MSFS portover piracy

[mjahn 61]

Dear fellow simmers,

As we all know here, piracy is a terrible thing. Our Digital Dakota Works team has just seen a new variant of it, a quick and decidedly dirty MSFS2020 portover of our popular freeware C-47. As was to be expected, the thing is largely dysfunctional in MSFS, causes CTD’s, and generally looks and flies terrible. Still, the downloads go into thousands. Because I am given a “credit” in the upload wrapper - clickbait, clearly - these faults attach to my name and some simmers are even asking what am I going to do about them.

For the record: I am not going to give permission for a MSFS portover, ever.

I was able to talk to two PD servers that had the illicit upload and persuaded them to take it down, and to their credit, they did and apologized for it.

There is one organization that does not respond to multiple contact form messages and continues to have it on offer. The site goes by the name of Allflightmods.com: The biggest all flight simulator mods website. The uploader hides behind the name Treyeastland, on another upload it was somebody named Zach Gloss. I would be happy to speak to these people, but am unable to contact either or the webmaster of the site. Perhaps if they see this post they can drop me a line.

Here is my request to all simmers: do not download it, do not fly it, and if you see any pics or vids or threads related to it make it a point to comment and possibly link to this thread.

Many thanks.
Manfred Jahn

 

 

[stans 703]

It is sad that some people stoop to taking the work of others, modify it and release it to the public without permission. 

[DPSimulation 235]

Good to see you are not taking it lying down Manfred and that some places are responding to your wishes.

Unfortunately these people just see an opportunity with the release of the new sim and have a desperation to be first to release something for their five minutes of fame without any care for the both the creators and the content they are ripping off.

[jon b 2,047]

I spotted the C-47 and thought it looked nice, and in my ignorance I was going to download it for the new sim, until Someone In the know on these forums explained  that it wasn’t legitimate. So needless to say I kept clear, and reading this explanation of the full story I’m glad I did.

I hope you get this issue sorted, there needs to be honour and respect amongst the flight simulator community at all times.

[LHookins 3,103]

2 hours ago, mjahn said:

For the record: I am not going to give permission for a MSFS portover, ever.

 

2 hours ago, mjahn said:

Here is my request to all simmers: do not download it, do not fly it

I downloaded one version which CTDd after about 20 seconds.  It is definitely not worth it, even for a quick look.  All the functionality that makes your C-47 special is missing, and I doubt it can be added in the current state of MSFS, even as new development;  basic features are missing from MSFS.

I'm sorry this happened to you and I don't blame you for being upset.  

I doubt I'll be able to wait another 5 years for a new version, if you even decided to make one, so it's either back to P3D or a DC-3 from another vendor, or possible a conversion of the FS9/FSX DC-3 at this point and there's no guarantee that will work either as ports are problematic.

Good luck, Sir.

Hook

[Hiroshi_Igami 16]

Sorry to hear this.

As a same model designer    now people needs to  understand what can do is not what is permitted to do. 

Copyright is the rights we creator have.
And writing credit doesn't mean can do anything to the products made.  <- THIS IS IMPORTANT ... many people needs to learn.
If want something modded or  ported and want to release , ask before start doing and get permissions.

Seems this world is getting worse in these days.
Hiroshi Igami

[Chock 17,769]

Unfortunately the explosion of people doing stuff has made the wider MSFS world a bit like the wild west at the moment. I'm sure it will calm down in time.

Although some people are blatantly breaking rules, a problem some people using stuff have, especially when it is 'freeware' for a specific purpose, is that they don't understand what it means when they do so, in legal terms, so it is worth clarifying for anyone who is unsure about it:

Literally anything you, I, or anyone else creates as an original work that is not reliant upon, or derivative of another work, automatically becomes the creator's intellectual property at the point of creation. This means that all rights to it are, unless otherwise stated, not freely granted. 

