Brothersoft hosting addons without permission - Page 2

Satrina · 06-20-09, 12:50 AM

Originally Posted by recluse

So, I wonder - are there any opensource type licenses which are safe to use for authors who wish their addons to not be distributed without permission, or is it more of a custom license authors need to implement? I know I searched through quite a few, but never found one that really suited what I wanted a license to do exactly.

In the case where there is no commonly accepted limited-distribution license available, perhaps we as a community should create and share our own license?

I'll make a new post for this

Drshow · 07-21-09, 09:23 AM

it seems they may be overwhelmed in the support department. In most cases the owner of the site is last resort. This come to us publicly From the Professionals at WhoIs

http://who.securepaynet.net/WhoIsVer...id=shawnsspace

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: BROTHERSOFT.COM
Created on: 12-Jul-02
Expires on: 12-Jul-13
Last Updated on: 10-Apr-08

Administrative Contact:
LiWei, Wang [email protected]
LiWei Wang [email protected] +86.13811079652
HanGuQu QiXingLi 17-2-304,
Tianjin, 300480
China
13811079652

not that i wanna say this is another spam related money making event by just one more Chinese gold farmer, but if the shoe fits, its probally the right size.

Marthisdil · 07-21-09, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by voodoodad

I'm not trying to be belligerent or anything, but let me make sure I have my facts straight. You guys will allow and post submissions to your site without any knowledge of license, author or anything else about where the software came from? If all that is true, then wow, that's kinda scary. One more question, do you guys scan submissions for viruses?

No it's not scary - it's like any other internet service provider. They don't need to be responsible for what is posted or transmitted (again, depending on what is stored on their systems, etc). But they do have to remove content if based here in the US and covered under the DMCA.

If something is hosted in another country that could give a flip about the DMCA, etc, then you're SOL and not much you could do.

But it's not scary - they don't need to review anything really as long as they respond appropriately to DMCA requests. Same goes for any other hosting provider out there, etc.

Marthisdil · 07-21-09, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by voodoodad

It would seem to me that accepting the submissions is one thing, but to actually go ahead and post them without any knowledge of what they were and if they should post them would be a whole other ballpark. I could post the entire text of a popular novel for download somewhere, but I wouldn't because I know it's copywritten. Now, even if I didn't know that for sure, I should and would assume the worst case scenario, and not post it anyway. To me, this is the same thing.

But, if you provided a service where people could post text, and someone else posted a copyrighted book on your service, you're technically not responsible for it, nor are you necessarily responsible for checking to see if it's copyrighted. If you get a takedown notice (here in the US) then you have to do it or face consequences.

Thus, to you, you are wrong.

Sythalin · 07-21-09, 10:38 AM

Compiled list of addons being hosted at brothersoft:

Addon Control Panel 3.1.0
OmniCC 2.5.4
Mappy 2.2.5
Market Watcher 2.01
LittleWigs 3.1.3
Combuctor 2.1.0
SavedInstances 2.2.2
Group Calendar 5 Clock 5.0d11
LunarSphere LunarSphere 1.04
Altoholic 3.1.003b
Titan Panel [DualSpec]
Mapster 1.2.2
RaidBuffStatus
Preform AV Enabler
Titan Panel [Wintergrasp] 1.1.3
MapCoords 0.5
Auto Destroy 1.06
Examiner 09.05.24
GBankSearch r20090417193929
TexBrowser r20081106041326
Necrosis LdC 3.0 (r221)
GridUnitMenu GridUnitMenu 30100.2
epgp (dkp reloaded) 5.4.12
Sheep Watch Continued 30016
AtlasQuest - Fan Update 4.3.4
TotemTimers 9.1k
EventAlert 4.2.25
ChatEventMonitor 1.32
DrDamage 1.6.9_beta-2
nUI 5.04.00
Ackis Recipe List r2109
RatingBuster 1.4.4
TweetCraft 1.0
RuneWatch (WotLK) 1.2.9
Guild2Guild 7.5.8
AuctionMaster 3.32
simpleMinimap 30000-5
Logger 0.22
Watcher 1.13b
Arena Unit Frames 2.3
ButtonFacade 3.1.270
SellFish 2.1.10
Gatherer 3.1.13
Outfitter 4.7.3
Auctioneer Suite 5.5.4293b
EPGPLoot2 2.0.10release
RangeDisplay 3.4.1
Natur EnemyCastBar r525509-R1
Face Smasher 1.3
Critline 2.1.1
Fontain r20090516001404
Quest Item 1.22
Baud Bag 1.401
OPie Delta 4
Auditor 4.3.0
ShockAndAwe 4.36
Honor Kills Counter 3.26
TradeskillInfo 1.4.5
AzCastBar 09.05.17
FastQuest 1.2
Dominos 1.9.4
TipTac 09.05.26
Sage Unitframes 3.2.6
AlphaMap 3.64.30100
Gladius r28
BigWigs Bossmods r5745-release
MonkeyQuest 2.9.2

