Texture and Building Piracy in N'burg

I can't believe I'm making another one of these posts. I apologize for this. I'm just absolutely exhausted myself with these serial crises originating from the debacle that N'burg has become.

I logged in tonight to clear my messages and discovered that an individual in N'burg has pirated my archetypical Fachwerk (german home), using screen captures of the original structure that I let remain in N'burg as a gesture of kindness after my departure. The textures of this brown and white Fachwerk -- my signature structure and personal home that predates the city -- were the result of untold hours of toil in Photoshop. There is not a single person in the city who doesn't know how protective I am of this structure. For years I refused to sell a modifiable copy and eventually removed it from sale completely.

Even more disturbing is that the pirated structures seem to be sanctioned by the city itself as they have been erected on city-owned land. Given the disdain that individuals have for texture thieves in SL, I am just absolutely shocked that they let this happen in the city. Institutionalized piracy in a government sim is lunacy.

I've requested removal of the structures and am seeking restitution in their courts. However, given that they've established a foreigner has no right to due process, I'm concerned that I have no recourse except to ask the general public to boycott N'burg until it removes its pirated material.

/103/d5/103037/1.html

~Ulrika~

Now, considering N'burg is not next to any large body of water, how does this work?

BTW, this kind of 'piracy' talk reminds me of the RIAA/MPAA/BSA rhetoric

Think you're obviously using ancient dictionary Zonax. And a wordy one to boot, lol.

From the about.com dictionary:
pi·ra·cy (pī'rə-sē)
n., pl. -cies.

Robbery committed at sea.
A similar act of robbery, as the hijacking of an airplane.
The unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented material: software piracy.The operation of an unlicensed, illegal radio or television station.
[Medieval Latin pīrātia, from Late Greek peirāteia, from Greek peirātēs, pirate. See pirate.]

I would say that the third definition is the one in question.

Still can't get away from the feeling that this is a publicity stunt for Neualtenberg...but I sympathise Ulrika if your creations have been pirated.
Cali

No. It's just the fallout from abusive and exploitative behavior by a selfish and vindictive group of people. I had departed the group several months ago as a result of similar abuse, returning now to reassert ownership over my intellectual property. (I've been successful in having my copyrighted work removed from their website.) I was caught completely off guard by the city-approved piracy, though.

The official who is responsible for the use of pirated material on city land has admitted that the homes are pirated and is defending her position of using these knockoffs on city land: This is the same person who classified me as an N'burg "terrorist" a couple of weeks ago.

~Ulrika~

I can't say that I'm surprised to hear this.

Surpised in what way?

Similar to #2.

Perhaps I am missing something here....

One of the main ideas of N'burg was to form a socialist government, where the government would have a role to act in interest/protect of 'the common good'.

Now there's a dispute about a (former) citizen (founder) of N'Burg, whose architectural designs were not only commen in N'Burg, but one could say practically core to the central growth and theme of the community. And here she is, kicking up a stink because her rights to her own creations are being infringed on by the government of N'Burg?

What happened to that socialist spirit, that selfless thought of one's fellow man, to prove that by coming together for the common good, one could aspire higher than alone? To show that lofty thoughts and high goals could bring about a new utopia today?


Ohhh wait. It got affected by individuals who got greedy. Those who wanted something for nothing, and those who wanted to be rewarded for their hard work.

How *dare* they fall to the whims of human nature!


Welcome to *real* socialism in action, Ulrika. Drop by sometime, we'll show you how us capitalist dogs operate.

Btw I hope you win your fight for your texture rights. You really should benefit from your own work. Screw the common good!


- Newfie

I don't know if you make anything, but if you did, you're saying you wouldn't get mad if someone stole your work? You'd let it slide by and say it's for the common good?

that's capitalist pigdogs, Newfie. Capitalist pigdogs.

Ulrika, ever hear that Beatles song "Revolution"? Just goes to show there was yet another thing you weren't "first" at.

You're mistaken on two counts. First, N'burg is not Socialist and in fact currently has a very strong Capitalist government, which has privatized most of the shared community space. Second, Socialism allows the ownership of private property and supports the concept of intellectual property -- what your describing is Communism.

An important point to this discussion is that there are many homes similar to mine built by others (some vastly superior in quality) that are available for sale from other artisans. In addition to that source of structures, I left many structures behind as an act of kindness when I departed, so they are in no way deprived. There was no logical reason or justification to pirate my intellectual property.

It's as if it were judged acceptable because of the disdain that others have for me in the project. Because I am disliked I am open to institutionalized theft and abuse. It just really breaks my heart.

~Ulrika~

he's being sarcastic, chief. He's on your side. Really.

What's going on with these folks, Gabe? What should I do?

~Ulrika~

When did you get one of those? While you were on permanent hiatus?

Are you claiming that they actually copied the exact same textures and model, via GLI/edit parts or whatever, or just that they copied your design?

The person in question took screenshots of the original structure to steal the textures and then put them on a reproduction of the structure to make the pirated version. It looks like they've sold at least two and had four others up on city property with the permission of the government there.


The picture below is the original structure. Note how smooth the alpha layer blends on the window curtains and especially the white vertical bar in the center of the window.



This picture below is of the pirated structure. Note how jagged the curtains are and the lack of transparency on the white vertical bar in the center of the window.



