TSR: In Ur Accounts, Deletin Ur Stuffs!

[Delphy]

Delphy my issue would still be that they had an internal security breach several times- and A. Left peoples private information on the server unencrypted and unsecured and B. That they did not inform anyone except a handful of FA's -- When Mod the Sims was hacked you essentially warned everyone - creator and non-creator alike to make sure we were not using the same passwords at both sites and to be careful- TSR did none of this  and it is a clear message that they don't have the best interests of the community at heart- only their bottom line and saving their own asses.-

I totally agree that things Could Have Been Done Better.  Thats really not my call though - thats how they want to run thier own business.  It *is* worrying they have plaintext passwords, but they are going to be changing that soon anyway, so maybe it wont be an issue for long.

I guess we shall see how things go from here.

[neriana]

I don't think I explained well. What I was trying to point out was that this is an example of the other shoe dropping on the new EULA. While it clearly supports file-sharing, it now completely negates the whole "respect the creator" or protect the creator's assets. That the new EULA specifically makes this kind of thing okay but no one seems to have noticed.

And no I don't think that is a good thing.

I do. I'm thrilled about it.

In gaming communities, one is expected to give credit where it is due to the makers of mods. This is simple politeness, and anyone who doesn't do it when it's not hard to do is being rude. But the expectation of "respecting the 'creator'" is actually "give a tongue bath to the 'creator' and worship them" in this community. And it's stupid. You end up with modders who all have different terms of use (for things they don't own) which you're supposed to follow or be screeched at as some kind of heretic, when all you want to do is build a house and put some pretty stuff in it.

Someone makes a mod, puts it on the internet, hey thanks for sharing! It's awesome, can you help me learn how to do it? But now the creator expects people to "respect" it and "respect" their wishes as to what they want done with it? They don't own it. Why did they make it? If it was just for the adulation, well, maybe they should find a different hobby. If it's for money, then they can go cry to mommy.

[Bloody Vane]

I agree with that part of it. I just meant I don't like that someone can do what Shakeshaft did to Buggy and not have to say it was her mesh anymore. That is all she had to do, but the new EULA seems to say it was okay for Shakeshaft to do what she did, and so no I don't think that is a good thing. But you have to take the good with the bad I suppose.

[Scurvy Cat]

I play Oblivion and Morrowind and the entire attitude towards file sharing is different there.  If you do a mod and put it up anywhere someone is likely to put it up somewhere else.  Since there's not a lot of egoboo involved I've never seen someone put a file by someone at Planet Elderscrolls that they got from TES Nexus and claimed it as their own.  Mostly they say, "I thought this belonged here, or I repackaged this as an Omod file."  There's no bitching, no stealing and no damn paysites.  We won't even go into the one prominent Sims 2 paysite owner who also makes stuff for Oblivion but doesn't have the stupids enough to try to sell it there.  He'd be laughed at and he knows it.

That's what I'd like to see for Sims 3.  That way not only would we not have to go through shit like the TSR stuff, but when a modder disappears or takes down a site it'd be much less likely that the stuff disappears.  I think that's what EA's EULA is trying to do.  This, however, is EA and they'll probably get it wrong.

[scrappysim]

I thought he did try to sell them once and did get told off and stopped.  I am not a part of that community but I thought I had read that somewhere.

[CatOfWar]

If Delphy and other free site owners have evidence that TSR FA and staff accounts were compromised, I'll believe them.  As has been pointed out many times before, this does not explain how someone got Buggybooz's password, nor what anyone who's not TSR would have gained by breaking into her MTS2 account.  I don't think TSR is off the hook.

Shakeshaft is a thieving thief who steals

[Darqstar]

The problem with any fan community where people can and will make their own stuff is that there is always a chance of plagiarism.  The fan fiction community has known and talked about it for years, there are people who take someone elses story and claim it as their own.  Legally, there isn't much that can be done, because the author can't really hold a copyright on a story that contains characters who are already copyrighted.  

However, in all fandom communities I've ever belonged to, those who do steal are considered the lowest of the low.  If discovered, they are often treated like lepers.  (No insult to lepers)  Yes, they may have their friends who will stick up for them, but the majority of the fandom, presented with proof, will refuse to deal with them, will find every oportunity to tell this person what a scumbag they are.   In other words, fandom communities police themselves.

