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Geek Culture / Our games are being sold without our knowledge

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zao420
21
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Joined: 5th Aug 2003
Location: Canada
dark coder
22
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Joined: 6th Oct 2002
Location: Japan
Posted: 12th Feb 2004 10:17
there isnt a problem with puttung the game on the cd, but if its targeted at kids and your game was to kill as many aliens as possible your game wouldent be very popular and word could spread about your games so you create a bad rep for yourself, so i think an apology from him would be best

Teh Go0rfmeister
21
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Joined: 17th Aug 2003
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Posted: 12th Feb 2004 10:53
i've had people steal my ideas and sell it for millions... but not a completed game, you gonna try to take legal action or nething?

www.tinnedhead.tk watch this space for the first ever calculator to show the working out. also look out for our first game- ww.exor-mk1.tk
Teh Go0rfmeister
21
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Posted: 12th Feb 2004 10:55 Edited at: 12th Feb 2004 10:55
Quote: "go speak...czech...or English...or maybe just good old Muslim"
whats that meant to mean? if it was a joke i didn't find it funny. and yes it is czech

www.tinnedhead.tk watch this space for the first ever calculator to show the working out. also look out for our first game- ww.exor-mk1.tk
DivW
21
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Joined: 31st Jul 2003
Location: Scotland
Posted: 12th Feb 2004 17:23
Thanks for the translation Scraggle. Has anyone tried to contact this guy, because if no-one has i'll try and compose a letter to invite him for an online chat or something, so you can talk legal issues...i know it's not really my concern, but i'd like to see this sorted out so that perhaps a little advertising could be arranged, or a similar english speaking version of the magazine could be printed at the publisher he uses...but then again, it's not my concern, if you want me to stop pressing it then i'll let it go completely.

-Dave

Your soul...it tastes like chicken

Official Website Coming Soon
Van B
Moderator
22
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Joined: 8th Oct 2002
Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 12th Feb 2004 18:10
I don't think there's much to be gained by it, I mean it'd be a great vehicle for shareware - but I doubt the people that buy those magazines would contribute to shareware. I suppose we should all just remember to show our own website adresses and at least credit DB/DBPro.

I really don't think this guy is the enemy, he's helping folk without internet connections play free games and demos, this is the former Czecheslovakia - I doubt broadband is much of a priority for them right now!. I'm not affected because he hasn't used any of my games, but it would'nt bother me at all.

I think there's worse things, like con-artist european game 'publishers' for instance, I'm sure a lot of us have had one of those emails. At least this guy is sticking to one attitude, it's freeware, he's distributing it for a low cost, and the worst thing that is happening to those who are affected - is that people are playing their games.

In my eyes, Umpalumpa is much more of a cretin - stealing credit is far worse than distributing without permission. The courts would laugh if Froggermon tried to sue him, as they would if anyone tried to sue this guy.


Van-B


The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!.
MiRRoRMaN 64
20
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Joined: 11th Jan 2004
Location:
Posted: 12th Feb 2004 18:19
I've had this happen a couple of times when I just started out coding and someone released my stuff on BBSs. One of those BBS's sold fruitmachines on the Amiga made by me for 10 guilders the piece (!) on disks. When I boldly confronted them with it on an expo he told me some crap that he put it on disk and it was "his hard work" that was the only price he made and he didn't made any profit from it blabla.

My solution was simple: Simply put in the game, BIG, that if they bought the game they should bring it back directly and that they've been ripped off. Also, now with the intarweb days, put the url in the game itself where they can download it for free. When I started putting in nag screens with every time the same text in every release I made it stopped. They can't even afford the risk of everyone taking back the disks to their stores.

For me it worked really well, I never had it happen again afterwards.


x2sys.hatesit.com
Lord Ozzum
21
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Joined: 29th Oct 2003
Location: Beyond the Realms of Death
Posted: 13th Feb 2004 06:05
The English part was a joke...I thought about it and decided Czech was probably a language and the Muslims all have their own labguage, which I think is supposed to be arab, but I don't know and at the time i couldn't think of it, so I just put Muslem down.

Take a look to the sky just before you die

---For Whom The Bell Tolls, Metallica
Philip
21
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Joined: 15th Jun 2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: 13th Feb 2004 07:09
In England & Wales (and also in the States I believe) you would be able to sue the chap and seek orders for the following relief:

1. delivery up and/or deletion of all copies of your software in his possession, custody or control;
2. destruction of all existing offending copies of the magazine in his possession;
3. injunctions against his further copying your software and/or further using it in his magazines;
4. an account of his profits;
5. and/or damages; and
6. your legal costs.

I have absolutely no idea what the Czech legal system allows. Its presumably a civil law (roman code) system as opposed to a common law system. I've found that most civil law countries tend to have equivalent remedies to those in the common law countries.

But why bother? Unless he is making a lot of money the game is not worth the candle.

Philip

What do you mean, bears aren't supposed to wear hats and a tie? P1.3ghz / 384 megs / GeForce MX 5200 128meg / WinXP home

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