/sigh ... Here we go again

***Cairenn*** · 08-14-12, 09:40 PM

Another site violating author intellectual property rights.

Have at 'em guys: World of Addons

So far they have about 810 addons that they have scraped from wherever and uploaded to their site. According to them, they want you to sign up on their site so that you may 'claim' your addons.

I guess they are hoping to get away with that old adage of "It's easier to ask for forgiveness [after the fact], than for permission [beforehand]."

As always, if there is anything we can do to help you guys, just let us know.

*starts rooting around for the old C&D and DMCA take down templates*

Qupe · 08-14-12, 10:06 PM

Is this really TenTonHammer or is that an ad at the bottom of the page?
I thought they were somewhat respectable?

Saiket · 08-14-12, 10:14 PM

I got an email from them about a month ago that asked me to opt in. It seemed like a pretty obvious automated spam message so I ignored it, but a lot of good that did me.

Dear Saiket:

I am writing to you to request permission to post your addon, _Cursor, on our site, World of Addons. World of Addons, is an exciting new site dedicated solely to World of Warcraft game modifications. While currently not live, World of Addons hopes to become one of the most up to date and easy to use addon sites on the web today. In order to make this dream become a reality, we need to collect the best World of Warcraft addons from all over the web. Your addon, , has been chosen to be part of our first round of additions to our exciting site.

World of Addons comes complete with its own addon launcher users will be able to download and use your creation with just a few quick clicks. World of Addons is easy to navigate, visually appealing, and a pleasure to use for both authors and the general public. World of Addons also boasts a prominent Paypal link that will allow users to easily send donations your way.

By allowing us to feature your addon on our site, you will not only be able to indulge in all of the above, but can also participate in a special preview event that will allow YOU personally to input feedback on the site. This will allow you, for perhaps the first time ever, to have direct influence on the site hosting your addon.

If World of Addons sounds like the type of website you want your addons featured on, please respond back as soon as possible either by e-mailing me at memnock@tentonhammer.com. We thank you for your time and consideration and look forward to hearing from and hopefully working with you in the future.

Sincerely,

Jason a.k.a Memnock
World of Addons Administration Team

p3lim · 08-14-12, 10:15 PM

Also a site called AllAddon, which in my eyes is a bit worse.

***Cairenn*** · 08-14-12, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by Qupe

Is this really TenTonHammer or is that an ad at the bottom of the page?
I thought they were somewhat respectable?

Yup, it really is TTH.

Originally Posted by Saiket

I got an email from them about a month ago that asked me to opt in. It seemed like a pretty obvious automated spam message so I ignored it, but a lot of good that did me.

Saiket,

Yeah, sorry about that. We weren't informed of them spamming everyone for a while, so they were able to get a bunch of PMs out. Sorry. =/

Xrystal · 08-14-12, 10:23 PM

Well, I seem to have been ignored on both sites so far, but have on Scott's behalf asked worldofaddons to either take down the nUI files they have belonging to him until they get his permission or link to the official download page here. Alladdon has an author page set up for him so not 100% sure that he didn't give permission there.

Saiket · 08-14-12, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by Cairenn

Saiket,

Yeah, sorry about that. We weren't informed of them spamming everyone for a while, so they were able to get a bunch of PMs out. Sorry. =/

Oh, that was an email. I didn't get a PM, so thanks for stopping them on that front.

**Seerah** · 08-14-12, 10:33 PM

The site's by Ten Ton Hammer - you would think they've been around long enough to know better. It looks like they scraped the downloads from Curse, since SM-Blizzard is the only addon of mine that they've got. And they don't list author names at all unless they happened to pick up a commit log from Curse as well. argh

Saiket: I didn't get any such email, but I don't have my email address out there for my addons. In which case, I didn't reply to "opt-in" either.

Qupe: It really looks to be Ten Ton Hammer. The "About Us" and "Legal" links go to that site and the copyright is the same company that owns Ten Ton Hammer.

