Legal violations by A3L: Arma 3 life

[Siege-A 4054]

The charging for access has already been resolved, unless you have evidence otherwise?

So what can we do? You give me a legally grounded and sustainable solution man power wise and I'm all ears.

Hello, Matt, and thank you for the reply. The post of mine that you had quoted was corrected afterwards, as I understand now that it is not BI's job to enforce copyright issues with community made content. I apologize for my reaction and quick jump to place the blame. But, I would appreciate it if you could comment on my last post, about the breach in A3's EULA.

My concern is that BI states that the commercial gain by A3L has been resolved...but how is that? Simply by asking them to stop? While that may be good, it still baffles me why there is no consequences when they clearly made money from this in an illegal way. Resolving the issue would be compensation to all those that donated money while the mod was pay-to-play...which would involve forcing A3L to payback all the illegal funds that they have gained. Otherwise, with the current conclusion, the system is open for people to make money illegally until they are caught...in which case you all tell them to stop, and problem solved. I thought it was the users job to read the fine print, which in this case would have made them aware that what they were doing was illegal. You don't sign a contract with someone and then try to back out when you are caught breaking the contract, because by that point it was your job to read the details of the contract...and is no excuse in a legal environment that you just 'didn't know any better'.

So my question is, do you really feel that what you all did to resolve the situation was handled properly? And if so, what's to stop other people from doing this same act when the case against A3L was resolved with a simple stop order, but no real consequence for their breach in the EULA. How many times does someone need to breach it in order for legal action to be taken against them?

[eggbeast 3673]

So what can we do? You give me a legally grounded and sustainable solution man power wise and I'm all ears.

Hi Matt, well you could ban the whole A3L team rather than just Caiden for a start from the BIS forum, as they have been found guilty of publishing stolen mission code, and are using addons from other addonmakers, who are currently protesting about it, to gain excessive cash from their community

as per this email i sent to you a while back

hi Matt

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthrea...-3-Life/page29

Given this group has confessed to commercially exploiting your IP and Tonics code and probably Gnats aircraft (against both of their wishes) is it not time for you to step swiftly in and deal with it?

Gnats protests

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthrea...=1#post2543054

Tonics protest

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthrea...=1#post2799456

you can see from this

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/a3l#members

they have 1,237 members on steam and they have 113 pages of 20 donors per page (2,200 donors of $5-$30)

http://arma3-life.com/forums/index.p...iew-donations/

this was their price list up to the point where i began querying it and their fairly weak defences gradually fell away

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthrea...=1#post2793527

I would recommend a substantial forum ban for the whole team, to set an example, but it's obviously very much up to you.

The guys at AMAR are fully behind this view.

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?110915-Zannaza

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?110356-Caiden

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?237041-mbaxter

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?127957-Hem

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?97281-Phelps

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?142622-Delgado

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?86504-Pr0mthesus

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?69014-Tisor

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?132141-Brobropopo

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?136327-Kurtt420

http://forums.bistudio.com/member.php?177990-Schultzit

hope to hear something back soon

regards

Rob

[janus0104 3]

Hi Matt, well you could ban the whole A3L team rather than just Caiden for a start from the BIS forum, as they have been found guilty of publishing stolen mission code, and are using addons from other addonmakers, who are currently protesting about it, to gain excessive cash from their community

as per this email i sent to you a while back

How is this constructive? He posted his email address several times, why not send the user profiles that way?

Not defending A3L at all (they ripped our content, too) but be reasonable.

I realize you emailed that to him before, but posting it here will accomplish what?

[StevenW129 10]

You guys are awesome! Thanks for such amazing support. Seriously all of us who have had our IP stolen thank you for the support!

We only want what is right my friend, and we will continue to fight for what is right until we win!

[eggbeast 3673]

I realize you emailed that to him before, but posting it here will accomplish what?

just a reminder in case he overlooked it. he seems to be asking what more can be done.

[cofi0276 1]

Why dont they just block all the servers breaking EULA with Battleye? That would be the easiest thing ever, if server owners want people to join they would need to disable Battleye.

[GSP167 1]

Why dont they just block all the servers breaking EULA with Battleye? That would be the easiest thing ever, if server owners want people to join they would need to disable Battleye.

As far as I know, BattlEye isn't managed by BIS.

[MattLightfoot 1]

But, I would appreciate it if you could comment on my last post, about the breach in A3's EULA.

Now I dealt with that, I spoke to Caiden, Zanazza and Mike Baxter. After leaving that initial conversation Mike then messaged me saying they had removed the pay to enter. Now as for money it would be yet another minefield, one that probably would require some form of legal action which we will reserve for when the situation requires it.

