It strikes me as not supportive to be mad at them for a decision they obviously felt they need to make-probably due to figures they and not us are seeing.

I'm not mad at them - I don't own a single product of theirs and although I have read only great things about it I have little interest in flying in Australia no matter how good it looks - it may as well be the moon for all the personal connection I have with the place so I doubt I would download it even if it were freeware. But I imagine the download rate for whatever it is that has been pirated will go through the roof now that they have broadcast news of its availability to the whole community. They have probably damaged their sales far more than if they had just put an angry editorial in their forums. I agree with the locked support forums method as a start although it's doubtful whether that would deter too many pirates unless the product was flawed to begin with. But unless we want to go through an online verification every time we select a particular aircraft to fly then I don't know what can be done which would be acceptable to all of us.

But unless we want to go through an online verification every time we select a particular aircraft to fly then I don't know what can be done which would be acceptable to all of us.

Allow me to nitpick just a tad - acceptable to all of us - not going to happen. Acceptable to the majority while protecting the industry reasonably well, yes I think online checks would be very good solution.Hard to see what's so difficult about it anyway. Everybody here has internet and any, if not most addon sales are by download if I've understood correctly.

I just love how some of the "customers" in this thread made this out to be about them and not the big picture. How many here look the other way when they know someone that uses torrent sites and d/ls illegal software/music/movies? That person is sticking it to you, not just the developer who's product he is stealing. I love the cop-out answer of "the pirate wouldn't have paid for it anyway so you are not losing any sales", that isn't the point, the point is someone has stolen from you, has taken something you worked long and hard at. I had started working towards doing game design (not MSFS) full time a few years back but after having this happen to me and the events I had to go thru to get even a remote sense of satisfaction, decided against it as there are just to many people and obstacles that ENABLE pirates to continue doing what they do, which includes consumers turning a blind eye because it inconvenienced them. Until consumers start to support rather than criticize developers expect anti theft pain in the butt schemes to get a whole lot worse than better.Think about it, the torrent site had to get the upload from someone that actually paid for the product. To bad there isn't a service out there that has the jurisdiction to hunt that person down and "take care" of him once and for all.I don't own any ORBx products, but I love that they are taking steps towards "trying" to halt this, think I need to purchase some now.

I'm not mad at them - I don't own a single product of theirs and although I have read only great things about it I have little interest in flying in Australia no matter how good it looks - it may as well be the moon for all the personal connection I have with the place so I doubt I would download it even if it were freeware. But I imagine the download rate for whatever it is that has been pirated will go through the roof now that they have broadcast news of its availability to the whole community. They have probably damaged their sales far more than if they had just put an angry editorial in their forums.

Well I am the opposite, for I have bought just about every one of their products. Even though I live in Canada, the quality of ORBX sceneries have made me an honorary Aussie, at least virtually. Except for Misty Fjords and Vancouver Plus, I don't even bother flying anywhere else, because the FTX world is far more real than the best of scenery elsewhere. I support any effort they make to draw attention to the damage done to then because of thieves. What are they supposed to do, go quietly into the night? Yes, I heard what Mathijs Kok, who I greatly respect, said on the subject, but John Venema has a slightly different view on how to combat this crime, while both agree on the severity of the problem. Who is right? They both are, for both of them have been tireless in their efforts to secure the the intellectual rights of all developers. I wish them every success and back any reasonable tactics they devise, including shutting down for a day to prove a point.So how do genuine ORBX customers feel about not crossing the picket lines (so to speak)? I bet they agree with me, and perhaps some of them have even done what I just did. This afternoon I finished downloading their latest airport from the FlightSim Store, just to prove a point and make a supportive financial statement of my own. As far as pirates go, perhaps the Royal Navy had it right when they provided justice with a yardarm and a length of rope. Just kidding - barely.Spirit Flyeraka Stephen

I reformatted my PC about 6 months ago and haven't reinstalled AU-BLUE/GOLD/GREEN/RED yet (got sick of flying round Oz). If I wanted to reinstall these products right now would I be able to or would the Orbx site being closed prevent me from reinstalling?If I can't reinstall them then I will not be purchasing Orbx products again. Why? What happens when Orbx throws another "tantrum" and closes it site for good, then products I paid for are useless.Would seem to me that this tactic of closing the site to "punish" the pirates can only backfire. You have made one paying customer (me) seriously think twice about purchasing your products in the future.

EDIT: removed by meAl

I reformatted my PC about 6 months ago and haven't reinstalled AU-BLUE/GOLD/GREEN/RED yet (got sick of flying round Oz). If I wanted to reinstall these products right now would I be able to or would the Orbx site being closed prevent me from reinstalling?If I can't reinstall them then I will not be purchasing Orbx products again. Why? What happens when Orbx throws another "tantrum" and closes it site for good, then products I paid for are useless.Would seem to me that this tactic of closing the site to "punish" the pirates can only backfire. You have made one paying customer (me) seriously think twice about purchasing your products in the future.

