Unauthorized porting and distribution of our skins

from WinCustomize Forums
It has been brought to my attention that a company called Almediadev http://www.almdev.com/ has ported many of our WB skins to their format and is distributing them with their product. They sell VCL libraries that allow software developers to make their applications skinnable. Below is a list of the skins they distribute.

Ecliptic by essorant
sputnik by treetog
WBManiaIV by DAK
Subterfuge by Mike Bryant (me)
Futura III by Jay-z2'K
Kromo by Jay-z2'K
@mosphere by Jay-z2'K
SymbiOS by Jay-z2'K
X-Pulse by Jay-z2'K

I am emailing them now, asking them to stop distributing my skin. I also have contact information for their ISP, in case it comes to that. I just wanted to let the skin authors know about this.
6,897 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Mike, we allready contacted this guy some months ago, they are a Russian and doesn't seem to bother about copyrights
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Mmmm dealing with Russian ISPs, not fun at all.

Just get the word out amongst the sites, hopefully they'll do the good deed, take them down, and delete the user account.

Its really the only way to solve these issues...
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Unfortunately, reverse engineering is perfectly legal in Russia, and I am not sure what kind of copyright agreements they have with other nations. Last I heard, you could rip and resell about anything you like.

So, the ISPs have no reason to delete them, since they are breaking no laws. Actually, the ISPs there could be liable for needlessly deleting someone's business account, as they would be here. If they 'did the right thing' and deleted someone's business, they could probably be sued black and blue.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So technically, I could reverse engineer Almediadev's and simply sell it with my branding over theirs? That sounds very innovative!
/me moves to Russia to revolutionize the industry.

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Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I've been in contact with them....but between my Russian and their English we understand each other perfectly....not...
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
MessiahWWKD: I dunno how they control internal trademark/copyright stuff. I do know that if you were to rip a Russian app like that, they could sue you here based on american law. odd, huh?

Jafo: no doubt they didn't want to understand. If they acknowledged you they'd lose all those free graphics.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Baker...I 'think' they understood...a bit...but I was trying to explain they needed to take down the skins until they had permission...but it's not happened as yet...
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You'll see more and more of it soon, as countries like Iran, China and other countries start seeing the profitability of hosting sites that need an untouchable locale. I dunno what will happen when non-western URLs are common. This is a huge problem that will be a driving force behind a segmented internet, I'm afraid. So many countries are trying to limit western influence, and at the same time beginning to understand the profitability of closing the doors to outside "legal intervention", or even investigation. That whole thing about China bringing out their own copy of windows 98 was a hoot, but it sucks when it is our skins, though.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, the good news is, they've replied to me and offered to remove my skin if I wish. I responded and asked them to take it down immediatley, so now I have to wait and see if they do.

/me has his fingers crossed

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Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Would a segregated Internet be that bad? Sure, it would essentially split the world into two different networks, but unless I'm mistaken, we wouldn't have to deal with spammers as countries that would be on our network would have the same or similar laws against it as we do. The other network could be like the internet underground, and I don't see how these companies that make money off other people's works could make money on the other network, considering that they'd simply rip off each other.

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Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
one thing we could do
he is showing through Russian server but maybe he is not selling with Russian provider.

We could basically stop him this way
this is the link to buy his stuff. So if at least he can show what he is selling, maybe we can force him to stop selling using this company.

https://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=5123-1
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Cool! If it can't be stopped at the source, then at least it can be stopped at its merchant!

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Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Good point, Alexandrie. In the case of Almediadev, they are in Russia, but their server is hosted by a US company. This could give us some bargaining power.

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