In an accompanying news item we report that the firm Carenado has allegedly breached copyright law by offering their Cessna 172 FS2000 add-on with the majority of a flight dynamics file produced previously by a freeware developer—without permission, and without appropriate credits. So with the story already published, why do we also feel the need for this editorial?

Because "piracy" is a term we hear all too often today. But just what is piracy? Some will say it is quite simply the use of someone else's work in a product you call your own. But as with most things in life, it is not that "simple." Piracy carries the connotation of both ethical and legal violations. And therein lies the trap that has snared many a journalist.

You see it is impossible to find a standard on which to base ethical violations. The ethics of one person or group may be quite different from another. And in most cases there is no right or wrong, just subtle variation. So that leaves us with only the second part of the piracy connotation to base judgment on – the legal violations.

In the flight simulation community, this deals exclusively with the Copyright laws adopted by various nations. Basically, any work produced and published by an individual, which is verifiably independent of the work done by those who have previously published in this arena, is covered by the Copyright laws of the country or countries where published.

Yet even that is overly simplistic. While simple to invoke, these are some of the most complex laws to interpret and enforce. When one begins to deal with products distributed internationally, the level of complexity grows exponentially.

But this is nothing new to any of the hundreds of freeware, shareware and commercial software developers in the flight simulation community. It is why they no longer rely on just the copyright symbol and a date to protect their products. Instead we now see developers spell out their rights and attach them to the products or make them a required part of the install process.

The journalist's role...

So why now choose to present this editorial on piracy, copyrights, linguistic connotations and the rest? There have surely been many allegations and proven acts of copyright violation in the past and will surely be in the future.

Because it is most often the journalist who becomes the medium by which claims of copyright violation are investigated and brought before the public eye. Yet bringing such a claim to light opens the journalist and his publication to both libel and slander suits. While the First Amendment offers widespread protection to journalists, it is not carte blanche to accuse a person or entity without providing sufficient evidence and documentation to support the contention as well as ensuring it does in fact breech the specific language of the developer's copyright notice.

As you now know, AVSIM Online faced just such an issue over the last 72 hours. Allegations that Carenado had violated the copyright rights exercised by freeware developer Steve Small of Australia, and others are being substantiated with concrete evidence. Most recently, Lou Betti of Dreamfleet has provided supporting evidence relating to gauges used by Carenado.

AVSIM policy requires that when a journalist or anyone else makes allegations such as this, they must immediately provide the supporting material, including the conclusions and qualifications of any third-party expert(s) who have analyzed the material in question. If this standard is not met, the posts, be they in AVSIM Forums or submitted as news items, will not be tolerated. In the case of Forum posts the thread will be pulled and the membership of the author immediately revoked.

...And what of the forums?

The AVSIM Forums are not a "public pulpit." They are instead a medium owned and moderated by AVSIM Online for the free exchange of ideas among members of the flight simulation community. But there are standards that go with forum membership-and even more importantly legal statutes related to forum participation.

The latter were an issue in this case. The United States court system has on many occasions ruled that a media outlet can be held accountable for libel and/or slander merely for publishing the wrongful allegations of a third-party. The management of AVSIM Online takes great pride in its forums and its reputation as the premier journalistic source for the aviation simulation news and reviews.

While we will fight documented and verifiable cases of Copyright violations, we have worked too hard to get where we are today to allow anyone, staff or otherwise, to jeopardize our reputation and that of those who give their time freely to keep our readers informed. Unsubstantiated allegations are just as heinous as copyright violations and we will tolerate neither.

Facts independently confirmed

As the front-page story indicates, an AVSIM investigation has independently confirmed the evidence to support the airfile allegation and there appears to be conclusive evidence to support the use of copyrighted gauge files as well. Our investigation continues to try and independently verify these claims. However, we are neither copyright law experts, nor a court of law. We are journalists and merely report the facts as we find them. Any charges or trials are the purview of law enforcement and the justice system. In addition, it is only the aggrieved developer(s), not AVSIM Online or any other outside party, who has the power to pursue this claim further.

One other item of note is that Steve Small, the developer of the airfile allegedly used without permission, originally wanted to handle this matter himself with Carenado. It was only because of outside pressure that he was forced to air this allegation in a public forum

Once Small made the decision to go public, he cooperated fully with AVSIM Online's investigation and assisted a staff member with expertise in flight dynamics, or airfiles, to identify digital fingerprints inserted for just such an event. Once the evidence reached the credibility threshold we have set in such cases, AVSIM Online reported the story to provide facts in the face of rumor.

At this time, this is the only allegation independently verified by AVSIM Online, though the evidence provided by Dreamfleet's Lou Betti relative to gauge files is also quite compelling. AVSIM is working to independently verify that evidence as well. However, we remind all readers that the allegations in this case are just that – allegations. Carenado denies they have used the work of anyone else and stand by their product saying the similarities that may exist are purely coincidental. Where the matter goes from here rests with the developers. It would likely be a tough and dirty battle.

The problem lies with the superb talents of many involved in the development of add-on products for the Microsoft Flight Simulator platform. As they get closer and closer to accurate virtual representations of real-life aircraft, it is logical that the design and structure of files for the same aircraft will be very similar. This will make differentiation very difficult in the case of panels and textures and not much easier for gauges and flight dynamics files, though those developers who know how to plant stealthy digital fingerprints will have an advantage.

Despite the inherent difficulties, AVSIM Online will work tirelessly to help developers protect their copyrights and bring credible evidence of violations to light. We will also commit just as much effort to unveiling those who try to use unsubstantiated rumors to harm the reputation of developers who play by the rules.

But the eventual answer will require a community-wide effort of some form. We stand ready to lead and/or work with such an effort.