Hard Light Productions Forums

General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: achtung on March 30, 2007, 06:01:54 pm

Title: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on March 30, 2007, 06:01:54 pm
 :blah:

Quote
Hello,

Your account has been permanently disabled without refund or chance for
re-enablement for violations of our Terms of Service. The unauthorized
distribution of copyrighted material (including computer games) is
strictly prohibited.

Jeff,

**** you dreamhost.


For the Freespace ISOs I assume.

God damn, I hope nothing more comes out of this.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Polpolion on March 30, 2007, 10:21:23 pm
that sucks
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Desert Tyrant on March 30, 2007, 10:24:28 pm
:blah:

Quote
Hello,

Your account has been permanently disabled without refund or chance for
re-enablement for violations of our Terms of Service. The unauthorized
distribution of copyrighted material (including computer games) is
strictly prohibited.

Jeff,
Owch, that has to hurt

**** you dreamhost.


For the Freespace ISOs I assume.

God damn, I hope nothing more comes out of this.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: ssmit132 on March 30, 2007, 10:41:35 pm
:blah:

Quote
Hello,

Your account has been permanently disabled without refund or chance for
re-enablement for violations of our Terms of Service. The unauthorized
distribution of copyrighted material (including computer games) is
strictly prohibited.

Jeff,

**** you dreamhost.


For the Freespace ISOs I assume.

God damn, I hope nothing more comes out of this.

This is stupid, but they have to do this because some pirate might try to upload an ISO of a copyrighted game. They probably wouldn't of known that FS2 can be 'distributed freely'.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on March 30, 2007, 10:45:02 pm
The part that *really* ticks me off is, I renewed the plan for a year about a month ago, a total of about 140 bucks :mad:


Seems kind of strange though, I had the Freespace ISOs up for about a year, seems odd they would do that out of the blue.

Someone must have complained, or they didn't like the bandwidth usage.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: CP5670 on March 30, 2007, 10:55:52 pm
Yeah, the bandwidth is almost certainly what raised their attention. :( I guess it can't hurt to try pointing them to the "friends and acquaintances" EULA and see if they respond.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: RazorsKiss on March 30, 2007, 11:38:49 pm
Dealing with DMCA (http://blog.dreamhost.com/2007/03/15/dealing-with-a-dmca-crook/)

Only the copyright holder can enforce that, I believe - and I seriously doubt they're out for you.

How much bandwidth was it?
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on March 30, 2007, 11:46:48 pm
@CP5670
Yeah, I'm going to mention that to them.

@RazorsKiss
I had around 2.5 TB allotted to me I usually used no more than 600 GB a month.  About 75% of that being the FS ISOs.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Vasudan Commander on March 31, 2007, 12:23:34 am
what terms and conditions did you infringe exactly?
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on March 31, 2007, 12:27:26 am
I'm not really sure Vasudan Commander.


Oh, and did I mention I got no "warning" e-mails, or any other notifications for that matter?
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: jr2 on March 31, 2007, 03:43:52 am
...They must take Nuke's approach...
KA-BOOM!
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Grizzly on March 31, 2007, 03:49:38 am
well... it seems that we have to resort to Bittorrent.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Flipside on March 31, 2007, 08:20:21 am
I'd write and complain and send a copy of the EULA to 'Jeff', and also mention how 'convenient' it was that they did it without warning just after you had renewed your subscription. It's not like you've got anything to lose.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Snail on March 31, 2007, 08:27:33 am
Bastards. Really, no refund? Jesus.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Polpolion on March 31, 2007, 09:41:37 am
I'd write and complain and send a copy of the EULA to 'Jeff', and also mention how 'convenient' it was that they did it without warning just after you had renewed your subscription. It's not like you've got anything to lose.

++goodsuggestion


If it comes to it, you can always sue them. You may not win, but you'll piss them off, maybe make them lose a couple deals, make them buy lawyers, etc. Just be sure to get a really cheap lawyer yourself.

Suing large corporations is nice revenge :drevil:

You may lose money, but hopefully they will have lost more than you.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Snail on March 31, 2007, 09:44:08 am
doubleplusgoodsuggestion, you mean?

Well it is nonetheless.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Polpolion on March 31, 2007, 09:45:20 am
doubleplusgoodsuggestion, you mean?

Well it is nonetheless.

++ is easier to type
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Inquisitor on March 31, 2007, 10:45:43 am
I have said this before, and I will say it again, relying on the "friends and family" EULA is shaky, shaky ground. Read any post of mine from the last oh, 7 years on the subject if you want to know why. The relevant sentence everyone conveniently neglects to read is "Any permissions granted herein are provided on a temporary basis and can be withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any time." They had updated the EULA on the website in like 2000 or 2001, but of course that is gone. There are no requirements for copyright holders to post these updates, as far as I know (not being a lawyer, I cannot say for sure), and their revocation of these rights can probably be processed on a case by case base (such as a cease and desist), and things like the DMCA probably provide implied coverage anyway.

