Just A Heads-Up About Ea And Dmca Crap

[StarSeekerVDS]

There is an old-as-hell game called Starsiege that was created in 1999 by Dynamix, who was bought by Sierra, who was bought by Vivendi, who was bought by EA. Vivendi closed the master servers a number of years ago and it was taken up by a various members of the community. The game is long since gone from stores, with only a couple of used copies to be found on Amazon occasionally. The remaining player base is somewhere around 20. Despite this, just today I received via my web host a DMCA take-down threat from EA Games for hosting the game client on my site (patched and repaired for modern systems by unpaid volunteer), which of course I complied with. (A copy of this notice is found in the comments at http://ss.tarazedi.com ).

It's not even clear how EA Games holds any claim over this game since the IP was supposedly sold to a third party (who then sold it down the line to several more parties) years ago. Whatever. My give a [censored] is busted, and [censored] EA in the [censored] too. I'm just posting this to suggest you keep your ears open and just watch yourselves because if they went after this game that's at least twenty times as irrelevant and pointless to any possible business interests of theirs as even E&B is, and probably gets one download every month... you get the idea. *sighs*

I really, really loathe that company.

[Bleakend]

Aww man i have to create a log in to access it.. too lazy.

[StarSeekerVDS]

Oh? Hm, looks like I gotta fix the permissions again LOL Anyway here it is:

[left]Hello,[/left]


[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]We have received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") complaint involving domains under your control. Please note that Hostgator has only passed on the sufficiency of the Claimant's notice, per 17 U.S.C. Sec. 512, and has not sought to determine whether the Infringing Materials on the Web Site do indeed infringe upon the Claimant's intellectual property rights.[/size][/font][/color][/left]


[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Within a forty-eight (48) hour period, we will need you to remove, or disable access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing or we will have to disable this material to be in compliance with federal DMCA laws. A copy of the original DMCA notice is listed below our contact information.[/size][/font][/color][/left]


[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, your rights as a Respondent to this complaint include, but are not limited to, a possible counter-notification to us, per 17 U.S.C. Sec. 512(g)(3). We encourage you to review the federal statutory procedures for filing a counter-notification and seeking legal advice to see if taking such an action would be appropriate. We cannot provide individual legal advice, and do not analyze your particular website or activity for the legality of its content.[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left]
[color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]You may send a counter-notification using postal mail or fax; email is not accepted.[/size][/font][/color][/left]

[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Our postal address is:[/size][/font][/color][/left]

[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]HostGator LLC[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Attn: DMCA/Legal[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]11251 Northwest Freeway, Suite 400[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Houston, TX 77079[/size][/font][/color][/left]


[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Our Fax is: (281) 476-7801[/size][/font][/color][/left]

[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Subject: Notice of Copyright Infringement � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 15 May 2012[/size][/font][/color][/left]


[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]The email address of the website owner, Victor Sheckels, who has reprinted our content willfully and illegally, is [/size][/font][/color][/left]
[email="nospam@example.com"]wiki at tarazedi.com[/email]



[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]I, Emmanuel Dresch, Intellectual Property Attorney, Vivendi Universal Games, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts, certify under[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]penalty of perjury, that I am an agent authorized to act on behalf of[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]the owner of certain intellectual property rights. I have a good faith belief that the items or materials listed below are not authorized by law for use by the above named domain name owner or their agents and therefore infringes the copyright owner's rights. I hereby demand that you act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material or items claimed to be infringing.[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left]

[color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]My contact information is as follows:[/size][/font][/color][/left]

[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Emmanuel Dresch[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Vivendi Universal Games[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]42 avenue de Friedland[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]75380 Paris Cedex 08[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]France[/size][/font][/color][/left]

[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Tel.: +33 1 71 71 10 00[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Fax: +33 1 71 71 10 01[/size][/font][/color][/left]


[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]The URLs linking to where our copyrighted material is located include:[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[url="http://www.tarazedi.com/files/starsiege/Starsiege%20Complete.exe"]http://www.tarazedi.com/files/starsiege/Starsiege%20Complete.exe[img]http://w.tarazedi.com/img/icons/external_link.gif[/img][/url]



