[bzeitler]

Over the last few months, I have noticed an increasing trend of unathorized ports being created by windows "themers" To me it is a very troubling trend. It used to be that windows themers would wait for an osx theme to be released, then seek permission to compelete a port, then complete the port, then release it.

Now it seems that themers cant even get a theme complete before ripped off crappy versions of their themes are distributed on various customization sites. It is one thing when an author of a theme refuses permission and the theme is released on a platform and you want to do a port for "personal use" Even though I dont condone this, it is understandable. But at least you are porting a complete theme.

To me, it is entirely different when a theme isnt even complete before people start ripping it to windows. To me, this behavior should not be tolerated. The great themers such as Susumu, who have both released windows and osx themes do not deserve to have their worked ripped and distibuted when they are going to release a windows port anyways.

Some might say that themers shouldnt show off their work before it is complete, but it shouldnt be this way. To me, it is frustrating to see bad versions of my themes being distributed and people willingly downloading and using them.

I wish that the new breed of windows "themers" would have more respect for there osx counterparts. It is because of these "violations" that so many themers choose not to allow their work to be ported to windows.

Lately, I find myself falling further into the category of themers who would rather not deal with the hassle of windows themeres ripping apart a theme. I DO like working with windows themers to bring a port to windows but I would like it to be an "official port" which means higher quality for everyone. But it is getting to the point where nothing can be screenshotted because the next day it will be ripped.

I am certainly pro emulation because of all my time spent on the windows platform making themes, but I just wish people had more respect. If you want to port a theme, ASK PERMISSION. You will get it. Least from me. But if you post screenshots of an unathorized port, you will never be granted permission. And to those of you who think naively that these unathorized ports dont get distributed, you should have checked yangbao's website last week and downloaded his version of alluvium magnite.. :S

thoughts?

[Seph]

Remember people, this is coming from one of the most fruitful windowblinds themer this community has ever seen.

I agree completely with you BZ. I would prefer to wait a little and have a perfect port than have a half assed port like the crap that is being released over PM. Utter crap, really.

[shmengie]

dude, how can anyone argue with that? i would add only this: while i agree with you and do not condone ripping, you've heard the saying, 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.' so, while it sucks that peeps are ripping your work, can you at least take some small satisfaction in knowing that people like your work and want it?

but again, yeah, you're right.

[tide]

i hear ya bz!!! its a horrible thing and we should put the people who do such in camps, or make them wear tin foil so we know who they are!

[Willy]

I'm with you in all your points man , however we can't do anything to stop them(if they're gonna do it anyway)Thanks for the heads up .... how about this ?

1.- Screenshots with themes that hasn't been completed or haven't received permission from authors follows screenshot removed and/or package removed and a warning .

That way they'll know ripping themes and distributing them without permission will not be tolerated and wil have consequences . I really don't know , I support your work Bz.. please don't let something like this discourage you

[Seph]

tide said:

i hear ya bz!!! its a horrible thing and we should put the people who do such in camps, or make them wear tin foil so we know who they are!

I would advise you to stop watching the History Channel. This is a rather serious discussion.

Yangbao is banned because of this, and i am ready to ban other "themers" that start ripping from screenshots and sharing with everyone their half assed crap ports.

[tide]

Seph said:

I would advise you to stop watching the History Channel. This is a rather serious discussion.

Yangbao is banned because of this, and i am ready to ban other "themers" that start ripping from screenshots and sharing with everyone their half assed crap ports.

im taking this seriously, if i was a theme producer i would be pissed if i saw this happening to one of my themes! i would tell everyone it wont be released now due to that one person who messed everything up, and use it for personal use!

[Unbeliever]

1.Link me to yangbao's site and it will get a nice server load so bastard will have to pay for it
2. I suggest we officially scrap the 3 strikes policy towards rippers and activate permaban for everyone who rips a theme or anything else
3. No more unauthorised ports in screenshots thread with instant 1 month suspension for the offenders

I know these rules won`t be popular but i don`t give a ****. I`ve never cared about popularity and i can`t accept that people like B are being treated like ****.

I say, bring it on...

EDIT: Typos

[Willy]

Unbeliever said:

1.Link me to yangbao's site and it will get a nice server load so bastard will have to pay for it
2. I suggest we officially scrap the 3 strikes policy towards rippers and activate permaban for everyone who rips a theme or anything else
3. No more unauthorised ports in screenshots thread with instant 1 month suspension for the offenders

I know these rules won`t be popular but i don`t give a ****. I`ve never cared about popularity and i can`t accept that people like B are being treated like ****.

I say, bring it on...

EDIT: Typos

That's what I'm talking about

[sakurakira]

Unbe doesn't mess around haha. Anyway, I'm not surprised that this is going on, and I think that this trend has grown (or seems to have grown), because of various forums Like Aqua-Soft, Aero-Soft, Neowin etc, where desktop screenshots (containing unreleased themes) are posted. With (relatively) easy to use programs like Style Builder available cheaply, its easy for a person to make a (however crappy) port of an unreleased theme just from screenshots. And I have a feeling that those people take screenshots of their illegal ports and post them because they think it raises their status.

Take Samui as an example. There were tons of screenshots posted in the past couple of months before the official port was released, of people with the Samui theme. I know of two specific versions that were out, and to my knowledge at least one of them is still available for download. In anticipation of the official release, I must have gone back and read the locked thread 5 times, and I resisted the urge to download one of the illegal versions, because I beleived that BZ would release a port. And I'm glad I waited.

I think it's sad to resort to such tactics as Unbeliever has suggested, but I think they're necessary to show that Aqua-Soft does not tolerate or condone such behavior. Because it won't stop. As long as people think think they are being deprived of something, or don't have one iota of patience, they will continue to make illegal ports.