When I talk to our lawyers about things, they always ask me this: "Will your definition pass the reasonableness test?" Is it reasonable for me to believe that you are distributing it only to your family and friends if you host a file on a website that ANYONE on the internet can download? Is it reasonable for me to believe that even all  3827 members of htis website are your "friends"?

My guess is a judge would laugh at you, it would certainly make an interesting "Law and Order."

FS2 recently re-appeared on GameTap, which means someone is alive at Interplay (or was long enough to sign the contract).

They may be enforcing their copyrights now. Hosting these files you do so at your own risk. It IS copyright'd material. The ISP may shut you off and be perfectly in their rights. I'd look at your Terms of Service, specifically for any clauses that say they have the right to refuse service, etc, etc.

You may be screwed, you may be able to get your account back (or maybe a refund) by explaining it was all a misunderstanding. You will not get it back (and subsequently be able to distribute the files again) by claiming it was your right to distribute the files based on an 8 year old EULA that may or may not have any real basis anymore. You will certainly be immediately transferred to their lawyers if you start talking about lawsuits. That's what I tell my guys to do, as soon as someone says "lawyer" the call changes and gets transferred to someone with that kind of knowledge and authority.

-edit-
Google for the legal defnition of friends and family, probably a relevant place to look are teh SEC rules around stock offerings, I think you will find that they fairly narrowly define it. There would be alot more people in jail for stock fraud if people defined friends in the way people here define it. Remember, you are dealing with a legal document, which means you are dealing with lawyers. Words as definied by lawyers frequently defy logic and are rarely ever the same definitions us mere mortals would give for those words.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on March 31, 2007, 10:49:56 am
See the only thing I'm really worried about is possible further legal action, the hosting was expendable if something like that comes into play.

Right now I'm simply calming myself with the "Interplay probably doesn't have the money for lawyers" stance.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Desert Tyrant on March 31, 2007, 10:51:45 am
:blah:

Quote
Hello,

Your account has been permanently disabled without refund or chance for
re-enablement for violations of our Terms of Service. The unauthorized
distribution of copyrighted material (including computer games) is
strictly prohibited.

Jeff,

**** you dreamhost.


For the Freespace ISOs I assume.

God damn, I hope nothing more comes out of this.
What a jackass, that Jeff
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Snail on March 31, 2007, 11:35:07 am
I find the:

Hello,

and the

Jeff,

a bit... Patronizing.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on March 31, 2007, 04:20:40 pm
Well, they are going to probably re-enable my account as long as I don't host the ISOs again.

Of course, I'm taking them up on that offer.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Tyrian on March 31, 2007, 04:34:55 pm
What about the people who downloaded the ISOs?

Personally, I legally purchased the Game of the Year Edition of FS2 (the one with the extra missions + Operation Templar) about 5 years ago.  However, my CD's are really old and are starting to get a little funky.  As a result, I've had to rely on the ISO's to get my version of FS2 running again. 

My question is this:  If I download the ISO's (which I guess is technically pirating), but still possess the retail CD's that I bought all those years ago, can I still get in legal trouble for the download?  (The download took place a few weeks ago.)
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Aardwolf on March 31, 2007, 05:13:24 pm
Well, on the one hand, the guys responsible are ignorant bastards.

Edit: Tyrian, I believe (although I'm not a lawyer) that if you legally own the thing, you can't get in trouble for this. I'm basing that on the sort of legal logic behind SNES ROMS, where if you own a copy of the game, you can legally get the ROM, but otherwise you are obligated to delete it after 24 hours.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Tyrian on March 31, 2007, 05:19:29 pm
OK, whew.  That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure. :D
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on April 01, 2007, 08:29:26 pm
Okay, it had to be the bandwidth.

Turns out I'd used 200 gigs in like two days, meaning someone posted in a place they shouldn't have, or Freespace is becoming EXTREMELY popular.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Polpolion on April 01, 2007, 09:59:07 pm
Are you going to make a forum again? :nervous:
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on April 01, 2007, 10:23:17 pm
For what?

I was actually thinking of giving those All Aviation guys a bit of space.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Dysko on April 02, 2007, 06:47:14 am
All Aviation is down. Maybe forever :(

Though if you want to give us a place to talk about aviation we'd be very pleased :D ;) :)
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Wobble73 on April 02, 2007, 08:09:08 am
Umm, Swantz!! In light of this, you might want to update your signature!
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on April 02, 2007, 05:06:47 pm
All Aviation is down. Maybe forever :(

Though if you want to give us a place to talk about aviation we'd be very pleased :D ;) :)

Give me name ideas and it's a go.

Wobble, I had sigs disabled, didn't even notice :)
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: peterc10 on April 02, 2007, 05:32:48 pm
ive noticed sites like www.freespacezone.com are also down, is this becuase of the same reasons?
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Turey on April 04, 2007, 10:13:44 am
The relevant sentence everyone conveniently neglects to read is "Any permissions granted herein are provided on a temporary basis and can be withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any time."

/me just used that in an argument on Digg about FS.

Okay, it had to be the bandwidth.