This is no different, except for some reason, the original copyright holders (EA) seems to like the idea of TSR making money off their products. In most circles, this is pretty much unheard of, at least on as large a scale.  In the old days of printed fanzines, it wasn't uncommon for someone to make a few dollars, but most of the time you broke even or lost money and were glad, so no one cared.  

But, no matter what EA says, if they decide to exercise their rights as copyright holders, if they basically say, "If it goes into our game, it's ours," that means no one can take legal action against anyone who "steals" another person's creations.  This is why they'll never do dildly squat about the exchange. Because techically, whether TSR likes it or not, EA has the right to distribute any and all fan content on their site. This, I'm sure, is why TSR never says anything about the exchange, which, let's face it, is the original booty.  

This also means though, that I could start a website and put up Windkeeper's windows, and Buggyboots kitchen and say, "Hai! All this iz myne!" and really Windkeeper and Buggy can't do much about it.  However, the community as a whole can and should make it known that I am a thief.  I should be broadcast on every legitimate site.  I should be blacklisted as a thief.

Most fandom communities take care of themselves.   So, while there might be no legal recourse for Buggy, there certainly can be punishment for Shakeshaft, and that is to make sure anyone in the fandom who doesn't know what happened, will know.  

Sadly, we can't make TSR punish them. Because frankly, I don't think TSR gives a rats ass what is stolen.  If people want to steal all the free stuff they can find and slap their name on it, and let TSR sell it, why should TSR care?

It's up to us to make sure people know.  It's up to us to question why TSR isn't punishing Shakeshaft, and it's up to us to make sure this is not forgotten, that what was done to Buggy is not swept under the rug.  

[ekimsal]

In lighter news DOT went on another screeching rant about fake screenshots today...

Also noticed that there have been the TSR threads popping up on the BBS again, and they have a chance of surviving over night because I think the Maxoids just clock out at a certain time. The one that i was in (which had alot of agreement and was very polite until Thoma$$'s trolls started trying to flame and start a fight) lasted up on the boards until about noon EST

[Skoria_Bay]

I second what Darqstar said about the fanfiction community when things were published. Mostly the writers charged just enough to cover costs not make a profit (costs were photocopying/printing, binding, and mailing if it was a group subscription).

I do agree though that we should make people aware of Shakeshaft's rude behavior and theft.

[NemesisAegle]

When johan asked for proof besides coconut's word, how come no one linked him to this: http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/?p=273

From Blackgarden's own mouth in a private forum.  Johan, are you going to tell me that coconut somehow made up this screen shot and the response from the very disturbed mod?  Are you going to say that coconut is SUCH a good writer, she can make up two different posts with two different posting styles, voices, word usage, sentence structure etc?

I know he will ignore it or proclaim it fake, but I had to at least throw that out there.

[Darqstar]

In lighter news DOT went on another screeching rant about fake screenshots today...

Also noticed that there have been the TSR threads popping up on the BBS again, and they have a chance of surviving over night because I think the Maxoids just clock out at a certain time. The one that i was in (which had alot of agreement and was very polite until Thoma$$'s trolls started trying to flame and start a fight) lasted up on the boards until about noon EST

Isn't this the exact same thing she was ranting about the other day?  Right down to the picture she used?

[SnarkyShark]

Either her craziness is coming full circle or she so impressed herself with herself the first time she decided to do it again.

[ekimsal]

I just like that if you look at her guestbook someone told her to stop making lamps

[uknortherner]

When johan asked for proof besides coconut's word, how come no one linked him to this: http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/?p=273

From Blackgarden's own mouth in a private forum.  Johan, are you going to tell me that coconut somehow made up this screen shot and the response from the very disturbed mod?  Are you going to say that coconut is SUCH a good writer, she can make up two different posts with two different posting styles, voices, word usage, sentence structure etc?

I know he will ignore it or proclaim it fake, but I had to at least throw that out there.

And not just any old private forum, but TSR's very own private forum! Actually, is that the FA forum or a different one?

However, Johan would probably do a DOT and spout some gobbledegook about odd-looking pixels and displaying a shocking lack of knowledge of image compression formats.  

[Paden]

DOT does seem easily impressed, just look at her dog-like devotion to TSR...