You seem to have missed a few of the details along the way. The posts on the DOA Central forums were sourced into a guide on 1up.com. It wasn't the DOA Central admins who did it, it was a 1up.com staffer/freelancer named Richard Li.
This isn't about an admin stickying posts or compiling them on the same site for better clarity/reading/etc, it's about someone else on another site jacking the strategy for their job...
since some people are speculating on some details, here's some more info
Feb 2 2005, 07:13 AM
okay after reading through the summons several times, i have summed up their 70 some statements into about 5 accusations... keep in mind that these aren't in their exact words.
1) The source code that we posted on the message boards (namely the xpr/cat files) constitute copyright infringement. They state that such files can be taken from the website and that copyrighted model and texture files can be extracted from them.
god i wish we had switched to the.bos patch format earlier...
2) The tools developed soly for use with dead or alive to enable modifications to the source code (that is their definition of source code), are a violation of copyright. They go on to say that although we are building tools to open specific filetypes (xpr, cat, afs, etc...), the tools were made with dead or alive in mind because the would have little or no practical use outside of DOA modification.
I had always believed that creating such tools was not an illegal practice. Could anyone find a legal document or another case to back up my assumption?
If we are to be allowed by the court to continue producing such tools after the case has reached conclusion, we need to proove beyond the shadow of a doubt that producing such tools is legal.
3) The modifications available to be made to the executable code (namely the "copyright circumvention" in doax and doau) constitute copyright infringement...
any thoughts?
4) The modifications to the game have irreperably damaged the "goodwill" (they actually used that word) and reputations of the DOA Characters. They also go on to say that we misled the public into believing that these modifications were "created by, approved by, sponsored by, or somehow affiliated or connected with Tecmo".
This is one of the accusations that i completely disagree with beyond any "grey" area. We did not mislead the public, and someone would have to have a brain the size of a pea to believe that these modifications were endorsed by Tecmo. The very method by which the modifications are applied is a dead giveaway... What company would require game owners to open up their xboxs and transfer over files in order to manualy upgrade their product?
5) The posting of such modifications constitutes "unfair competition".
While i can understand what they are getting at here, the simple matter of the fact is that you cannot recreate the game form the small percentage of the games content posted on the message board. It also requires an original copy of the game to run, so if anything it has encouraged sales. Such an opinion might be dismissed, however, and i don't know if the judge will necessarily see this the same way.
Anyway, i'm looking once again for clear examples of what is defined as legal and illegal practice with regard to such tools and modifications to other's works. People ranting about what *should* or *should not* be illegal does not help me any.
I would like examples of similar court cases as well as legal documents. Some of those that FM77 posted earlier come to mind, so i will be reviewing them. If anyone finds more, please post it here.
This post has been edited by cypher35: Feb 2 2005, 07:16 AM
i had fun back in those NES days with the no-name teams and no-name players, but it's alot more fun to be playing as *favorite real life team* than *no name player x*
> one is bad because it replaces the PSX hardcore and serves no purpose beyond making money for > its creators, and the other , while it is possible to use it _in place of_ windows, does > not replace windows itself, and actually creates something by allowing you to do something not > possible before, running windows apps run without having to use linux.
you mean like allowing you to run playstation games without using a playstation? the rest of your argument was compelling, until you brought up this point. are you saying if bleem! or VGS were GPL they'd somehow be 'better'? The Faceless Master http://www.fighters.net
(1) the gameplay is somewhat changed (2) there's that whole 'Tag' aspect (3) over 10 new (old Tekken 2) characters (4) new moves for Tekken 3 characters The Faceless Master http://www.fighters.net
Well, in most of the world, the logical day/month/year is used... 4th March 2000... or the gimmick... *drumroll* 4/3/2000 The Faceless Master http://www.fighters.net Fignting Games ONLY!!! The Faceless Master http://www.fighters.net
Slashdot Mirror
You seem to have missed a few of the details along the way. The posts on the DOA Central forums were sourced into a guide on 1up.com. It wasn't the DOA Central admins who did it, it was a 1up.com staffer/freelancer named Richard Li.
This isn't about an admin stickying posts or compiling them on the same site for better clarity/reading/etc, it's about someone else on another site jacking the strategy for their job...
it appeals to more than 10 people because of the popularity of the Gaming-Age Forums! :p
Source: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=
i had fun back in those NES days with the no-name teams and no-name players, but it's alot more fun to be playing as *favorite real life team* than *no name player x*
> one is bad because it replaces the PSX hardcore and serves no purpose beyond making money for
> its creators, and the other , while it is possible to use it _in place of_ windows, does
> not replace windows itself, and actually creates something by allowing you to do something not
> possible before, running windows apps run without having to use linux.
you mean like allowing you to run playstation games without using a playstation?
the rest of your argument was compelling, until you brought up this point.
are you saying if bleem! or VGS were GPL they'd somehow be 'better'?
The Faceless Master
http://www.fighters.net
go linux!
The Faceless Master
http://www.fighters.net
Tekken Tag runs on the same engine, but...
(1) the gameplay is somewhat changed
(2) there's that whole 'Tag' aspect
(3) over 10 new (old Tekken 2) characters
(4) new moves for Tekken 3 characters
The Faceless Master
http://www.fighters.net
Tekken Tag Tournament (Arcade) doed indeed run on the Tekken 3 engine...
The Faceless Master
http://www.fighters.net
Well, in most of the world, the logical day/month/year is used... 4th March 2000... or the gimmick... *drumroll* 4/3/2000 The Faceless Master http://www.fighters.net Fignting Games ONLY!!!
The Faceless Master
http://www.fighters.net