I contacted them using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page with this message:

Many of the addons that you have scraped from other download sites (or was it just Curse?) are All Rights Reserved. ARR is not a license. ARR does not give you any permissions to redistribute the addons. By copyright law, you are required to remove all ARR addons from your site, as well as any other addons under licenses which limit redistribution, unless you receive explicit permission from the authors to host them. This includes my SharedMedia-Blizzard and also SharedMedia (which I am co-author).

Permission is something that must be granted on the front-end.

If you do not comply, expect Cease and Desist letters from myself and many other authors. If you were unaware of what ARR meant, I suggest that you discuss licenses (and ARR) with your company's lawyers before beginning such an ambitious project in the future.

**Seerah** · 08-14-12, 10:36 PM

I don't see contact info for the other site p3lim linked. Could someone post it if they find it? I have to get a few things ready before the first day of school (with kids) tomorrow.

Xrystal · 08-14-12, 10:39 PM

That would explain why they don't have any of mine yet as I don't host on curse now and had mine removed from there.

***Cairenn*** · 08-14-12, 10:58 PM

For anyone that wants, here's the thread that has the sample DMCA take down notice: http://www.wowinterface.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=22595

p3lim · 08-14-12, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by Seerah

I don't see contact info for the other site p3lim linked. Could someone post it if they find it? I have to get a few things ready before the first day of school (with kids) tomorrow.

You can find it by querying it on http://who.is/

Phanx · 08-14-12, 11:22 PM

Here are the relevant URLs and contact information. They're not linked to avoid giving them page rank on Google/other search engines, so you'll have to copy and paste.

alladdon.com
No contact informating is listed on the site, but the administrative contact for the domain name is listed as s3lhli@gmail.com, and the website is hosted by EraNet, who can be contacted at support@eranet.com or by other means listed on www.eranet.com/customer/contact.net.

worldofaddons.com
A number of email addresses are listed on their "About Us" page at www.tentonhammer.com/aboutus. You can also contact them through the "Claim An Addon" page at www.worldofaddons.com/claim. You can contact their web host (Convoke) at support@convoke.com or mail it to the address listed on their www.convoke.com/Contact_Us page.

I also contacted Razer at cult@razerzone.com and informed them what the douchebags at TenTonHammer were using their products to promote. Not sure whether they need approval from Razer to use their brand and products that way or not, though.

Also added both sites to the "Unauthorized Addon Sites" thread over on WowAce:
http://forums.wowace.com/showthread.php?t=16062

AcidWeb · 08-15-12, 12:36 AM

Phanx: Let me know if any way of removing addons from alladdon will work.

p3lim · 08-15-12, 12:52 AM

I've sent them a DMCA takedown notice, I'll let you know if I get an answer from them.

p3lim · 08-15-12, 01:00 AM

The person that was responsible for addons.hotwow.com is also the person responsible for alladdon.com.
A simple who.is search confirmed that.

http://www.who.is/domain_archive-com/hotwow.com/
http://www.who.is/domain_archive-com/alladdon.com/

Elkano · 08-15-12, 03:05 AM

I got a mail from them, too, but with a slightly different text than the one Saiket posted:

If World of Addons sounds like the type of website you want your addons featured on, please respond back as soon as possible either by e-mailing me at memnock@tentonhammer.com. If no response is forthcoming by July 21st, we will assume your consent for the use of your addon. We thank you for your time and consideration and look forward to hearing from and hopefully working with you and your addons in the future.

So they turned the opt-in into an opt-out...

***Cairenn*** · 08-15-12, 03:14 AM

Which is so completely wrong ...

Phanx · 08-15-12, 04:53 AM

I like how they have a whole page on their site just for claiming that all the "original" material on the site is copyrighted by them, but they apparently have no idea how copyright actually works.

p3lim · 08-15-12, 04:57 AM

They must have some clue, seeing as they trademarked their "main attraction".

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