So whilst it is sensible to write down a set of rules pertaining to this when distributing stuff you have made, even if you don't, this does not mean the rule about it being your intellectual property with you having been its creator, does not apply. It always applies. Thus any rights you grant with the intention of something being used for a specific purpose, are the absolute limit of that permission; nothing else can either be inferred or implied from that specific permission, and it does not need to be specifically stated in a EULA either, it is an automatic status quo as far as intellectual property is concerned.

Not only this of course, but it is really only courteous to ask if one can do something. Although some people think it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, in cases of abusing intellectual property rights, that's not true at all, especially if someone is feeling litigious. What this means, is that whether a creator writes a post such as this one or not asking people to 'knock it off' in regards to using stuff, the chances are almost every mod or whatever which is kicking about, is almost certainly infringing some intellectual copyright somewhere.

Unless you are knocking something up totally from scratch in a 3d modeling program, or creating a texture from scratch in a 2d paint program, or writing code from scratch, or using the samples from the SDK as the basis for something new where that permission is expressly granted, then you are pretty much guaranteed to be busting some intellectual copyright even if it was never explicitly stated that you could not do so; because as noted, that intellectual copyright status is granted automatically to the creator for an original work, at the point of creation.

People should be aware that ignorance of a law, is not a suitable defence. If anyone ends up distributing stuff and costing the originator money, they could find themselves sharing a cell, and bunk bed, with the kind of people who eat computer nerds for breakfast.

Edited September 5, 2020 by Chock

[mjw25 42]

I am so sorry this happened to you.... Sad that we won't have access for the MSFS2020 sim.

Best to you Manfred....   Michael J

[harrry 322]

First thank you for the many hours of pleasure and memories your rendition of the C-47 have given me.  First plane I flew in in real life when I was 6 and I can remember still looking out at the red roofs and cars getting smaller.

It is sad that a new generation will not get to experience this wonderful plane in either the real thing or your great rendition of it.

[vgbaron 3,620]

Manfred, I had picked up two of those that were posted here along with some FSX commercial ports and deleted them. We've posted a sticky about copyrighted material or freeware without approval. We'll keep an eye out for anyone trying to link to that site.

It is such a beautiful bit of work, do YOU have any plans to release a MSFS version down the road?

Vic

[Chock 17,769]

You should have a stab at making it the basis for payware version for MSFS Manfred. I think most people would happily throw thirty quid at it for a decent DC-3 with working switches etc. That way, MS would go after the pirates for you if people were dipping into their pocket. 😉  I can see it now: Shiver me timbers lads, there be the largest software company on the planet coming after us. 🤣

Incidentally, do you know why pirates are using free stuff to port things over? Because they yaaaaaaaaar!

Edited September 5, 2020 by Chock

[FrankR409 514]

I posted my concerns over the matter on the YT video, but the video creator is indifferent. Perhaps others could pay him a visit as well and let him know what we think of it.

 

[DPSimulation 235]

7 minutes ago, FrankR409 said:

I posted my concerns over the matter on the YT video, but the video creator is indifferent. Perhaps others could pay him a visit as well and let him know what we think of it.

The video author has changed the video thumbnail to say it isn't available, he's also explained why in the comments and directed people to this thread. What else does he need to be told about?

[Paraffin 2,197]

23 minutes ago, Chock said:

You should have a stab at making it the basis for payware version for MSFS Manfred. I think most people would happily throw thirty quid at it for a decent DC-3 with working switches etc. That way, MS would go after the pirates for you if people were dipping into their pocket. 😉  

I would certainly pay for a good DC-3, and will probably end up paying for more than one model, because everyone has a different take on it -- modern vs. vintage Sperry autopilot, degree of engine management realism, etc.

It's one of my absolute favorite aircraft. Only flew in the real thing one time, back in the 70's in Venezuela. 

[FrankR409 514]

2 minutes ago, DPSimulation said:

The video author has changed the video thumbnail to say it isn't available, he's also explained why in the comments and directed people to this thread. What else does he need to be told about?

He finally removed the link to the pirate site, it was still linked until a bit ago.