NOTICE:
It has come to my attention that some of my work
may have been pirated by several people within this community. Furthermore, some of this work may have been sold and/or converted for other game platforms. The worst part of this is that I know who most of these people are and feel very betrayed by their actions. Funny how they call you friend while stabbing you in the back.
Several of them made the mistake to discuss this in the OpenSpy Server during the last evening and overnight hours. They were not there to play, but staking it out in the attempt to send players to GAMERANGER. What they did not know is at that same time, myself and a couple of testers were conducting software and code tests. We were not visible to them, but we could watch them. We have been monitoring the activity and system interactions all week, 24 hours a day. Everything has been recorded either by a live feed or screenshots.
To confirm what I say: If you log in and see 'Captain', that is our proxy dummy player used to collect the online activity data. I have been working on the STEAM BK MP Patch and conducting compatibility testing with other BK releases. 80% of all players who logged in tried to talk to Captain so far. Since Captain resides on a remote machine in UTAH (USA), he is not going to answer, unless I go online through the remote server. I usually don't. A couple of members here can attest that I tried to enlist them in this testing phase. And since NIVAL's own testers have also been involved, this kind of activity is damaging to this community.I understand their reason to sabotage the OpenSpy Server... but I ask this question: Is it a good idea to alienate yourselves from the Blitzkrieg Community with the NIVAL Support we have been receiving? What about future releases? What about the game future?
I have let the GAMERANGER discussion go uninterrupted... but since this conduct very much involves some of that service provider's members, we are starting our evidence and data collection on that site. When I say "we', I'm talking about individuals from several communities or expertises. I urge Scott to work from his side to check any new mods in use.
I will be checking out their claims, and if true, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for Intellectual Property Theft via the Internet. You guys know who you are and I suggest you start thinking about how you are going to adjust to being someone's plaything if your claims are in fact found to be true. You can perhaps make it easier for yourself if you just confess and tell me the other people involved and exactly what work has been compromised and where it has been used.
Most know that I have supported this game for many years. I don't have to list all of the stuff I have done. These guys know it too and were so proud of themselves that they had taken advantage of my efforts. One called OpenSpy the Major's bogus project. That is funny since I'm not a Multiplayer. I did not work on this issue for me, but for the community. So if I was not trying to support the community, I could care less. But since there are many Multiplayers in this community, I felt compelled to take a crack at solving the GameSpy issue.
By the way, we are taking steps to prevent those guys from logging into OpenSpy in the future. They do not have the right to interfere with any other player and I do not approve of their tactics to send players to the other site.
But like I said, I am not a multiplayer. If BK Multiplayers choose to not use the new Server, then I have only wasted my time as well as NIVAL's. What a bad situation we may find ourselves in then.
So what steps am I taking to prevent this crap again?
Since I have put up my own money to make my work available to this community for free... I am taking steps to prevent downloads by anyone who has not been given permission.
I have never asked anyone to pay for any of my work, and I never will. All I have ever insisted on is respect for my work.
Since several people seem to think it is funny to take advantage of me, they have only screwed themselves, and made it more difficult for everyone else. They will not be able to download anything from me in the future, but I'm sure they already have what they wanted.
My last released Series (PzIV) has been downloaded over 500 times. I have no idea who all of these people are of course. But all of their IP and Computer ID data is stored in my Download Report each week. The page is costing me $150 per month for the Business Plan. I did this on purpose since the piracy issue has come up three times before and that data links any theft directly to someone's computer.
Because I must protect myself and my work, my EULA has been changed. Anyone wishing to download my work in the future must request to become a subscriber.
All requests must be made by email only. I will not provide permission by PM or IM. Individuals who are approved will be given a link and password.
Who will be granted a subscription? Anyone that I have known for a long period and have had no issues with will be a likely shoe-in. Individuals who regularly provide testing on my models and work will be provided a subscription, and likely 1st level access to my source files. People who have already been using my work without issue may be granted a subscription. Individuals who are well known for creating skins for my work, will be granted a subscription. Individuals that I have worked with in the past on projects or mods, or currently have pending projects with, will be given a subscription.
Who will not be granted a subscription? If you are not a member of the World Wide Blitzkrieg Community, then you may be declined. If you are not known to me and you cannot provide any information about yourself like a link to a community or an active email address that I can verify, you
will be declined. If I have had a past history of major issues with you, you
could be declined. Note on the last one: you could be / not will be. Just because we may have had a rocky situation does not mean I ill decline you. I am a firm believer that people who formerly had issues can become friends, so I rarely burn bridges.
In light of the fact that I know most these guys, the new system is not a guarantee it will not happen again. So to those guys... if I seem a bit offish to you... it could be because I am really ticked.
I do not like the fact that I will be restricting my work in the future. If I find that the individuals were only talking big and I find no evidence of a theft, then I may resume the previous method. The worst part of this issue is these guys are now preventing me from adding my work to STEAM WORKSHOP, until I can ensure some kind of security measure can be used. The downloads may actually be links back to my Mediafire Page, which again will have restrictions.
I am sorry for this change. But call this the price of FREE STUFF.
In the meantime, my MediaFire page has been closed until further notice.
NEW
**END USER LICENSING AGREEMENT (EULA) : Draft Release
I cannot ban these individuals from this forum because the discussion and actions did not occur within this forum. But I expect they will tread lightly after they read what I have to say about this. I will not divulge their names unless they are charged, meaning there is solid proof of their claims. If they wish to identify themselves, that is their choice.
I may be withdrawing my permission for my work to appear in some MODs or Projects, as part of the new EULA.
Most MODs or Projects currently under development will not be subject to the change, except, the original models may not be released. I am forced to restrict this to protect how models can distributed.
This is typical of the rules this Community has operated within during the last 10 years. On Some BK Titles, you can release your skins or 1.xml files, but not the models. The copyright goes with the model... skins and support files are considered art or ancillary files, despite their exclusive use for a copyrighted object.
Again... I am sorry for this change.