Why Don't you give it a try and see what happens. I suspect installation will complete as usual they are still selling the product after all.and i think it talks to the flightsim store anyway.I understand your concern over what happens if I can't install it. But I don't think thats the case.As for Punishing the pirate, by closing the web site. I'm sure it isn't aimed at that, nor is it aimed at punishing the supporter/customer. It simply highlights an issue on the web site. perhaps there updating it!Personally I'm still a fan, I can't wait for the Pacific Regions to become available, and without a doubt what they have achieved with Australia is amazing especially when you consider the freeware work they continue to deliver to the community. And the Community's contribution via OZx Forums. Where there is an additional mass of smaller strips to download all free!I'd love to see that comunity do the Same for the Pacific North west etc.So for me The "tantrum" is only highlighting a fact that if we collectively don't play our part in stamping out piracy then. the future for our sim enjoyment will be restricted to a few freeware builders, most of whom are getting fed up with non constructive and negative comments from users who themselves aren't willing to try and develop but expect that others will produce endless high quality projects for there consumption.Finally can I say Thanks if your a developer :)

I reformatted my PC about 6 months ago and haven't reinstalled AU-BLUE/GOLD/GREEN/RED yet (got sick of flying round Oz). If I wanted to reinstall these products right now would I be able to or would the Orbx site being closed prevent me from reinstalling?

Perhaps it pays to read the whole thing and think for a few secs before launching a tirade. They said they will resume in 24 hrs. Or is it convenient to overlook facts when they get in way?

I completely agree with All.I've worked in the banking industry for years. Fraud, to use one example, has always been a problem and will continue to be. What if the bank suddenly "lost it" and shut it all down? No access to bank accounts, credit, and so on. Do you think the customers would understand? Do you think those that perpetrate fraud would even care? Different situation, yes, but only in degree.I've been on the fence about the products for a while as I've seen some things at Orbx that made me pause. This stunt just confirms my doubts. And, being the cynic I am, I would suggest this has as much to do with publicity as it does piracy.One sale lost.

It would be amusing to see how many developers are using fully licensed copies of Photoshop, 3DStudio, Visual Studio, XMLSpy etc to create their commercial products.

Ok... the presumption that developers use pirated software is funny. :(

Perhaps it pays to read the whole thing and think for a few secs before launching a tirade. They said they will resume in 24 hrs. Or is it convenient to overlook facts when they get in way?

Sure, but the question remains. Can I reinstall the products I paid for today and in the future if Orbx closes for good? The thought never occurred to me until the Orbx "tantrum" of 8/8/08.edit: I don't have time to try right now. But in any case I guess its sort of catch 22, if the products do need to be activated via the Orbx site then paying customers are out of luck, and if the products don't need activation at all then Orbx products will continue to be pirated.

It would be amusing to see how many developers are using fully licensed copies of Photoshop, 3DStudio, Visual Studio, XMLSpy etc to create their commercial products.

Very good point. Surely not every single dev is using fully licensed tools! :(

This was a maneuver to make the community think twice about pirating their software. But guess what? Pirates really don't care about what Orbx has to say. I don't mean that as a knock Orbx, that's just the way a pirate would think. Orbx is punishing valid customers for 24 hours for other peoples' behavior. I understand Orbx's frustration, but this seems like it's creating needless collateral damage. If they want to reduce piracy, they need to lock support and patches to paying customers. -Alex

Ok I also do not want to come off as I am knocking ORBX or any other developer - heck we all know how sometimes forum writing can really come off the wrong way! But what can we do about it as loyal and PAYING customers? I read that as a sign on a door of a business as if I cannot come in to their business because they have thousands of others coming in an stealing their stuff. That's not MY problem! Figure it out I guess - but again I don't want to come off as the wrong tone here, really though what can WE helpless HONEST customers do about the developers problems? Perhaps since we are small community anyway we can be on an "invite" only basis, but I'm sure the one's who do steal will still get their grubby little hands into the pot somehow!?

Well - the message said"We apologise for the inconvenience to our customers. Normal services and technical support will resume in 24 hours.To purchase Orbx products please visit:" etc..,It is entirely possible that someone - maybe the same a###, etc., that hacked Avsim has gained access to their server/s, perhaps placed a rootkit on it, and the high bandwidth useage was noticed and caught in the process of uploading their products to the hacker site. I would rip that network cable out of the wall - let alone shutting down the firewall and putting up that polite notice. If this is what happened - and it's likely - it must have been absolute mayhem in their IT department. They deserve our sympathy - not our anger.It's also entirely possible that OrbX staff have turned off their firewall (breaking the connectivity) too, so that your Visa, Mastercard, etc., numbers are also not stolen: hacking a site is not just about destroying data. This is one of those cases where I think they should be given the strongest benefit of the doubt, and we ought to just sit back and await their explanation. Regards,