Chinese pirat: ALICE PAPERMODEL

[jaffro]

Originally Posted by mbauer

What gets me most about these pirate sites:
They steal the photos of the completed models, constructions photos, etc..

Too lazy to even put one together to take their own photos.

Might not sell as fast if designers didn't post any photos, just used text to supply info about the kit.

Alice sells the Claudio Dias Mad Max Interceptor, he has plenty of pictures on his site but the Alice page used pictures of my build from a build thread I did when I built the model. They are always going to find pictures somewhere and for all the reasons already mentioned, we are never going to be able to stop pirates like this from selling other peoples work.

What we can do, as part of a large online community, is do our best to educate newcomers to the hobby about how and where to obtain models from the proper channels.

It might also pay to add known pirate website urls to the censorship filters of forum software on popular forums such as this one and others so that the website links will automatically be removed from posts like the original one in this thread.... just a suggestion.

[OgdenBob]

Originally Posted by airdave

I'd say the first option.
Sharing my model without my consent or understanding.
In this case the original owner or author is deliberately being ignored.
The "crime" is clear...there is no gray area.
These people know exactly what they are doing and legalities don't matter.

The second option is just about making money.
Yes, there is little concern for the the original author or owner,
but in many cases it's a "crime" of ignorance.
(Ignorance of copyright and redistribution laws, as well as personal property).
The laws and legal concerns are not as clear and easier to ignore or misinterpret.

There are still many people who feel that if they acquire something for free,
it gives them free reign to do whatever they want with it.

The problem with Alicemodel is a problem beyond these questions.
Alicemodel and other companies like them are just flat out thieves and con-artists who are
knowingly stealing items from places outside their borders, assuming they can't be touched
by Western authorities and reselling those items (as their own) with no concern for law or personal property.
The only things they are ignorant of are...integrity, fairness and honesty. The fact that China is
producing an endless string of people and companies like this, says something about the country
as a whole (not the individual persons). ...sorry, too political?

[rush answer...did I think this through?]

I don't know how well you thought this through Dave, but it sounds good to me. You should have all the rights to your intellectual property and what becomes of it, be it free models or the ones you sell. If someone were making money off of me without acknowledgment, or permission, it would highly p*ss me off. I feel the same towards all the designers on this forum. It burns me up when I hear about you guys being cheated. I am glad this topic comes up occasionally though because we always have new members who need to be aware of sites like Alicemodel.

Bob

[SJPONeill]

Originally Posted by CMDRTED

too bad we can't have models that leave out a key part until something is agreed upon by the designer and the downloader. Kinda like bruce willis drill on armageddon, you end up with it backwards and bits flying off!

Some designers do this...send them a pic of the completed model so far and they will send you the final parts...

What is easier perhaps is to digitally mark each download with the date/time and username of the downloader. This can be done in such a way that it is difficult to detect and remove. At least then the offender can be identified, and possibly tracked back to an individual: it would be false to assume that all such offenders are just casual members of a site, and/or from far off nations...

[herky]

Originally Posted by OgdenBob

I don't know how well you thought this through Dave, but it sounds good to me. You should have all the rights to your intellectual property and what becomes of it, be it free models or the ones you sell. If someone were making money off of me without acknowledgment, or permission, it would highly p*ss me off. I feel the same towards all the designers on this forum. It burns me up when I hear about you guys being cheated. I am glad this topic comes up occasionally though because we always have new members who need to be aware of sites like Alicemodel.

Bob

Out of interest and being avid ship builder i did take a look at that site.Its suprising how mainly legitimate free models they are selling on there.All the NYK shipping line models are a prime example

[CMDRTED]

Mike Kroll from Gremir has a pretty good system, he keys each model to one computer only, and that requires an email to him with registered model then he emails back a key to that model for that computer.
My next thought was put a virus in the kit that melts the computer down to its sum components if opened on another computer. Kinda harsh but it's early and this really annoys me too!

[airdave]

I've always said "if you are giving away a model, for free, then give it away.
Don't dick around.
Don't make it difficult for your fans.
Don't make them jump through ridiculously high hoops or memorize fairy incantations.
Don't put models behind seventeen layers of security or hold back parts of the final package.

I don't like the idea of holding back a part of the kit.
Not sure I would bother with a model that was incomplete...expecting me to "beg" for the missing piece.
And the idea of having them personally ask for a model or a password...
I love to hear from people who have built my models,
but I won't demand they all contact me to report in.

And I'm not going to make honest people pay for the work of pirates and thieves.

Only thing that really pisses me off with this modeling stuff
is when someone personally asks for a model, or a repaint, or a special deal
...and agrees to test build it, or give a report, or send photos

...and I give a retail model for free or give them first crack at a model
...and then they change their mind and don't follow through with the project (after they have got the free model of course).

They just leave me hanging, waiting for something before I can release a model, or something like that.
This is what pisses me off the most.
In those cases, it only takes some simple communications to keep me informed
as to why the model can't be built
...but usually there is nothing from them
because a lot of these "builders" has decided to ignore what I have done for them
and move on to some other sucker.
Just looking for free stuff wherever they can get it.

Sorry...did I digress? lol

[Alcides]

Originally Posted by CMDRTED

Mike Kroll from Gremir has a pretty good system, he keys each model to one computer only, and that requires an email to him with registered model then he emails back a key to that model for that computer.

And if you're are like me which because my work change components on my systems every 2 or 3 months you've to send an email for each model every time you changes something on the computer. It's effective but too annoying I just stopped buying models from Mike for this.

It's necessary to fight the piracy but if the system is too complicate you can end annoying your customers.

[airdave]

BUT...I do like the idea of a "remote control virus" hidden in my models.

If you stole a model or made a deal for a model and then didn't live up to the agreement,
I could remotely set off the virus that would eat its way through any folder on your
computer that contained paper model files.

hmmmmm

[eric_son]

Sounds like a good kickstarter project to me.

[airdave]

Yes, my "trojan" only targets unauthorized PDF and PDO paper model files
and it eradicates them
...completely erasing them from your computer.
It worms its way through your hardrive purging pilfered paper projects.
I call it the "pulp fiction" virus.