What do you do when someone offers your (free) game asking for money?

[Stupot]

Errrm...
I'm a little disturbed by the host of his email address... http://www.mosw.com/ (San Pedro Software Inc.)

Seems to be a website for keylogging software.  I know this doesn't automatically make him a hacker but the guy obviously has a problem with right and wrong, so it wouldn't surprise me.

What if he is including such software as a virus with the game downloads?

[Nikolas]

I'm working on the list right now!

Just keep in mind that maybe someone wouldn't mind his game being listed in the site, for the added exposure (whatever that is). So we do need to check with the creators before we contact the bastard with a list of 50 games or so (I've found rather few so far btw... around 10, but I'm at letter F )

EDIT:

This is what I found, but I'm really tired and not sure at all if there are more games that I don't know off, or not in the AGS games database, or if I missed one... So not 100% sure really

5 Days a Stranger
7 Days a Skeptic
Abducted: 10 Minutes
Adventures in the Galaxy of Fantabulous Wonderment
Adventures of Fatman: Toxic Revenge, The
Apprentice
Apprentice II: The Knight's Move
Black Cauldron, The
Calsoon
Calsoon 2
Cirque de Zale
Emily Enough
Friend Indeed, A
Future Wars (a.k.a. Les Voyages du Temps)
Hollywood Hijinx
Invincible Island   ?
Larry Vales 1: Traffic Division
Larry Vales 2: Dead Girls are Easy
Night of The Hermit
Other Worlds
Perils of Poom, The
Permanent Daylight
Perry Mason
Pleurghburg: Dark Ages
Project Xenophobe
Razors in the Night
Red Dwarf
Rob Blanc 3: The Temporal Terrorists
Rode Kill: A Day in The Life
Rode Quest 2
RON1: Lunchtime of The Damned
RON2 1/2: Fowl Play
RON2: Vengeance of The Chicken
RON3: Soviet Union Strikes Again
RON4: I Spy
RON5: Nihilism
RON6: Blastoff
RON7: Dee Vee Ess
Saturday School
Two of a Kind

[vertigoaddict]

Gasp!

Egad!

Oh My God!

Holy Moley!

Abaghast! (What the heck...is that even a real word?)

so many titles...

*Applaudes Nickolas for his hard work.

[alkis21]

Good job Nikolas. As you probably know there are more strikes in Greece these days than in the bowling world championships, but I might be able to get something going by the end of the week.

[Nikolas]

A lawyer probably will know more, but the only way to stop him "legally" is to claim copyright infrigment. Just because something is free it does not mean that it's copyright free. Each author of the AGS games here, owns copyright of the game and all work inside it. And they can do whatever they want and how they want it! I've had trouble with my scores in my website some time ago, where people started getting the scores and hosting them ,and offering them as part of a big library for "free" scores. I got SO annoyed, and contacted them. At least they removed the scores. It doesn't mean a thing that my scores were freely found in my website and IMSLP (where they actually asked permition to use them).

Anyways, good luck Alkis, I know about the strikes. I'm waiting money for 2 weeks now, but the banks are on bloody strikes! At least the "asfalistiko" goes in on Thursday I hear, so everybody will... stop (?) good luck!

[Ryan Timothy B]

From now on, AGS developers should write "This is a freeware game" in the intro and finishing credits.  It honestly won't change much, since that's what he seems to be selling anyway; others freeware games.  Now that I've seen this, if I complete a game, I'll be writing it in there.  Then maybe someone will get pissed that they bought a free game, and make an attack on this person. haha

Meh.

[Ghost]

From now on, AGS developers should write "This is a freeware game" in the intro and finishing credits.

Seems the best way, really. Even with only one game on my slate I'm surprised how far it has travelled. That's the internet. A wide pool to swim in, and there's always some snotty kid pi**ing into the drink. sic.

Also, Nikolas, a really great job you did there! If that sets something in motion, I'd be all the happier.