That is how you pirate someone's work in SL.

~Ulrika~

Great tutorial! I think that's an acceptable loss of quality in exchange for not having to put in long painstaking hours in photoshop.

Ulrika, is it possible that this is a miscommunication rather than a deliberate attempt to profit off your work? It seems that despite the bad blood between you and the burgers, they still want to preserve much of the original look and feel that you gifted the city with. It also looks, from reading the other thread, that they're responding promptly and reasonably in removing the alleged violations before they've even been proven.

I have been asked (they pleaded with me! ) by most of my freinds in SL not to even comment on these threads so you won't see much of me on here today. That being said, I made one post on the other (almost identical thread) that give some insight into the reasoning behind the need for these structures and I will make a single post here to defend my honour.

I won't get into an analysis or description of how the textures were made etc. as that is what the troll in this case is hoping for.

I do want to state for the record that I am no "pirate" and that as usual Ulrika is using a lot of colourful language to place me and all of Nburg in the worst possible light.

It's lucky for her that SL is just a game as many of the things she has said in this thread and in the previous ones about how she was wronged by the Scientific Council ruling etc. are in fact libelous statements that I could sue her ass off in court over given that I wanted to do that.

Ulrika in my experience, does this all the time, essentially hiding behind the fact that literally no one would want to take the trouble to "out" their RL identity and engage in a long court battle merely to recoup some satisfaction and ten dollars worth of damages out of the likes of people like her for her intemperate remarks on a game forum. Thus the horrible accusations she makes simply stand.

In the end though I think a persons collective statements and actions speak for themselves.

People know me, and people know Sudane and Gwyneth and the type of people we are. People also know Ulrika. Please just judge for yourself who you think is likely to be spinning things a particular way here.

Other than that, being an older type person I will leave you with a small wisdom I figured out many years ago. When someone insults another person or is angry or feels hurt by them, they reach for the worst terminolgoy they can think of. They call that person by the names that they secretly fear themselves to be, and it speaks more to what that individual's greatest fears are than anythign the person they are lashing out at actually did.

In that light (if you believe my anecdotal remark that is ), please consider this summation by Ulrika of the situation she faces..... and wonder, like I do, if it's really her that's facing such behaviour.

It is neither a miscommunication nor an attempt to profit. Instead, a reply from the texture thief herself states that she was justified in reverse engineering the structure to meet a city obligation of providing new citizens with homes. It was not explained how this city obligation necessitates piracy instead of seeking permission or simply purchasing one of the many other styles of homes that are for sale in the city by other artisans. There is no shortage of beautiful structures from other artisans in that city.

They removed the pirated structures from city property and one citizen, who didn't realize he was sold a pirated structure, voluntarily removed his as well. Proof of the piracy is shown in this thread in the screen shots above and in the N'burg thread which shows a dialogue box with full copy, mod, sell structures owned and built by the accused (those cannot be posted here as it would name names in an SL forum).

I am now asking for a deletion of the knock-off structures (there are multiple versions) from the pirate's inventory and removal of the stolen textures from inventory and local hard drives. I will also seek damages in the city's legal system and punishment for the not just the pirate but the city official who admitted to approving the use of the pirated material to sell plots of city land.

Finally, I should state that this structure was built as my personal home before the city ever existed. I've always maintained full ownership of it; I only briefly sold it; and I have never offered up a modifiable copy. In fact the six or so remaining structures in the city are to this day still owned by me and not for sale. That I am protective of this structure is very well understood in the city and is what makes this such a personal and profound act of disrespect.

~Ulrika~

oddly enough, the curtained windows are my design which I gave to Ulrika for free use. If anyone had bothered to ask me, I'd have given them the original lace curtain window texture free and clear.

I think it would be a simple enough matter to redo the textures on these houses so they aren't Ulrika's and as Neualtenburg's reigning texture queen I'd be only so happy to oblige.

Of course you won't provide a description on how the textures were made. It's because you stole them using screen shots of my existing structure. How else does one explain the pictures I posted above?

Since you have now revealed yourself, I can name names. How do you explain these pictures, their ownership, and permissions?




You provide no absolutely no explanation except a character assassination and an attempt to wrap yourselves in the perceived reputation of others.

This is my structure. You do not have permission to reproduce it or disseminate it. You are therefore a thief and a pirate.

~Ulrika~

I don't understand. Are you saying that you want to modify the texture such that one cannot tell it is a pirated copy or are you stating that you'd help the city make its own unique structure so it wouldn't have to pirate existing structures? I am fully behind the later interpretation.

~Ulrika~

obviously the latter, Zug --you should know that about me

If you'll notice the structures on the other side of the platz are mine , unique and freely copyable already.

But then I'm N'burg's only remaining socialist.

Just because I'm feeling completely obnoxious today and I find these ongoing dramas to be like peanut M&Ms (t) (just one more, please!)...

This style of house
http://www.fachwerk-arge.de/images/willkommen.jpg
has existed in the real world for quite some time... Have any of those real life architects/ designers/builders (or their rightful heirs) given their permission to have their structures mimicked in SL? Have they received any compensation for their hard work and experience and creativity? Or, did you take (or look at) pictures of their work, futz around with the concepts and patterns in Photoshop, and call them your own?