[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Sincerely,[/size][/font][/color][/left]

[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Emmanuel Dresch[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Intellectual Property Attorney[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Vivendi Universal Games[/size][/font][/color][/left]


[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Best regards,[/size][/font][/color][/left]

[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Tyler E[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]Senior Security Administrator[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[left][color=#CC6600][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2]HostGator.com LLC[/size][/font][/color][/left]
[url="http://support.hostgator.com/"]http://support.hostgator.com[img]http://w.tarazedi.com/img/icons/external_link.gif[/img][/url] Edited May 17, 2012 by Dakynos
fixed spacing

[Shadowkill]

First you got to find out if EA still has the rights to the IP or if they have sold it off. And i have to agree with you EA is not a nice company. I worked for Gamestop and had to deal with them. they only care about money. they screw gamers with there sports franchise since its they same thing mostly every year or every 3 years due to bringing back same content back. Only changes are the rosters. EA doesnt care and they will take legal action on the smallest of issues mate so be careful.

[Mattsacre]

You know what I would love to see? Some deep pocket person with a love for old games etc. to just say screw it and counter sue or file friends of the court actions to tie THEM up in court and harass THEM for a change. Asshats like Mr. Dresch, and clients like his, especially under statements like " swear under penalty of perjury.....have good faith......infringes on intellectual property...etc.", know very well, that even though they are lying through their teeth, they run very little, if any, chance of getting a perjury charge against them.

Jerks like that use the law to bludgeon and intimidate people. People with little or no resources to resist them. These are the same people that, while on one hand, use the courts to make others misrable, use the other hand to argue and form PACs to push through torte reform rules etc. that limit their liabilities from their asshattery. It would truely be nice if someone could have the fundage to get a class-action suit against Dresch and all the other litigators that misuse our legal system for intimidational purposes, thats the only thing folks like them fear: Class-actions, they hit the pocketbook. Sometimes they cost dearly enough and hard enough that they get canned by the stockholders ( after all, who really pays the punishment for the executives hanky panky? not the execs, the stockholders egt soaked).

[Ryle [N7R]]

[quote name='Mattsacre' timestamp='1337211219' post='58023']
You know what I would love to see? Some deep pocket person with a love for old games etc. to just say screw it and counter sue or file friends of the court actions to tie THEM up in court and harass THEM for a change. Asshats like Mr. Dresch, and clients like his, especially under statements like " swear under penalty of perjury.....have good faith......infringes on intellectual property...etc.", know very well, that even though they are lying through their teeth, they run very little, if any, chance of getting a perjury charge against them.

Jerks like that use the law to bludgeon and intimidate people. People with little or no resources to resist them. These are the same people that, while on one hand, use the courts to make others misrable, use the other hand to argue and form PACs to push through torte reform rules etc. that limit their liabilities from their asshattery. It would truely be nice if someone could have the fundage to get a class-action suit against Dresch and all the other litigators that misuse our legal system for intimidational purposes, thats the only thing folks like them fear: Class-actions, they hit the pocketbook. Sometimes they cost dearly enough and hard enough that they get canned by the stockholders ( after all, who really pays the punishment for the executives hanky panky? not the execs, the stockholders egt soaked).
[/quote]

Pretty much this, and a big corp will always settle out of court once it drags out, because those rising costs for those high powered attorneys and the lack of a guarantee of a judgement, makes them wet their pants.

Pretty much every major countersuit ever filed in the last 5-10 years has settled at the final conference hearing.

[Mattsacre]

That and non-disclosure, as a condition of every lawsuit, they make you sign a non-disclosure agreement, then if they were up to something nefarious, thats one more source of potential leak of the truth plugged up, as well as what they were willing to pay you, to shut you up, would be the base amount other litigents would want to begin at to buy their silence as well.