Hi Matt, well you could ban the whole A3L team rather than just Caiden for a start from the BIS forum

No, I'm not going to stage a witch hunt, if they break the forum rules then they will be banned. We have dealt with it with an appropriate response. Banning them from the forums wouldn't achieve much currently.

---------- Post added at 09:37 ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 ----------

Why dont they just block all the servers breaking EULA with Battleye? That would be the easiest thing ever, if server owners want people to join they would need to disable Battleye.

They aren't breaking the Bohemia EULA any more, after they have stopped charging for access to their server.

[DJankovic 401]

After leaving that initial conversation Mike then messaged me saying they had removed the pay to enter.

So they actualy did have Pay to enter stuff going on and they can just simply stop it and that is it? What about some punishment? This is bulls*it

I read somehere that is agains rules on BI servers,and they still have opritunity to run the same

[MattLightfoot 1]

So they actualy did have Pay to enter stuff going on and they can just simply stop it and that is it? What about some punishment? This is bulls*it

I read somehere that is agains rules on BI servers,and they still have opritunity to run the same

So what punishment is just and enforceable without a court order. This question is rhetorical, everyone will have different opinions I'm sure. So right now this issue is closed in my eyes it's resolved.

[havatan19 10]

they did not only broke BI EULA, but paypal and crytek´s EULA too, lets see what crytek and paypal are going to do.

[Dr_Defimus 10]

don't forget microsoft with forza

[BL1P 35]

Dont forget all the community created addons.

[Siege-A 4054]

Now I dealt with that, I spoke to Caiden, Zanazza and Mike Baxter. After leaving that initial conversation Mike then messaged me saying they had removed the pay to enter. Now as for money it would be yet another minefield, one that probably would require some form of legal action which we will reserve for when the situation requires it.

They aren't breaking the Bohemia EULA any more, after they have stopped charging for access to their server.

Thanks again for the response, Matt. I hope you don't feel like we're just attacking you because I can assure you, your input is highly valuable. You are our gateway to BI and a way for us to voice our concerns, and it is much appreciated. We understand that you're not the enemy here, and even though some can come across a bit direct, it's all in favor of our common goal...to shut A3L down.

With that said, I have to agree with DevilDogCro on this matter. If there is no punishment/consequences for what they have done, what is to stop other players from taking up this state of mind in order to gain profit...especially now that they know it is okay to breach the EULA without legal action being taken against them? I understand doing so would involve time, resources, and money....but isn't that the point here? To deliver a message to the community that if you do illegal things then you will be punished for it? Instead of saying, 'you can make money illegally...but once we catch you, you have to stop.' Do police simply ask drug dealers to stop what their doing, or do they take action against them? Because the way I see it, A3L is the drug dealers of this community...and right now, they are being given a second chance even through all the wrong-doings that they have done.

You also asked what punishment would be just and enforceable outside of a court order. Well, when you put it like that...I guess none. Since this is a legal matter, I don't believe anything outside of a courtroom would be any type of real punishment for them...apart from banning their servers, but that doesn't seem to be an option since as you said....they aren't breaking the EULA 'anymore'. So could you please elaborate a bit more on what type of punishments you all offer that don't involve legal action being taken, against someone who has broken the law?

Edited November 7, 2014 by Siege-A

[deltagamer 612]

Turn 10 Studios who are currently working on Froza Motor Sports and are owned by Microsoft have been shameful enough to steal assets from ArmA 3 : Life.

In all seriousness don't take the above to heart its sarcasm :868:

It is however the other way around. The two pictures below show where the vehicle came from and who has it now. mbaxter claimed that there were no Froza Vehicles in use with their server well check the below images as the advantage a lot of youtuber's covering this mod gives us is video proof of material being used without permission from other games.

Arma Pilot,

Not sure why your high five one another as the image you just took was from a graphic designer not a modeler for us. If he wants to try and learn to model then that's fine, doesn't in any way show that we imported cars from forza. Liam is definitely not a modeler for A3L .

BI has said over and over they can't do anything more and they're right, but the least we can do is get other companies who can do something to actually be aware of the situation and take the necessary action.

Edited November 7, 2014 by deltagamer

[Valken 622]

So BIS can't stop the porting of models into ARMA, then I have to assume this opens the door for others to the same with other models.

There are tons of other game engines where users have ported other game and game engine models over and nothing is usually done about it since it is all free with no pay attached.

Not suggesting others do it but clarifying even if this sets a bad precedent.

[Addis0n 1]

I love how they opened their applications for free for a short period of time, then closed them again saying they were "overloaded" but you can still pay the 30 dollars to have your account approved within an hour. They claimed they would have applications opened again last monday, still closed. What a bunch of garbage.

