PIX SO suite was ripped and it is being distributed for free by the ripper!

As said in anaother thread (Another Rip) I already sent an e-mail to themexp.

thank you c242
it seems that it is allready down in theme XP

Yes, it is gone. But I really wonder that it has had such a big amount of downloads (over 2700). It must have been there quite long. Don't they have moderators there ?

If they do, they don't seem to care until you hit 'em with a stick

Hmm. that other site is a warez site. I wrote them a mail nevertheless. This person really deserves some punishment...

Treetog,

You should send the author and ThemeXP a bill for services @ 2700 x $9.75 = $26,325.00 USD.I'm sure that would get their attention. Pressing this matter with legal action would certainly set an example and probably send out a wake up call to all these sites that they are responsible for the content their servers deliver.

Knowing all your hard work Treetog, they couldn't tempt me to download it, I would rather pay double for it to respect your name.

Renato....kith has quite a good idea there...

Renato / Johanne....if I can just work out how to get this 'Pixtudio' email account working I'll formulate a letter of demand to Themexp, its principals, and its administrators to recover funds lost through irresponsible mis-management. They, in turn can pursue the person who posted the rip for recompense.

Strange thing about site disclaimers claiming to absolve the site from responsibility....they're never 100% in the clear....

Jafo, does ThemeXP have any site TOS? I don't seem to see one. (Of course, my ad/script blocking does eliminate some stuff from sites, but I'm not especially inclined to disable it for that site.)

I just don't recall seeing anything that provides rules for what can or cannot be uploaded there. I don't see any disclaimer either, though. But as you say, disclaimers can be worthless, especially if there's no real TOS and advisories regarding acceptable, unacceptable or illegal content. Clearly copyrighted material/trademarks, etc are allowed there as one can readily see from the walls section.

hehehe chinese writing

My email to a quite helpful Admin at themexp.org, who has always been prompt in responding to concerns of ripping, etc....[thanks, Greg]...

Greg....Hi...

It seems we have a bit of a problem when a site 'hosts' stolen [ripped] works which are in fact themes only available through purchase from the original Authors.
As you will understand, this equates to property theft, not just copyright theft...[which is bad enough].
Since 2600+ downloads were made through themeXP.org, that equates to approx 26,000 dollars US of lost [potential] earnings that Pixtudio.com are entitled to.

Now, although responsible action was taken by themeXP.org following notification of the fact, there is an inherent duty of care as a facilitator of property distribution to make every effort to ascertain proprietorship of anything/everything submitted to the site.

The person who uploaded the stolen work is ultimately responsible. Your obligation[s] is to forward any and all details of his account/name/address/email so appropriate Legal Action can be taken to exact compensation.

Property theft is a crime.
The Internet is no different to any other entity, and appropriate compensation will be forth-coming from any and all parties involved in the theft and handling of property.

There is absolutely no legitimate defence for this person's actions. Any and all defenders/supporters should suffer immediate expulsion from any and all websites hosting/involved with skins and skinning.

Anything less is inappropriate and cannot be condoned.

OK, so I sound like I'm coming down 'heavy', well, I am....I'm sick to death of these little kiddies stealing from, and abusing genuine artists' property and rights....and I know you're of a similar mind.

Somehow, every skinning site needs to be 'linked' in a way that can aid in policing these thefts....interaction between the various admins so that nothing of this sort can happen, or, if it does, unilateral action is taken by every site to eliminate the wrong-doer....permanently.

At the end of the day, we all want a harmonious, congenial skinning community to thrive...

Post this publicly if you so wish....call it a 'wake-up' to all those idiots out there...

Cheers,
Paul Martin
Jafo
[Admin...Wincustomize.com]
[Admin...Pixtudio.com]
[Senior Member...Deviantart.com]

It is really great to have friends, thank you all guys for the support and a special thank you to you, Paul

treetog, maybe public key encryption could be added to the function of the installer?

each time a person installs it, they have to enter their email address used to purchase it, and also the serial number used to purchase it, then they get sent a key for that one install...

the key could be a temp file created for use only during the install and at compleation it ets deleted, even hide it out in never never land on the drive and not in the theme dir, install dir, temp, etc... make a folder is oh, Windows (WinNT) \media\goof\public.key +r +s +h ....

does the install, and the key go'es poof...

or you could even generate the key while they are online and email it to the registered email addy as an attachment, they keep it local... if that key hits the net, you know who did it...

just some thoughts, silly as they might be

Plural,

That is a great idea, but it would have to be implemented into the skinning engine to work. You still end up with a folder full of bitmaps and such which can be easily converted into another format. The Pixtudio suites do require a credit card, email, and serial to execute the installer. I don't know of a skinning form that even attempts to encrypt it's graphics except maybe Luna. Hmmm.... maybe WB5...

As far as I know a TOS does not remove all liability from the owner of a server if the content is publicly available. Neowin learned that lesson last week...

actually that was what I was thinking...

Oh no, a disclaimer means squat when your service ends up providing stolen products.
It is like having an consingment shop and someone is dealing in stolen good and selling them through your services, you are still dealing in stolen goods. The police might give you a break if you work with them on the investigation, but, you would still be breaking the law, even with a disclaimer.. In order for such a thing to work you would have to attempt all possible means to ensure the things were in fact not stolen or that your storing and providing them to others was not in fact breaking any law, and at the same time prove you did it... I am betting ThemeXP wouldn't pas either of those acid tests...

not out of design, but lack of controls, checks and balances...

btw all those Beacon clones are ok?
the ones on themexp that is...

I also noticed the "Corona" skin on themexp. Should look into this somebody. Here is link. http://www.themexp.org/view.php?n=45&type=vs&order=&c=5&catid=

And now "razorart" Here is http://www.themexp.org/view_info.php?id=5422

Beastatron...if the original authors indicate that consent for these 'ports' was not given then I'll be in a position to pursue the matter for them...but clearly the actuality of a 'crime' needs to be verified first...

Well I downloaded both and couldn't find any permission from any authors.

Treetog, you probably have a screenshot of this skin on your site not? I think the person who ripped it, just builded the skin from your screenshot. You might want to have the worth pixtudio over your screen, with a oppacity of 10%, like they do at guistuff: http://www.guistuff.com/gui-bin/screener0005.jpg
Maby this is an idea. Its still is possible to rip it, but I'm sure its alot harder.... Else, just send him "the bill"

you know thinking about it, if you become an affiliate, and are also doing commercial packs, that could be a good draw/bait for becoming an affiliate. The ability to also have some security built into your pack that works in conjunction with the skin engine, or a couple of common dll's for the SD products for error checking and some such.

just a thought, screwy as it might be and way of any conceivable mark

After reading this thread, I am going to QUIT using styleXP and got back to my stardock products. Whenever you ask StyleXP for new skins it takes you to themeXP. Since I don't want to be a part of anything illeagel, I'm gonna use DX instead and stick to this awesome site. I'm thinking about doing my own skins as well, wish me luck.

luck

thanks. I'm starting with just wallpapers and my own dock, that should keep me busy and I might learn something.