To the various themers: please know that I greatly appreciate your work, and will support you 100%, whether you release Windows versions or not. <3

[Hobbes]

Well we all were doing is discussing, the question is, what are we going to do about it?

@ Unbe :
I don't mean to be a pain, but you mods continually talk about members being mature,
I don't think crashing someones server is verry mature is it ? You would only be lowering
yourself to their level of intelligence.

[Unbeliever]

Hobbes said:

Well we all were doing is discussing, the question is, what are we going to do about it?

@ Unbe :
I don't mean to be a pain, but you mods continually talk about members being mature,
I don't think crashing someones server is verry mature is it ? You would only be lowering
yourself to their level of intelligence.

Did i ever mention crashing his server? I said that server traffic will increase and he will have to pay for it. I don`t see anything wrong with sharing the link with a few friends who will display their honest interest in the theme and download it. How many times they download it is another story though.

Oh and if you think that is wrong, you should take into account that i PMed him few times, even gave him a second chance but he disregarder all and continued like an asshole. In the end he was banned. He doesn`t deserve better in my eyes. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.

I will discuss my propositions with the rest of the staff andl let you all know when that happens.

[jhorner]

Unbeliever said:

3. No more unauthorised ports in screenshots thread with instant 1 month suspension for the offenders

i personnally dont see that working. i know im going against the governing bodies here again, but it seems to me if your going to do this...your going to end up banning quite alot of people. i for example posted a ss of a theme i "edited" as do many other members in this community.

I.E. ( Willy : Thanks a lot Jonaz and Augie , I'd love to release it but COTL didn't allow any mods of his themes ( normal X-metal hasn't been even updated to Tiger yet ) . - Link -

I just dont see how your suggestion to fix the problem is logical.

[Unbeliever]

jhorner said:

i personnally dont see that working. i know im going against the governing bodies here again, but it seems to me if your going to do this...your going to end up banning quite alot of people. i for example posted a ss of a theme i "edited" as do many other members in this community.

I.E. ( Willy : Thanks a lot Jonaz and Augie , I'd love to release it but COTL didn't allow any mods of his themes ( normal X-metal hasn't been even updated to Tiger yet ) . - Link -

I just dont see how your suggestion to fix the problem is logical.

SS thread is where trouble starts & where illegal ports change hands. They also create the market for unauthorised ports and that`s where "undergound porting heroes who defy evil OSX themers" get their kick. It is obvious that someone who posts a "What is that line of icons in your SS?" on Monday and showcases a Niqu (or any other unauthorised port) on Tuesday, couldn`t have made the port by himself for his personal use. It just shows themes are changing hands and that something has to be done about it.

OSX themers have rights just like any other artist has and if they don`t want their theme ported (for any given reason), their rights must be honoured. Even though i don`t agree with their decisions, i have to respect them.

If you don`t like this suggestion, why not contribute with your own? (and i meant this in the best way)

I think this needs to be dealt with and i welcome all suggestions.

[jhorner]

I will give my opinion, however i feel that it carries little weight after my recent outbursts. Personnally i liked Willy's idea ( 1.- Screenshots with themes that hasn't been completed or haven't received permission from authors follows screenshot removed and/or package removed and a warning .) . I know that is alot of work for the admins but to me a straight up banning seems harsh. I think that if you let the community know (like in the "Desktop Guidelines") that certain themers do not want there work ripped (which they could state in the SS thread on their post) then (maybe) people would be considerate towards these themers and respect their wishes. i can understand BZ's point because the stuff is sooner or later getting released to WIN. but i feel if you threaten people rather than trying to coax them into doing what u want, then ur just going to make the situation worse. maybe im just being positive about the situation. u have to deal with it on a daily basis, so i cant really give correct input.

otherwise, it would be the themers call on submitting a SS that is not yet completed or ported. i can understand both sides of the situation, i still feel; to me personally that it would be flattering, but i can understand that the themer worked hard on his/hers work and that seeing a shotty port could piss them off. im rambling now, so the point was i liked willy's suggestion.

p.s. - sorry for spellling

[Unbeliever]

Well i never intended to ban anyone in the SS thread unless they break the rules.

A warrning would be posted in the first post regarding unauthorised and unfinished works. Only if a member broke them, staff would inteveine.

[jhorner]

i see. i was just going by...

Originally Posted by Unbeliever
3. No more unauthorised ports in screenshots thread with instant 1 month suspension for the offenders

very well then. have a nice day

[sakurakira]

jhorner said:

i for example posted a ss of a theme i "edited" as do many other members in this community.

There's a difference though, between modding an existing theme, or combining several themes into one, for personal use (as many customizers have done, including myself), and between making a full on identical rip of a theme that isn't even released yet for the OS that someone posts a screenshot of. Especialy when they then go and offer it up for download somewhere and pat themselves on the back for their ingenuity when they had no right to do it in the first place.

[Willy]

Thanks jhorner , and yeah , those measures to ban more time should be taken when a grave action has been done by a member ( aka distributing a theme ripped from preview and taken all the credit as his/her ) I don't have any problems with mods I.E like the one I made with Niqu glyphs and X-metal windows ( again I don't distribute it anyway )

I guess the final decision is upto the staff but this is how I feel , separate mods and private use from Ripping previews and distributing 'em .

[duyvan82]

well i kinda understand the reaction of Bz, Unbe and Seph. It is indeed very sad to see themers such as Bz and co got pissed by those who claim themselves 'themers'. However I don't think Unbe's decision is reasonable. Take for example COTL's themes, or Niqu, they are finished themes but we will never get permission to port them, so according to this policy, we must not post ss of those themes? I think it's not fair, IMO posting screenshot and distributing themes are 2 completely different things. BUt in the end, it's up to you guys to set the laws here, just my 2 cents