[vertigoaddict]

From now on, AGS developers should write "This is a freeware game" in the intro and finishing credits.  It honestly won't change much, since that's what he seems to be selling anyway; others freeware games.  Now that I've seen this, if I complete a game, I'll be writing it in there.  Then maybe someone will get pissed that they bought a free game, and make an attack on this person. haha

Meh.

that's a good idea
We should make a 'free game' logo/ certificate or something.

'if you bought this, you were ripped off'

they have it on fan subtitled anime.

[Stupot]

From now on, AGS developers should write "This is a freeware game" in the intro and finishing credits.  It honestly won't change much, since that's what he seems to be selling anyway; others freeware games.  Now that I've seen this, if I complete a game, I'll be writing it in there.  Then maybe someone will get pissed that they bought a free game, and make an attack on this person. haha

Meh.

that's a good idea
We should make a 'free game' logo/ certificate or something.

'if you bought this, you were ripped off'

they have it on fan subtitled anime.

Great idea for the next Sprite Jam!!

[Dualnames]

My games are not on the list, which i have searched for sooner than Nikolas did put all the AGS games list of his. I can't really prosecute them myself for nothing since none of my products are in there nor i bought a freeware game this way. Please guys gather up so we can close this f^*^( as%$ mo$%$&# bussiness. He's lucky that my game isn't in there.

[Recluse]

Not that it means anything... but here's his fine print:

"As far as we know, all software available for download on this site had been discontinued by their authors and is now available for free, or was published as free since release. We appreciate comments to remove any software that is not of free usage and has accidentaly appeared on this site."

I suggest a perl script to run through the AGS database and his own database... checking for title matches... But that'd require perl, which I don't know....

[macon]

Interesting. Because my game on there 'Invincible Island' hadn't been discontinued. The original release was for a competition and had a lot of features still not finished when the deadline arrived. While they were charging for this release I was still working to make the game complete. It was definately not discontinued and I made it clear at the time that it was incomplete.

[Stupot]

...and even if you do class it as "discontinued", that still wouldn't give some stranger the right to charge people for it.

[FSi++]

Good thing my games are crap enough to not to be "featured" on such sites.

[ambientcoffeecup]

Has anybody actually tried contacting this guy yet? His email is plastered across every page gms@mosw.com so if nobody has done so I will contact him and demand that he remove all AGS games within a certain time period or we will take legal action against him.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Well, basically that fine print is saying "Yes, this is all free, you're paying me for free stuff."

Therefore, it's the people's choice - they've been theoretically informed, and can choose to pay him for something they can find for free.

Smart, really. It's perfectly fine, legally.

[Nikolas]

Smart, really. It's perfectly fine, legally.

No it's not!

He does NOT own the copyrights of the game, even if freeware: The creators do. And the creators can choose where to host the games, if they want to stop offering them, or whatever really.

He has absolutely no right to host these games, or offer them and ask for service fees beforehand!

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Well, he has the right to host them, as much as anyone has the right to host free games - put a crimp on *that* and you'll put a crimp on freeware game hosting pretty much everywhere except where the games creators thought of. Not everyone asks for permission, and do you, as the creator, care, since it's being distributed to an even wider audience? Sure, it'd be best if they asked, but let's not hope for too much.

What he's saying is, "I can get you this free stuff, you just pay me for burning the CD or whatever it is I do". It's not unlike asking a friend to do the same and giving him a CD to burn - except on a larger scale. In this light, it does not look wrong at all. IF people have read the fine print that TELLS them it's all free, and/or have a couple of brain cells to bang together.

Now - if the game's maker want him not to host them, or distribute them, that's another matter entirely, and a sure place where we can get him if we decide to do anything.

[Nikolas]

Actually it more like "The copyright owners (creators) have a right to stop people from hosting their game if they wish", rather than what you say. And no, legally, nobody has the right to do that. And, no it won't crimp the freeware community. At least I don't believe so! Especially since he's so kind to ask for money, when the games are hosted elsewhere for free!

[Ghost]

Nikolas is right- if someone releases a game as freeware, he somehow agrees to other people hosting it and giving it away for free, yes, but starting to ask for money violates the owners right.

In the old days it was quite common to allow "distributors" of free/shareware to ask for a small amount of money, covering the cost of a disk, but that was about it.