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UbiSoft Goof Lets Porn URL Into Rainbow Six
Thanks to CNN Money for their article revealing that an enterprising webmaster has purchased a URL featured in UbiSoft's tactical action Xbox title Rainbow Six 3, and constructed a pornographic website hub around it. According to the story, a "level set in a garage with posters adorning the wall" features a specific website address, and "Texan Tony Ashcraft was one of the early buyers of the game and noted the URL as he played. Thinking the link might feature ancillary information on the game, he told me he typed it into his browser, only to find no one owned the domain. On Nov. 22, he bought it and immediately filled it with porn links." Ashcraft, interviewed for the piece, says: "My intentions were to try to build up traffic and then sell the domain... If they ask me just to change it... they would have to have a pretty compelling reason. If they were interested in buying the domain, then we could talk."
Linky...
Would it be asking too much for you to link to the 'offending' url? Especially for me. I can't seem to find any porn on the internet.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
They didn't let an existing porn URL into the game, which is what I inferred from the article title; they just made the mistake of including an unclaimed viable URL address.
Would this count as squatting? Obviously, Ubi Soft wasn't planning on doing anything with this, but they'll probably want to not advertise porn in their games. Seems like a slightly less sleazy variant on the usual squatting extortion scheme.
Period.
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Dolemite
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... the word of the article is ... Capitolism. There is nothing wrong with this. I'm not saying I condone this guy's right to make a high-traffic pr0n portal, but I would say the fault lies with Ubisoft. And the moral of the story, always check your links before you release them to the general public!
Kleedrac
Sure we wang, can.
if you're going to post a URL in your game/movie/etc, make sure it exists (like CSI did with http://ladyheather.com/ ) or that it can't exist (nonexistant TLD, illegal characters etc).
It's like making sure your characters' phone numbers start with 555.
One of my previous jobs had a link to Q&A site Experts Exchange in some sample content. The current link for that site is http://experts-exchange.com/, but they also had a nearly identical URL which was what was used in our product: http://expertsexchange.com/. At some point, its registration lapsed and it got acquired by a domain squatter who was using it as a similar porn portal. If you're not getting it, read the URL again: http://expertsexchange.com/
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In the Grand Theft Auto III and VC games, many "fictional" web sites are advertised on the radio stations (pogo the monkey, etc.) All of these URLs were purchased, by TakeTwo, prior to the games being released and were realistically filled with content that corresponded to the in game advertisements. It kind of added another aspect of realism to the game, while at the same time kept anyone else from registering the web sites and using them for their own agenda.
The Ubisoft was simply careless in their production of the game and the gamer had every right to take advantage of that mistake. This is not cybersqatting because it does not infringe upon the copyright of Ubisoft nor does it violate any fair-use guidelines.
http://www.tomandemily.com
In their first patch modify the texture so it refers to a different website. And make sure they register that site this time. From memory XBOX Live forces people to patch straight away, right, so that should completely skirt the problem, and annoy the hell out of the guy who bought the domain :)
Um, you misspelled capitalism.
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Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some pimpin in it
I have a friend that , while sick at home one day, caught a fake URL on Sesame Street (or some other children's program), and went and registered it, then put on the front page where the URL came from and that if the compare that owned the show wanted the domain, he'd gladly give it to them for free, and was only grabbing the domain as to prevent the case in this article from happening. I think he also fired an email to the company as well. I believe that the company did ask for the domain, but thanked him for his observation. Of course, some others were prepared. The episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, called 'Inter-fection', featured a URL, but Cartoon Network was ready, as the site (still active last I checked) was a perfect addendum to the episode. Hint: if you are going to post a fake domain as part of a show, make sure you actually own it before airing.
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Owned!
At least the URL wasn't goatse.cx...
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I haven't seen the site but I have to wonder why it would be so bad. We have so many games that showcase extreme violence that even a kid's parents will let them play but oh no...not nudity or sex! Not that violence and sex should be associated with each other. We can see someone getting blown to pieces in a game but any nudity would be horrific. Is sex worse than violence? Oh, and I'm not trying to denounce gaming or anything because I do play them.
He was probably itching to start an interracial porn site anyways, so I guess he found his URL. I dont think anyones going to confuse Rainbow Six 3 and this. In fact, Im surprise anyone actually cares. The guy that owns it probably told some news sites hoping to get free publicity for his PorN.
I'm just wondering... is it the parents' fault for allowing children to play a ESRB mature rated game? Is it UbiSoft's faulf for being asleep at the wheel? Or is it the guy who set up the porno portal? He did knowingly buy a domain that minors will see a reference to in a video game and then set it up with porn links.
I suppose it doesn't matter since it is rated mature by the ESRB and any responsible *cough* game retailer wouldn't sell it to a kid anyway.
Hmmmm... naybe when it comes down to it, the issue is between this guy and UbiSoft's pocketbooks.
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At what point does what someone has to say become less important than who they claim to be when saying it?
Parent is right, consoles needed no patches prior to x-box...I guess this particular brand of imperfection is a Microsoft innovation.
I am far from an xbox fan, but this is another example of GREAT MARKETING. Not so much for the porn URL, but for UBIsoft and rainbow six. Do you know how many people actually went out to buy aladdin the vhs movie when the found out one of the church chapels was shaped identical to a huge penis. Thousands! During the pre-internet days teenage girls were lining up to buy aladdin to see some cock. You think I am kidding, but this is great marketing facts.
A prosecutor looking to boost his "I'm tough on porn!" reputation could probably find some theory under which he could nail this guy.
Yes, I know net porn is generally legal, but in this case you've got porn that is especially likely to be found by underage people, and also probably less likely than normal to be found by people who are actually seeking porn.
All but the largest interactive multimedia companies get their artwork done by external graphic arts companies on a contractual basis. Granted, someone at UbiSoft is probably responsible for reviewing those assets, but even then it isn't too surprising -- I've been in that environment and I know how things can slip through when the deadline is looming.
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It worked for Jay and Silent Bob
People rush out and buy crap like that, but for a different reason than the shit you're spouting. It's not teens looking for cock, it's idiots thinking they will have a collector's item once Disney (or whoever) fixes the offending art in future releases of the product.
If Billy and Dubya couldn't get this changed, UbiSoft shouldn't be able to either.
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I believe the website in question is http://www.carrodoleao.com/, I went and had a look when I first saw it in the game - and there is no porn there whatsoever! There might be soon, however, as the guy who owns the domain seems to be willing to sell...
I asked for a refund - and got my monkey back.