Petrah · 07-21-09, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by Marthisdil

But, if you provided a service where people could post text, and someone else posted a copyrighted book on your service, you're technically not responsible for it, nor are you necessarily responsible for checking to see if it's copyrighted. If you get a takedown notice (here in the US) then you have to do it or face consequences.

Thus, to you, you are wrong.

You're wrong.

Hosting services are not responsible for policing their clients content. They are, however, responsible for what is on their servers. A hosting company does not own the server outright. They lease it from a data center who in turn has their own ToS/AUP. It is the hosting companies responsibility to follow those ToS/AUP, and I can guarantee that most, if not all, have something in there about copyrighted material. I know my data center does.

wavecutter · 07-21-09, 02:03 PM

Someone needs to send some DMCA notices to the host.

Sythalin · 07-21-09, 05:24 PM

Hey pmats, can you explain this then?

Let Moongaze know about his Lunarsphere project posted on the site. Here's his response:

... I know.

The deal was, I found out they did it when the person that uploaded it put my email address in for the contact information. So, I got an automated response telling me that it's up, and congrats and stuff. I was mad, of course, so I went to the site and was overwhelmed by the prospect that someone might be getting PAID for downloads of my addons, and I got more upset. So, I tried to log in with my "account" and I didn't have the password. But guess what? I could RESET my password and a new one would be sent to my email address. So, I did that. Got into my account ... and there is NO DELETE FEATURE. I had to send in a service request and ask for my stuff to be removed and, within a day or two, I would hear back from the people and the file would be removed.

... that didn't happen. Instead, I got an email saying that they got my delete notice and the information has been sent to the tech support team to be handled. And handling it means REMOVING my email from the account and setting it as NULL, changing the password, and locking me out of the site.

Yeah, I was pissed. I also informed a few people who had projects up there that they might not be aware of, and it looks like the stuff is still up there. So, whatever. I'll send another email and have the opinion that nothing will come of it. I don't think this service is operated in the United States and it, I think, is from China. If that's the case, I don't think there is much I can do anyway. *shrug*

You are full of it. I've already recommended he DMCA his mods. Personally, the entire site can simply go down at this point. Pardon the language, but I hate ****ing thieves like you guys.

Sythalin · 07-21-09, 05:30 PM

Here's some DMCA notification info via google for anyone who wants to push these guys out entirely (which I obviously support). Unfortunately, none of my work is up there so I cannot initiate it.

http://www.google.com/dmca.html#notification

Petrah · 07-21-09, 06:19 PM

Unless I'm mistaken, their nameservers belong to GoDaddy.

http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/legal_...=TRADMARK_COPY

Bluspacecow · 07-21-09, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by ChaosInc

You are full of it. I've already recommended he DMCA his mods. Personally, the entire site can simply go down at this point. Pardon the language, but I hate ****ing thieves like you guys.

Wait ..

Someones getting paid to upload other people's copyrighted work to Brothersoft ???

Might just be the fact I've had 7 hrs less sleep then I usaully have last night but when and how did that come up ?

