IRB...not meant to be judgemental...but a reminder that it is difficult to protect your IP [later] if the accused can demonstrate an unwillingness on your part to protect it [earlier].  The argument will always be that the owner seemingly gives tacit consent for its existence or use in 'the wild' because he has shown no interest in its removal.

Once you 'give it away' you can't later demand its return....

It is worth pointing out that some people who pirate WILL purchase sometimes.

When the cracked copies of WindowBlinds 5 broke years ago we had a serious spike in sales.

Don't be obtuse.

Buy the skin [instead of pirating it] and tell your wife how much money you now  DO NOT have.

...and please don't trivialize it with references to 'all the gold and diamonds'....instead, ask people who actually RELY on skin sales to support themselves whether $8 here or there gone missing won't affect them.

First off, I was being sarcastic about downloading the skin.. perhaps they don't have sarcasm in your world.

Also, so i'm being trivial by referencing gold and diamonds, yet you're the man for comparing pirates to pedophiles and organized crime??  Am i right?

Oh one more thing.. if people RELY as you put it, on skin sales, why then does stardock take 50% of the profits?  That's sound more like organized crime to me. I mean i don't have exact numbers but i'm sure stardocks yearly profit is a VERY high number, yet there are skinners getting under $100 a month?  These are the profits they RELY upon, does stardock RELY on that other $100 to put food on the table?

Jafo's and Karen's arguments re piracy are in fact, correct. close down as many as you can, every time.

One must do the right thing: Just because he cannot finish doing it does not absolve him from beginning.

Any protection scheme would have to be optional.  But generally if you allow the user to edit the images and the text files then you pretty much have no protection apart from the most basic system of a UseProtection = 1 line in the UIS.  Allowing the user to use their own images would be a different matter.

BTW the encryption does not alter the image quality in anyway.

Obviously there are less problems with a video dream protection system simply because I suspect nobody edits those.

Attempting to compare Stardock to organized crime on a Stardock owned site is most unwise...

It was sarcasm.  But then again, stardock has people that compare people who download to pedophiles representing them.  How are my comparisons so "off the wall" but jafo just seems to roll the insanity right off his tongue and not a word is said..lol

Neil, i'm really not here to start trouble, nor am i looking for it.  I started in this topic by stating my opinion, which several people had agreed with, then Jafo started his tirade of insane comparisons mixed with threats of kicking people in the head if they had an opinion which he disliked.  This is the reason i've been a little defensive in my comments, so i apologize if i'm stepping on toes around here, it was not my original intent.  I enjoy stardock products and have an OD subscription myself, so i'm not trying to frown upon the company as a whole, my comments were directed at Jafo due to his comments.

Both are pursued.

Both 'regenerate'.

It is a valid comparison.

Nowhere did I equate their level of criminality or social abhorrence....only the argument of futility which applies equally to BOTH pursuits.

LOL

Yeah both are pursued, and both regenerate and both are sexual acts on young children... oh wait, no they're not!!!!  If you think that taking down a pedophile ring, or even a single site, is the same as taking down a site that links to "master skins"  you are beyond help.  I get that a skin is someone's intellectual property and skinners have rights, but be realistic, master skins are on the very low scale on the pirating list, not that it makes it ok to pirate skins, but it's a very small issue that you are comparing to pedophilia.

How obnoxious.

You look to me to be a member whose future is in the past.

There are no degrees of illegality...either it is or is not.

FFS...the 'comparison' is the FUTILITY

Pick another type of site that refuses to disappear due to subversive popularity.

Your choice....I don't care....

Or...

Stick to the topic of the OP.

How to protect skinners' IP.

Let me ask this. Who's making a profit off of our skins?

I checked some of the links and most go to file sharing sites that charge you, per year, to download. .99 up to $64.

And yes I checked. They didn't give you an option to download for free. You pay or you don't download.
So some of the pirate sites might not be making to much, but the file sharing sites are raking it in....

Boo Hoo.  I've already said that some of my comments were out of line, but they were in response to Jafo's first comments to me because of my opinion that he disagreed with, which were also out of line.  I've discussed this with Jafo in pm, as well my above message to Neil.  I can stick to the topic, provided i'm not "kicked in the head" for stating my opinion.

can we please stick to the topic that we need some kind of protection for our master skins?

Jafo is trying to help us, so is Neil and so is Island Dog.

Lets try to get a solution to this asap. Neil, if you could have some kind of protective system in place for our master skins by the next release of windowblinds....i will be jumping up and down matee!! ill be sooo bloody happy and greatful!!

so im going to thankyou in advance.

This post is not about if you agree with piracy or not, its to help our site deal with it and possibly stop it.

thankyou

I have sent an e-mail to a few people at Stardock to discuss the possibility, but due to elemental it is unlikely I will hear back until mid next week.

bubbabyte isn't 'agreeing with piracy'... more simply questioning whether it's worth the bother to chase...

I can answer that. Mind you, I don't work for Stardock, so it's not an "official" answer, but Stardock's cut of master skin sales probably goes into offsetting the cost of hosting the files and promoting the skins. Naturally, authors are free to (and several do) host the files on their own sites where the net profit goes 100% to them.

Here's my view on this. Ultimately the end decision on how this will be handled falls at the feet of those creating the skins. How that decisions works out and effects sales won't be known until it's implemented. As far as this piracy thing anyone would have to agree it's an uphill battle. It's sort of like the battle anti virus developers have every day...build a better mouse trap and some clown is already building a better mouse.

If I were creating skins I would like to think I wasn't being ripped off...and if I found out I was I would surely want to do everything possible to stop it...at the same time knowing full well the battle I faced from piracy sites in doing it. Should I just say screw it? Hell no! I would look for any way I could to either stop it or at least slow it down. The guys making these skins are no different than an artist painting a picture for money...except the money they earn is far less. And anyone that thinks they are making lots from doing this is way off the mark...so every penny counts!