop aggregators. Also "I dont like that others earn on things I do".... Welcome to the year 300,000 bc. People have been exploiting other peoples work since humans existed.

 

[phede86]

it is not a justification, the site should also support the scanlators, giving more possibilities and protection.

 

[sterven]

@phede86
You say that it won't affect the reader? Then can you please explain how you'd implement the password protection system on a series without it affecting the readers at all,
because I am curious to see if your plan can achieve such results. Hell if you can honestly propose an idea that would achieve these goals I would be behind you 100%.

 

[reu]

@phede86 not saying you are, einstein also didn't think his tech would be used to erase cities, that's why if you don't want to get cut you have to carefully think about both edges

 

[phede86]

surely there are many sites that earn with patreon, but there are also other sites that do not put manga above because there is no protection system, I would put the password to the group and optional.

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

My gosh this thread exploded faster than the trigger warning one, what's with the forums recently?

I'm against the idea.

1. Aggregators can simply hire some random dude for cheap to ask the password then download all images.
2. Manually filling in the passwords for every series is a pain. At least figure out a password manager system to autofill everything.
3. I like to download my chapters by directly downloading the links. If the password is the first thing that pops up when the link is opened, I will download the password screen and not the chapters.
4. The amount of coding this requires is probably not worth how easy it will be to counter the system.

 

[sterven]

@phede86

I would put the password to the group and optional.

On MD's group page? As stated above by BzzBzz that wouldn't solve the core of the issue.

And how would you distribute password? Something like comment or special field in manga description? Do you understand that scraping extra page requires minimal change in bot's code?

 

[MadeOfMagicAndWires]

While I'm not necessarily unsympathetic to your plight, I'm a bit worried about any implementation.

It'd be very difficult to create a way in which readers could easily read a chapter without aggregators getting to it as well.
[ul]
[li]You could restrict certain manga to registered users only, but that would simply require bots to make and use an account.[/li]
[li]You could require passwords, but that is retrieved automatically fairly easily too, as long as you post it in a place readers could easily find it[/li]
[li]If groups not just post their scans on mangadex but also choose to share them on their personal blogs/sites, as many do, aggregators would just retrieve chapters from there instead[/li]
[/ul]

It's the DRM issue. Every bit of friction you add is more easily overcome by tech-savy people and bots than users; the latter of which will at a certain point just turn to said aggregators because it's less of a hassle.
The best compromise would be CAPTCHAs but those aren't foolproof either, and people still hate them.

(Also: too many phede's here, are you related in any way or just very like-minded?)