Turns out I'd used 200 gigs in like two days, meaning someone posted in a place they shouldn't have, or Freespace is becoming EXTREMELY popular.
/me just used 4.5TB on FreeSpace.

ive noticed sites like www.freespacezone.com are also down, is this becuase of the same reasons?
FreeSpace Community is getting a large influx of new members. Even those sites which aren't taken down by the ISP are getting hit with MASSIVE bandwidth. Hunter probably had to take the ISOs off of freespacezone.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: jr2 on April 04, 2007, 10:16:57 am
Hm, I noticed www.nukelol.com/fs is down as of like a week ago.... It had the FS1, ST, & FS2 disks, also I believe instructions for getting the newest SCP... This sucks :(  Ppl are looking, and the sites are breaking under the load.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: MP-Ryan on April 04, 2007, 03:25:41 pm
What about the people who downloaded the ISOs?

Personally, I legally purchased the Game of the Year Edition of FS2 (the one with the extra missions + Operation Templar) about 5 years ago.  However, my CD's are really old and are starting to get a little funky.  As a result, I've had to rely on the ISO's to get my version of FS2 running again. 

My question is this:  If I download the ISO's (which I guess is technically pirating), but still possess the retail CD's that I bought all those years ago, can I still get in legal trouble for the download?  (The download took place a few weeks ago.)

Two things:
1.  Extra missions?  Operation: Templar?  What's all this?
2.  Burn backup CDs.  Most EULAs have a provision for that.  Alternatively, if the ISOs you have are of the CDs you have, they can be considered backups.

One again, this is an 8 year old game.  Interplay should be kissing ass around here for keeping it alive.  Unless they re-release it, I don't think anyone has anything serious to worry about.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Snail on April 04, 2007, 03:29:39 pm
Interplay decided that FS2 sucked and didn't advertise at all, opting to advertise another game that ultimately failed.




Well maybe that is just a false belief, but it makes me feel better.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: Game_Master64 on April 04, 2007, 05:30:52 pm
dream host have always been *****es, and Interplay were retards. However, if Interplay has started to try to hold on to the lisence for the "Freespace" title, this could result in one of two things. one if FS2 Special Edition, the other, well, you think about it.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on April 04, 2007, 05:36:14 pm
This wasn't Interplay.  The fact that I hit my "bandwidth throttle" caught their attention, and they exercised their right to remove potentially copyrighted content from their servers.  They did nothing wrong, they just want to cover their asses like everyone does.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: BrotherBryon on April 04, 2007, 05:54:06 pm
The game of year edition had an extra campaign called Operation Templar that dealt with the Hammer of Light. It also contained a couple of extra missions.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: MP-Ryan on April 04, 2007, 06:43:36 pm
The game of year edition had an extra campaign called Operation Templar that dealt with the Hammer of Light. It also contained a couple of extra missions.

Anyone have this floating around?  Some of us don't have the GOTY edition =(
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: CP5670 on April 04, 2007, 07:08:35 pm
It's in the normal version too. It's originally a multiplayer campaign that was just directly ported to singleplayer (with no gameplay balancing changes) for the GOTY edition. You can play the multiplayer version by yourself (with respawns, as it was intended to be played) by using a multiplayer pilot to start a LAN game.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: MP-Ryan on April 04, 2007, 07:14:18 pm
It's in the normal version too. It's originally a multiplayer campaign that was just directly ported to singleplayer (with no gameplay balancing changes) for the GOTY edition. You can play the multiplayer version by yourself (with respawns, as it was intended to be played) by using a multiplayer pilot to start a LAN game.

Merci =)
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: BrotherBryon on April 05, 2007, 09:35:33 pm
So thats why it was so much more difficult than the main campaign. The mission where you had to capture a transport from under the nose of a Typhon was particularly difficult.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: takashi on April 06, 2007, 05:31:57 pm
freespace distributers make lotsa friends and marry into big familys :)

ps: the whole 24 hours thing is a effing joke.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: chief1983 on April 06, 2007, 09:18:04 pm
This makes having reliable torrents of the larger material available all the more important.  If standard hosting is breaking, it's all we'd have left, and it would thrive during a period of high activity such as this.  If that many people want to get freespace at one time, everyone should be able to max out their bandwidth getting it over a torrent.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: redsniper on April 06, 2007, 11:56:00 pm
This makes having reliable torrents of the larger material available all the more important.  If standard hosting is breaking, it's all we'd have left, and it would thrive during a period of high activity such as this.  If that many people want to get freespace at one time, everyone should be able to max out their bandwidth getting it over a torrent.
... FTW
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: jr2 on April 07, 2007, 01:52:26 am
I have a torrent of hip63's DVD (w/ Turey's installer) on isohunt (titled FreeSpaceSCPDVD ; if anyone can rename it to FreeSpace SCP DVD , that would be nice)... right now, 1 seed, 10 peers.  :(  Too many leechers.  I was seeding until a few days ago, my share ratio was like 20 or 30 something, IIRC...
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: achtung on April 07, 2007, 11:18:45 pm
Well, once I get it, I'll seed.
Title: Re: Great, just great.
Post by: jr2 on April 07, 2007, 11:40:21 pm
:) Thx.