Actually I was the one who brought up th legal angle so I can say with confidence that Privateer has it all wrong implying that other modders or game players were threatening to sue or prosecute GWX.
I specifically postulated that it would be Ubi who could hire the legal beagles to prosecute anyone who hacked executable code, dll or exe files, for release in a mod (personal use wouldn't be actionable as it wouldn't affect anyone else) or who released a mod that shut down a significant portion of Ubi's property, such as the U-Boat or Fleet Boat half.
It originally came up because Ducimus had shut down the U-Boat half as part of a Trigger Maru update. He subsequently released a patch to turn the U-Boat part of the game back on again.
Then GWX began trumpeting that GWX 4 would have to permanently shut down the Fleet Boat side of SH4. Now that was an even more egregious situation, because GWX was installed with an installer, not with JSGME. Ducimus could have claimed easy uninstallation of TMO with JSGME, but GWX could claim no such thing. Even so, Ducimus took steps to avoid possible problems. I had several private conversations with Privateer (imagine that!) concerning the legal situation and he wasn't worried about it. None of the conversations, nor the postings on the RFB website could be characterized as "threats." In using that word Privateer has crossed the line of untruth.
I was warning both the Fleet Boat guys and the GWX guys that Ubi owns this game and they will determine what they will accept as a mod and what they will prosecute as hacking. Up to now, and Subsim has officially endorsed this position, modding consists of modding the data files in the /data subdirectory. Mods should leave the game substantially playable and should be easily removed in case the newbie user does not like the changes they produce in Ubi's product. Modifying exe or dll files constitutes piracy, not modding.
In the final analysis, all the legal stuff goes right out the window anyway. If Ubi decides that we modders have contempt for their product, even if what we are doing is perfectly legal (shutting down half their game might remotely possibly be legal) they would just end modding forever from then on. Then where would we be?
Therefore the acid test of modding is whether Ubi likes it. Keeping them happy is all that matters. Just as soon as they're thinking we're out to ruin part of the game for one-upsmanship on another group of modders, or causing a lot of customer support calls from new players who heard that XXX was the greatest mod in the universe, installed it and then can't play their beloved U-Boats is the key to keeping modding possible, modding is over. That's not a threat, it's reality.
If I am anti-GWX for that statement then I am equally anti-TMO, maybe more so since I brought it up against TMO first. I have what I consider a good and respectful relationship with Privateer and some of the former members of the GWX team, and those people will be essential, along with many on the "other side" in the future (if any) for SH5. Time to bury the hatchet and move forward. Please, folks, cut Privateer a break for his post and accept his apology as genuine. Modders, myself included, tend to be a bit temperamental. Privateer, to the best of my knowledge, holds the moral high ground here as the only person who has ever brigged himself for committing forum flatulence. That commands my permanent respect and admiration.
|