NEWS: WE CAN HAZ LEGAL THREATS?

[J. M. Pescado]

So, apparently we can haz legal threats. Some monkey over at EAxis seems to believe this site has pirated Store Content. Of course, we have no such thing here. In fact, not a single URL given in that message even comes from this site. I have no idea what they expect me to do, since they have not given anything for us to remove. So, uh, I guess, whoever owns those mediafryer URLs, which ain't us, had best re-move them? I dunno what else to say.

[asthehind]

Have you replied to them?

[Theo]

At least they could have the decency of sending those links by email, instead of faxing them. Now what, am I supposed to type those URL's?

Pescado won't have to worry too much about it, but Mediafire is well within reach of the copyright gestapo. I guess the next step might be torrenting...

[SpaceDoll]

Before they get on to MediaFire about it, they should download the fixes.  They might learn something.

[J. M. Pescado]

Have you replied to them?

I have pointed out the error in sending problems with Mediafryer to us, yes. Not a single one of those listed URLs is even *ON* this site, so there is literally nothing I can even do!

Pescado won't have to worry too much about it, but Mediafire is well within reach of the copyright gestapo.

Possibly, but that's not MY problem, now is it? I don't own Mediafryer. Their problems with Mediafryer are not relevant to my interests.

[cwieberdink]

I bet the Lawlyer who wrote that has no idea the mysterious working of the internets and has no good understanding why "linking" is different than "hosting"

[kiki]

Thanks, this is great.

[Tingeling]

P&L@Eaxis lolyer going all Nelson: Na hah!

[Assmitten]

Now I am imagining them trying to even *find* you to serve you for something you are not doing.

ETA: Aw, no music. I was rooting for some nice "Turkey in the Straw" or something seasonal like "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies" since I hear you liek Mudcrackers.

[Bonzodog]

"the world's leading interactive entertainment software company'

.......... just 'EA' would have done.

[Maygus]

I dealt with intellectual property issues in my past life as a software development manager, and based on my own experience, here's an interpretation of that letter:  Apparently, EA's legal department is going after mediafire.com   So somebody directed an intern to do google searches for sites with links to mediafire and this site (MATY) came up as well as a zillion other Sims 2 forums and fansites.  Then MATY along with who-knows-how-many other Sims 2 websites were sent a threatening form letter.  (It doesn't appear that the letter was written specifically for MATY.)

I did a google search and it turned up a number of mediafire links on MATY web pages.  Here's an example:

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=13036.0  (edit: better example)

It appears that EA is trying to pressure you to remove all of the links to mediafire which appear on this site.

About a week ago, EA issued an earnings and sales warning for the 4th quarter.  So it may be that they're trying to shore up Q4 sales by putting the squelch on pirated content.

[rohina]

That letter doesn't even has grammar, quite apart from its lulz in the hyperbolic description of EA. "offers...users to upload"? What do that even mean? And it accuses you of letting people look at images? It sounds like the lolyer isn't entirely clear about what this stuff you allegedly have IS.

[Alex]

The grammar is atrocious. The flip-flopping between "images" and "files" is just baffling, and they certainly aren't "the world's leading interactive entertainment software company". Plus, they're talking about "The SIMS". The Sims™ is a completely unrelated game. 

Is this going to be like the time TSR threatened to sue the Malaysians?

[SaraMK]

I kind of feel bad for whomever got stuck with the task of writing that letter. Clearly the poor retard hasn't been on the job long.

[rohina]

It kind of surprises me that EA, "the world's leading interactive entertainment software company" doesn't have lolyers on retainer who are a bit more savvy about the internets.

[Lorelei]

Dear EAxian LAWLyer:

U R DOIN IT WRONG.

STFU & GTFO, Attorney at LOL..

Also, HA ha!

Love & glomps,
MATY, the world's leading website for hax and modz that fix the game-borking retardery created by the world's leading interactive entertainment software company"
xoxo

P.S. Have you heard of TSR, which SELLS the intellectual property of EA? I thought not.