Looks like Brothersoft are becoming the new wowmatrix - come out with a new addons thing ...make a few posts talking to the community. Then not getting the response they want completely ignore the addon author community ....

Oh dear I think I need a nap ... I'm making up conspiracy theories !

*finds a bed*
*DONK!*

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

***Dolby*** · 07-21-09, 06:34 PM

If they stop listening to your requests their data center is...

IP address: 174.133.21.132
ASN Name: THEPLANET-AS
http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois/?ip=174.133.21.132

Potential Trademark & Copyright Violations

If you believe that a person is using our products, services or computer network to violate your copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right, then please direct your complaint to [email protected].

http://www.theplanet.com/legal/

All US based data centers take copyright seriously (I assume other countries do too but have no experience) and once they investigate and find your copyright has been violated by their customers they will null route their ip taking the server offline until the content is removed.

Petrah · 07-21-09, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Dolby

If they stop listening to your requests their data center is...

IP address: 174.133.21.132
ASN Name: THEPLANET-AS
http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois/?ip=174.133.21.132

http://www.theplanet.com/legal/

The Planet? Good luck with that one.

***Cairenn*** · 07-21-09, 06:50 PM

If I recall correctly, we've dealt with The Planet before re another site and they were good about responding and taking the appropriate actions.

Petrah · 07-21-09, 07:03 PM

Perhaps they have someone new in their legal department, but the man I always dealt with (the same one my clients have dealt with), was never that nice, and very uncooperative. DMCA notices were one thing, but they have always refused to do anything about their clients direct linking copyrighted hand drawn graphics from my clients.

I suppose having an official fan site to one of the largest gaming companies in the world would make a difference.

***Cairenn*** · 07-21-09, 07:38 PM

Well, DMCAs and/or C&Ds were involved, since it was asking them to get involved after attempts at direct discussions with the offending site proved fruitless. Sorry I don't remember exactly, but we've helped so many authors deal with illegal distribution of their mods for so many years now that stuff tends to blur together over time.

Cralor · 07-21-09, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by Silenia

Perhaps they have someone new in their legal department, but the man I always dealt with (the same one my clients have dealt with), was never that nice, and very uncooperative. DMCA notices were one thing, but they have always refused to do anything about their clients direct linking copyrighted hand drawn graphics from my clients.

I suppose having an official fan site to one of the largest gaming companies in the world would make a difference.

My Hosts file has them blocked.

Petrah · 07-21-09, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by Cralor

My Hosts file has them blocked.

Aye... it does. I think it's funny lol.

MoongazeMods · 07-21-09, 08:11 PM

I take back the "Paid to upload addons" part. When I originally checked out the site (June 18th, I think), I thought I read "Pay per download" and everything related to it as "We'll pay you for every download" ... but I was wrong and it's you pay THEM per download, but they pimp out your upload so people can download it as premium content or something, where it's out there, and people can see it.

But yeah, the post from last month where the person who "worked" for BrotherSoft said that they are reacting and doing everything in their power to fix the problem is a bunch of hogwash in relation to my experience. They removed all traces of my email and website from the author profile, set the email as null or, maybe, brothesoft.com, and I couldn't reclaim it again. Also, they didn't delete it like they said. I sent more notices, one more today even, and we'll see where it goes. Funny, though, my notice earned me a new account there. I guess sending them a form post creates an account, pretty messed up if you ask me...

*end rant*

docbot · 08-31-09, 12:24 PM

Interesting.

I found this bbs and thread because I received a notice from brothersoft that "my software" - a program that I never heard of - has just been uploaded.

WTF?

Weirder still, the web page for the software at brothersoft points to mydomain.net. I don't own mydomain.net, but I do own mydomain.com. My guess is that the uploader mistakenly entered "user @ mydomain.com" in the email address so I got the message instead of him/her. SNAFU.

So after reading this thread, I was reminded that there is software that will distribute a software package to 100's of download sites in a few minutes. This is moderately useful for shareware authors, as well a to less ethical individuals.

Bottom line. Have you googled to find out if your software is on any more download sites?

--
doc