[qwertz 10]

I love how they opened their applications for free for a short period of time, then closed them again saying they were "overloaded" but you can still pay the 30 dollars to have your account approved within an hour. They claimed they would have applications opened again last monday, still closed. What a bunch of garbage.

Yep, i saw this as well. They are mocking BI.

[ArmaPilot 1]

I love how they opened their applications for free for a short period of time, then closed them again saying they were "overloaded" but you can still pay the 30 dollars to have your account approved within an hour. They claimed they would have applications opened again last monday, still closed. What a bunch of garbage.

That's what it's getting down to I think.

Just raise hell and email Forza Public Relations or whatever they have, and tell them what's going on. Just get more pictures, get the modpack and open up the models. Mention the amount of money they made off of those models. You could say too that if this community 'ArmA' is 50 pages into a thread about a server, it's a problem. Their team DDOSing, doxing and other things they have been doing are illegal too. They are such hypocrites threatening lawyers when they are the ones DDOSing, attacking people in real life spreading personal info around. If BI can't do anything I understand, but we all can make A3L a example for this community and others of what not to do.

Edited November 7, 2014 by ArmaPilot

[abshire 2]

I have to say...having been following and being part of this mod since the beginning, I am pretty pissed off with how this has turned out. I honestly had done little-to-no research on if they got permission to use the addons they are using...in fact I made the fools choice of simply assuming that they did get permission. Looking back, it wa so painfully obvious just how full of crap they are.

First of all the mod team is made up of children...mostly 17-18 year olds. They are crude, hot headed, unprofessional, and once had a great vision that was quickly removed as soon as they started making money from donations. I believe that the money they were making was more important than doing the right thing, or even doing the half assed thing.

They have bizarre trust issues, coders that work for the team have to have their code passed on to others to have it implemented in game. The coders are not allowed to add directly to the source code. Something I found odd, but makes more sense after seeing how they blatantly rip off other programmers...must not have wanted to many eyes on. The addons they are using...like the Robert Hammer weapons packs, have been slightly modified but are the same addons. A lot of the cars are from other video games...and its things that I think most of us already knew but were unwilling to really say or do anything about it.

The age issue is another big issue. They have head admins that do nothing and ban people for the slightest infraction based on their 'mood'...while allowing others to break rules at will and they get to stay because they are streamers or youtubers...and they bring in the money. Oh and that whole bull crap about them not doing donations for a while...they changed the language but the same held true. If you donated, you got access to the closed beta. I had countless conversations with admins and developers...and they all spoke candidly about how they were going to change the language but still basically require people to pay to play the beta.

The community is honestly really sad. I stuck it out there for a long time...and even have now become the Sheriff over there. I have been around a long time, seen first hand how they treat people, and honestly none of what I have read in this thread is shocking or surprises me...it just adds validity to how my gut feeling has been. I have left that community many times...and always came back because of the friends I made over there...but this is honestly the straw that broke the camels back. They are thieving children who have made lots of money...and have really gone out of their way to make matters worse. They have no real world experience, no professional experience...and the adults that are still over there supporting them should honestly be ashamed of themselves.

I have been using addons that a lot of you guys have created since the Operation Flashpoint Days...and I will be damned if I will continue to support a community that steals materials. Sorry that they are doing this, and I will help in any way that I can to back you guys.

EDIT**

Within mere mins of posting this...I was perm banned for this reply.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Abshire

[Dr_Defimus 10]

just let us make one realy good assignment of guilt together that we can use on multiple places to shut down a3l from the internet.

Web host: http://www.networksolutions.com/abuse-report.jsp

Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/arma3lifeofficial

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Arma3life

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/a3life

Steam: steamcommunity.com/groups/a3l?l=german

and i fear a lot more i think on this way we can save some work and forget nothing.

Maybe we need a new Thread there we can make a list and the first post will be updated so we have it always on one view

[kremator 1065]

First of all the mod team is made up of children...mostly 17-18 year olds. They are crude, hot headed, unprofessional, and once had a great vision that was quickly removed as soon as they started making money from donations.

Have to laugh at all these people that are too sad to have real lives to play any 'life' game. Anyway back on track ....

Come on BIS .. shut them down. They are making a mockery of you/us/modders.

[ArmaPilot 1]

EDIT**

Within mere mins of posting this...I was perm banned for this reply.

40 minutes. That didn't take long lol. How did they find out is what I want to know.

They must have a few people monitoring this 24/7... That's honestly sad if they have to do that.

What was your ban reason?

Edited November 7, 2014 by ArmaPilot

[GSP167 1]

Have to laugh at all these people that are too sad to have real lives to play any 'life' game. Anyway back on track ....

Come on BIS .. shut them down. They are making a mockery of you/us/modders.

#ShutA3LDownBIS

[BL1P 35]

Have they really re-done the donations thing as addison said or was that BS ?