(2012-08-24, 03:10 PM)brad-t Wrote: [ -> ]At the very least, I think the MyBB team needs a real policy on how to handle such issues here. It's easy enough to dust your hands of the issue and say, "this isn't about us" -- which is technically true -- but if hacking websites can't have a place here, why is theft largely silently accepted? Members who are proven copyright infringers who are stealing the designs of other forums shouldn't be allowed to be here.
Just wanted to address this to clear it up from the staff POV.
It is far much easier to recognize/identify hacking/porn/warez sites. Even for those sites, we do not ban the members, they are simply denied support (and showcase and R/S/J).
When it comes to the issue of themes it is harder to get to the root of the problem since there will be 2 people going at it claiming the design is theirs and it would be beyond the scope or reach of the staff here, not to mention massively time consuming, to try and mediate or investigate to get to the bottom of the issue and find who is at fault, hence us asking them to choose other different avenues to try and resolve their issues.
I should mention, however, that regardless of the above, staff do deny support to those who have very obviously ripped a well known work or have removed the copyright of a theme they are using. In some cases where the user has continuously been known to rip/steal themes/mods it has led to bans too, so you see, we're not entirely dusting it off our hands or silently accepting them.
this kind of stuff happen 10 years ago, and i am still laughing how the world in now catching up with internet laws...
ITT: Heated debate over something the MyBB team really has no control over. You can't stop people from ripping themes.
(2012-08-26, 04:47 AM)StingReay Wrote: [ -> ]You can't stop people from ripping themes.
That's correct, But there must be a solution, I don't think MyBB team has no control over these, they are aware of these facts and I am sure they will take necessary actions upon reporting rippers. However MyBB team can ban those users at maximum if I am not wrong. If the real developer is angry enough to take further action to report host or any other, they can take legal action, and they should! I don't think blaming MyBB team is fair in this matter.
The only solution is don't ever put in the internet. Browsers need to be able to read the html and css to display the page. In less they all agree on some sort of encoding (wouldn't make difference since chrome and FF are opensource) it will never stop.
To be fair to MyBB, I reported a blatant ripper stealing everything from my site, and he's been permanently banned. If you can give proof to a member of Staff here then I'm sure you can expect them to be punished.
(2012-08-26, 05:05 AM)Anurag M Wrote: [ -> ]If the real developer is angry enough to take further action to report host or any other, they can take legal action, and they should!
This should be their first point of action. It doesn't take much to write a DMCA or TOS complaint to a host.
(2012-08-26, 05:05 AM)Anurag M Wrote: [ -> ]That's correct, But there must be a solution, I don't think MyBB team has no control over these, they are aware of these facts and I am sure they will take necessary actions upon reporting rippers. However MyBB team can ban those users at maximum if I am not wrong.
Again I'd like to highlight the difference between creating a theme with some cosmetic similarities to previous designs but writing all the code from scratch and making all the images from scratch, and downloading a copy of a theme and uploading it somewhere else in violation of the license.
In the latter case we will always do as much as practically possible to deter such occurrences. If they post it here they will almost always be permanently banned. If we can identify a user here who holds significant responsibility for distributing mods or themes elsewhere then we will most often permanently ban them (the exception being in the case that they are cooperative in removing the content). If users have pirated content on their site then we deny them support.
I think it should be clear that we have a fairly black and white policy towards illegal distribution of copyrighted themes and plugins. However, our actions here will not necessarily lead to content being removed, and as such it's also important that copyright holders are proactive too.
Don't really understand this thread as you haven't explained much. How did he rip your theme?
A number of posts have been hidden at the request of various participants to this thread. All comments or concerns relating to this should be made in Private Inquiries.
Also, any further posts about specific instances or users (either explicitly or implicitly) will be hidden.
I think this discussion would be more productive if it shifted towards discussing techniques used to prevent theme/plugin piracy, or to deal with sites hosting pirated themes or plugins.
Not only the one who ripped or nulled the theme/plugin should be banned,but also the members who download those stuff should be banned,from entering the general MyBB community.
When ripping is illegal,Downloading them is also illegal and a crime.