Tipsy
Gallente
X-Factor Industries
Synthetic Existence
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Posted - 2011.06.15 23:28:00 -
[1]
*sigh*
CCP has got this wrong by considering 'donation or ad-supported' tools to be commercial rather than charitable.
There are many tools using the EVE IP which are developed by the community for the benefit of the community, which incur ongoing costs, where donations and ads don't even cover the costs of maintenance let alone development, with the extremely remote chance of profit for their creators not even entering their minds.
CCP has responded to the generosity of those that contribute most to the EVE community by proposing to force them to either charge for what they produce, undermining the community spirit, or pay CCP for the privilege of working to add value to their game at an even greater personal cost.
 Originally by: CCP Atlas
Donation and ad supported ventures is a tricky thing to allow without any sort of a commercial license though and that's a legal slippery slope.
It's so tricky to allow that you've been allowing and encouraging it for 8 years. It's such a slippery slope that despite playing this game and reading the forums, news and blogs since beta, I cannot recall a single publicised instance of the EVE IP being misused for commercial gain through donations or ad support.
If someone is using your IP in a way which is not allowed by the EULA and the laws of their country (I don't know how you plan to get around fair use) and you don't like it, ask them to stop. Cut off their service. Sue them if you have to. Those have always been the options open to you, and it's not clear to me how you could enforce this new licensing system without using them.
Ban or sue the people that contribute the most to this community and it will be gone for good.
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Stop, collaborate and listen
- If CCP wants to encourage people to develop software and services for EVE, it should reward them, not charge them money. For example, a semi-annual award for 'Best EVE Online tool', with a cash prize.
- If CCP wants to encourage people to monetise their tools, focus on those people. Give them an 'App Store'-like environment to sell their apps, advertised on the website and in-game. Take a percentage of their sales.
- Getting people to work for you for free for 8 years and then turning around and asking them for money is really, really dumb.
Originally by: CCP Atlas
The blog represents the first draft of what our bizdev department is thinking of in terms of the license agreement.
If you'd put "THIS IS A VERY ROUGH, FIRST DRAFT, NOT TO BE TAKEN AS POLICY, BLOG - COMMENTS WANTED" at the top (and in the middle, and at the bottom, and possibly on alternate lines) I suspect it would have received a slightly calmer reaction. Instead it seemed clear as a statement of policy and came across as one of CCP's normal announcements, in which it asks for feedback and then is generally felt to do pretty much what it proposed in the first place.
Please think this through. And maybe run things like this past someone outside of Business Development before they go public.
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