[ingeli]

Well if they are monitoring this site, then they could also read this: if they start a store, where all non-US/Canadian customers are not welcome, they WILL provoke file sharing. When you at least welcome customers that want to pay but aren't allowed, then come back.
And also, what about improved versions of the faulty stuff in the store? (There is a LOT of faulty stuff there)  And recolors?

[asthehind]

Well if they are monitoring this site, then they could also read this: if they start a store, where all non-US/Canadian customers are not welcome, they WILL provoke file sharing. When you at least welcome customers that want to pay but aren't allowed, then come back.
And also, what about improved versions of the faulty stuff in the store? (There is a LOT of faulty stuff there)  And recolors?

The store items aren't available to those outside the Americas? That's just stupid. Many people of different nationalities go to www.thesims2.ea.com rather than their 'local' site. I myself have only been to the UK site a couple of times.

[Maygus]

The store items are also unavailable to Mac users.  When I tried to download the free items, I got a sims-store-not-supported-on-Mac-at-this-time message.

[BrokenRobot]

My favorite parts of this letter:

1. It is addressed to "More Awesome Than You".

2. "...your website www.moreawesomethanyou.com ('the Site')..."  WTF?  Do people refer to MATY as "the Site" now?

3.  It's signed "Very truly yours".  How inappropriately personal of them.

Edit: Doh!  My ignorance, let me show you it.  I still say "very truly yours" is silly, though.

[HomeschooledByTards]

2. "...your website www.moreawesomethanyou.com ('the Site')..."  WTF?  Do people refer to MATY as "the Site" now?

3.  It's signed "Very truly yours".  How inappropriately personal of them.

2. Standard thing in legal documents "blah balah long ass description of things that have to be referenced more than once in a letter" ('xyzzy'). Now they can just say xyzzy and everyone who reads it knows what they are referring to.

3. Also common closing by lawyers. There's nothing personal or impersonal about it, it's just standard language.

[rohina]

So, how much did this letter cost EA, and are they going to send one every time a new link is put up?

I ask because evil people might be tempted to put up a link saying:  Here's some great EA store stuff, and then link to mediafryer with an "image" file that said something like "these are not the droids you are looking for". Falor, no doubt would tell me that that was illegal, since he maintains that as a US citizen it is illegal to smoke pot in Amsterdam.

[eevilcat]

I think this probably says more about what we can expect when Sims 3 comes out and that the EA legal department are just testing the water in preparation. Most people who receive a letter like that will panic and remove any and all 'questionable' links.

[cwykes]

Like Maygus, I understand them to mean that not deleting links to those downloads is 'allowing' and 'encouraging' copyright violation.  As you're not posting in the thread egging people on, that's a bit of a reach for me, but I'm not a lawyer.  Isn't posting about whatever you want a freedom of speech thing anyway?

Do they really believe that dealing with those particular downloads is going to fix anything?   Delete one and another 5 will pop up elsewhere.  The stupid thing is that the Sims2 community is almost certainly the least geeky and most law abiding game community in existence!  Going after us with Securom and antagonistic legal stuff like this just sets more people on the road they want us to avoid!  I'd never even downloaded a hack until I hit headmaster bug & I didn't know what nocd cracks were until EA went over to Securom.

I'm another non-US customer who can't buy this stuff anyway.  Not that I actually want more of their junk - there's better stuff on fansites.  But if I did buy any, I'd go straight out and look for fixed versions on the internet!

[Marhis]

so there is literally nothing I can even do!

Actually, there is something else you can do: reply to them with the letter Lorelei wrote above:

Dear EAxian LAWLyer:

U R DOIN IT WRONG.

STFU & GTFO, Attorney at LOL..

Also, HA ha!

Love & glomps,
MATY, the world's leading website for hax and modz that fix the game-borking retardery created by the world's leading interactive entertainment software company"
xoxo

P.S. Have you heard of TSR, which SELLS the intellectual property of EA? I thought not.

Pretty please?