There was an information that until 5th of march one could delete one's addons as it used to be.

I tried that but I was only able to delete two of my addons.

After that I could only file a request to delete further addons if the site owner agrees to it and only if it is for copyright reasons or such.

 

just 4 information.

Edited February 19, 20233 yr by darshonaut

8 hours ago, leprechaunlive said:

Thats gonna be the next step. Their own private site for some, and alternative site that werent sexy anymore that might get a second life because of this. who knows! OR, back to .to IF they get a revision of ToS (and if they have a bit of trust left)

How to reach the user after you left .to?

• setup a freeware developer owned website, call it for instance fsimrouter.com
• as backend a sql server
• write access only for developer
• the freeware developer describe their work and set up a link to the place where their files are stored
• only allowing a few compressed pictures per product, to keep the bandwidth small
• each dev decides by himself, where he stores his files
• fsimrouter.com does not store the files but links to the place where they are stored
• to pay for the website’s running costs, place ads

Don‘t know if this would work and if the many freeware developer would pull this off together. I admit my approach is somewhat simplistic and idealistic because:

• someone has to do the work
• someone has to manage the site 
• the security of the distributed files is difficult to guarantee 
• the cost for maintaining fsimrouter.com
• and so on…

Edited February 19, 20233 yr by hhbrbg

2 hours ago, darshonaut said:

There was an information that until 5th of march one could delete one's addons as it used to be.

I tried that but I was only able to delete two of my addons.

After that I could only file a request to delete further addons if the site owner agrees to it and only if it is for copyright reasons or such.

The site also expanded in usability since its inception, right? I don't think it used to be possible to track your downloads so you are notified when a new version of an addon is released. What if deleting a file isn't simple on the backend, but requires manual work or needs a web developer to purge the data from a database?

This isn't directed at you specifically since others have brought it up as well... a lot of people assuming some nefarious plot to lock down and monetize content. Often the simplest answer is the correct answer, and I'm going to assume that deleting content is difficult, which is why extra hurdles are in place.

Edited February 19, 20233 yr by Funky D

12 hours ago, Zangoose said:

In terms of deleting - Only thing I found under "Visibility" is then a section called Deletion where you can submit a request to get it deleted. 

Yesterday I replaced my files with a single txt file containing the reason for their deletion.
Then I placed these files in "archived and no longer supported by the author"
Which means that I no longer have access to the visibility page to permanently delete the files.

Finally, I found the small icon at the very bottom left of the visibility page...
My 3 scenes LFTH - LFRL - LFTF and my D5 Turbi plane will be available on the site http://restauravia.fr/html/msfs.html

Edited February 19, 20233 yr by d5turbi
found answer to my question

My Triumvirate of African sceneries with 70 Airstrips and many animal POIs is now available on my private website.

https://darshonaut.blogspot.com/p/msfs-2020.html

Edited February 19, 20233 yr by darshonaut

This thread has gone off topic a couple of times. Originally, this thread's main concern was Flightsim.to and their Premium Membership. That said, that's not the underlining issue or in my opinion, the main concern at all.

 

The issue is simply with their Terms of Service Clause 4.3. COMBINED with the inability to delete your content permanently.

 

Although Flightsim.to has stated nothing but positive intentions, they are fully prepared legally to take royalty-free retainment of your content. Would Flightsim.to ever try to sell creators' Freeware? I would hope not. That said, after March 5th, if they wanted to, they could put a paywall on the entire website and profit off of their Freeware. Legally.

 

Obviously, I don't like this. Unfortunately, this has been in affect since September 2022. Many of the regular content creators have been aware of this deletion policy for quite some time and today things finally boiled over. It exploded in the community and Flightsim.to tried to recover by allowing a full deletion of any content by March 5th, 2023. Otherwise, they will retain your content. Whether your account is deleted, your files are archived or recycled, it doesn't matter, they will retain your files to distribute them as they see fit unless you request a formal removal before March 5th.

 

For low number downloads, deleting is as simple as hitting the delete button. For high number downloads, deleting needs to be formally requested through a support request. For very high number downloads, your request will more than likely be denied as your mod is considered a high-traffic item. Take GAIST for example, they were denied deletion. At Got Friends, we have a few mods that will more than likely be denied deletion. We only hope that flightsim.to keep their "Good Faith" commitment and allows total deletion, no questions asked, if requested before March 5th.

 

Two things I really want to clarify for new viewers to this thread:

 

#1: If you are a Flightsim.to Creator: You need to look carefully at the TOS, Anti-Deletion Policy, and Flightsim.to Team and make a decision that is best for your work. Some people may choose to continue uploading and supporting flightsim.to. That is fine. However, some creator's, like myself, are already dipping their toes into Payware and find it best to not take a gamble with their hard work. That is fine as well.

 

#2: If you are a Flightsim.to User and not a creator, then don't judge anyone for leaving or staying with flightsim.to. If you want to find your favorite mod, I'm sure the creator will find another method to distribute it.

 

 

@darshonaut

Thank you for posting that link - I hope others removing content will do the same.

On 2/17/2023 at 9:20 PM, regis9 said:

I  have no issue paying $5/month.  I do think that content makers should be getting a better deal though…that needs to change or this will all backfire.

I agree.  That's £4.15 or about 14p per day. 

There's some great stuff on the site.  

Throw them and the creators a bone.

10 hours ago, RonVandermeer said:

Thanks… I didn‘t noticed this section when I had a first look and temporarily unlisted my livery. But now I was able to ask for deleting it and got a positive response just one minute later.

Which reason did you select?

only 2 choices ah ah

I'm removing mine, they are available at >>> Simvol <<<, except RAAS at the moment.

Edited February 19, 20233 yr by roland_lfor

licensed payware does have its advantages for the developers…

& excellent freeware is always highly appreciated!

It’s a shame things have gone in this direction, and devs having to go to a variety of other sites or set up their own is quite the pita, although totally understandable.

Maybe devs could post links to their updates here as they happen?

If, as an addon creator, you cannot remove your files from flightsim.to, then nothing should prevent you from uploading a "new" version of it containing nothing but a text file, which would itself contain the expression of your deepest feelings toward the website owners and their lawyers, for example 🙂

Here we are, all my contents have been deleted.

1 hour ago, Daube said:

If, as an addon creator, you cannot remove your files from flightsim.to, then nothing should prevent you from uploading a "new" version of it containing nothing but a text file, which would itself contain the expression of your deepest feelings toward the website owners and their lawyers, for example 🙂

Yep, after reading all reactions, it sounds like a no big deal for amateur dev like me. Flightsim.to can keep whatever old version(s) if they want to waste storage. For now, I benefit from their quite full a feature web site and the publicity. 

For those, who are tempting to go to payware, it's time to find a proper market place and build their own business plan.

I have had my own site and filebase for 10 years. Whoever wants to find me always finds me, and whoever doesn't, just doesn't. And if that's too complicated or restrictive for you, you can build your own add-ons. Everyone is free to do that.
For me, developing is what flying is for others. First and foremost, I do it as a hobby for myself and if others like it, they can have it. But not for clicks and the profit of another platform.
I alone decide when I delete my work and property or not.
According to Flightsim.to's own information, it had 33 million downloads. With the advertisements alone, you can book 2.3 PT (petabytes!) of storage space per year (without discount). This is now a hard-core business model in which the freeware developers are the free suppliers. If you need it for your ego, you're welcome. I don't need it.