[jrichards2]

Ummm, is it me or isn't Vivendi Universal not even a valid company anymore? Vivendi Games was acquired by Activision and re-formed to create Activision Blizzard. 52% of that is owned by Vivendi but they sold off NBC Universal to GE. EA may own the rights to the IP.....but if the IP is/was owned by Vivendi then its owned by Activision/Blizzard now.

[Klyde]

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivendi_Games"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivendi_Games[/url]

Vivendi owns a crapload of stuff, just check out the wiki on them. Not a little company for sure.

[wootage]

On that subject, any thoughts of creating a downloadable version of the current server setup? Widespread distribution is our friend, as it prevents the work in question from a preemptive-strike account deletion via a letter to the ISP.

While I'm too busy to do anything with it (too busy to play, really) I don't mind donating space on my backup drive.

[jrichards]

[quote name='Klyde' timestamp='1338935020' post='58500']
[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivendi_Games"]http://en.wikipedia....i/Vivendi_Games[/url]

Vivendi owns a crapload of stuff, just check out the wiki on them. Not a little company for sure.
[/quote]

My response was due to the fact that the info posted in the 'email' is false. That attorney used to work for Vivendi Games but hasn't since 2009 (see his linkedIn profile at [url="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/emmanuel-dresch/4/2ba/8b2"]http://www.linkedin....resch/4/2ba/8b2[/url]). Vivendi Games was never a subsidiary of EA. Activision basically took control of Vivendi SA's game division and merged with Blizzard to form a company that actually makes money for Vivendi (unlike Vivendi Universal games which consistently lost a lot of money for Vivendi Universal). So there are several clearly false items in the posted 'email' which makes me wonder about the authenticity of it....or its from like 3 years ago.

[quote name='wootage' timestamp='1338938478' post='58501']
On that subject, any thoughts of creating a downloadable version of the current server setup? Widespread distribution is our friend, as it prevents the work in question from a preemptive-strike account deletion via a letter to the ISP.

While I'm too busy to do anything with it (too busy to play, really) I don't mind donating space on my backup drive.
[/quote]


All the server coding/work on Net7 is owned by the Net7 Devs and they have previously stated that they are not looking to release the server code. This may change at some point in the future, at the very least not until they are done with this EMU project, so I would not hold my breath.

[StarSeekerVDS]

Just thought I'd check in and comment that after further investigation I've concluded that the notice was, indeed, most likely fraudulent--not that my host cares since it was "submitted in the proper format" (even though it wasn't, actually); in order to reinstate the content my host requires a counter-notice filed in paper by mail... *sighs*

The DMCA is piss-ignorant, and the attempts at SOPA, ACTA, and related garbage are getting on my nerves.

[jrichards]

Also note that the developer Hi-Rez Studios purchased the Starsiege and Tribes IP from Sierra (sub-division of Vivendi Universal at the time) back in 2009 and they are currently developing games in that IP. You could always contact them and ask them if they have any problem with you hosting this old game stuff: [url="http://www.hirezstudios.com/hirezwp/"]http://www.hirezstudios.com/hirezwp/[/url]

[StarSeekerVDS]

Precisely what I did, and I got permission.

[wootage]

[quote name='Crichton' timestamp='1338941012' post='58504']
All the server coding/work on Net7 is owned by the Net7 Devs and they have previously stated that they are not looking to release the server code. This may change at some point in the future, at the very least not until they are done with this EMU project, so I would not hold my breath.
[/quote]

Huh, I could swear I saw some sort of open-source license when I installed. That's what prompted my question, as well as the concern that if the devs receive a bad-news letter in conjunction with the pre-emptive strike approach, they would be legally unable to distribute the materials in question unless they challenged - and won - in court. So all of the eggs are in one basket as far as I can tell.

Looking at things from a continuity standpoint, the reason open-source is difficult to repress is the fact that too many people have had access to the source for the would-be represser to send cease-and-desist letters and file lawsuits against them all. That fact alone can force them to the bargaining table where common sense and mutual interest have a chance to be heard.

W/e, just thought I'd ask 'cause of the open-source notice I saw.