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TalkBloodBowl.com going offline; or... GW really effin' up here
Topic Started: 4th November 2009 - 06:33 PM (1,649 Views)
Skaven Lord Vinshqueek
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Bunny ear says flop

A message from the site owner of TalkBloodbowl.com (the Blood Bowl forum almost every member of the Blood Bowl community used), which absolutely surprized me.

Greetz


JohnnyP
 
Good evening everybody,

Today I received a letter from the Games Workshop Group PLC stating that if I didn't compy with 4 directives within 14 days they would take formal proceedings against me. It saddens me to see GW take such action against a perfectly legitamate fan site that has provided a global communications portal for BB fans, with no intention of conning them out of the millions they make in sales. I feel that I have been stereotypically branded as an Internet con-man. I have been a GW fan for 20+ years and this site has been active for almost 9 of that 20. This site has also had GW staff registered and actively contribute to its content (it may still have).

The assumptions from GWG PLC are that I am making a profit from the donations received by this site. They also point out that consumers may believe TalkBB is connected with GW and the fact the domain name includes Bloodbowl which is an infringement of GW's registered trademark. Now, I am not against their need to ensure their trademarks are not used inappropriately, I feel they could have approached me in a more friendly manner to investigte the purpose of the site and discover that I only wanted to provide a hub for dicussing Blood Bowl globally. instead, they immediately enter heavy handed.

If they truely believe the donations have contributed to me becoming a wealthy person or that I have made enough money to give up a proper job they are sadly mistaken. The small amount of money donated has gone to pay for the upkeep of the server (when I used my own hardware and hosted it at home) or towards the costs for hosting with an ISP. In short I have been vastly out of pocket to provide TalkBB rather than the other way around. I thank all those that have contributed as it has helped TalkBB survive.

I have been asked to:

Immediately cease and desist from any activity which infringes GW's intellectual property.
either remove remove your website or the reference to 'Blood Bowl' in your website name.
Remove the donations button from the page.
Confirm by return that you will not infringe GW's intellectual properly rights at any time in the future.

Now, I could simply remove Bloodbowl from the domain by renaming it to TalkBB.com, but that means buying a new domain and time spent sorting everything out. Bearing in mind I hardly visit TalkBloodBowl.com anyway, I can't really be bothered with all that so have decided to let it die. Therefore from Sunday 8 November 2009 www.talkbloodbowl.com will cease to exist.

Should anybody wish to take ownership of the source and contents I will be more than happy to prepare it for transfer, although this will not include the domain name. I will also have to ensure the recipient will not use DB content for anything other than to maintain the forum as part of an existing Blood Bowl site. This is to ensure passwords and emails do not fall into the wrong hands.

Thank you for your support over the years and for making TalkBloodBowl.com what it is today. Without you all it would have died all by itself many years ago, regardless of donations.

Regards,
JohnnyP
In the Horned One we trust, all others we monitor.

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Decker_cky
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Master of the Deamonic Leash of Numbers and the Armor of Updates
Wow...that's such bad judgment. Sites like that help GW games thrive, particularly Bloodbowl which has nearly no support from GW and remains one of their more popular games (I believe BB hosts some of the largest GW tournaments because it's so easy to get into). Sites like TBB are why bloodbowl has thrived like that.

I'll certainly be sending a letter to GW express my disappointment in their attack on their community. From the perspective of an admin at the Herdstone, this really does worry me for the future.
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Morgoth
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The Ancient Evil

Another one bites the dust. :o
Are there no limits to, what GW will do to scare custumers away?
A sad reminder of what can happen, if people are not careful to not violate, what the Sheriff of Nottingham regards as copyrighted. <_<

And why such a hostile approach? Tell people what is wrong and offer them guidance to change it.
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Decker_cky
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Master of the Deamonic Leash of Numbers and the Armor of Updates
Email sent.

It's especially disappointing considering TBB was a website providing the support GW should have to their fans.
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Morkskittar
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The Tunnel's Resident Rodent Ecologist

:huh:

Wow. I knew they were bad, but not that bad... that really sucks. :(

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Lord Lughtigern
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The Mad Ratter.

I am surprised. :huh:

I would also be surprised if the site doesn't adhere to the rules under it's new management though (should someone take it up). I don't imagine this will be the end of them... :unsure:
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s'nkeep
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Morgoth
Nov 4 2009, 12:33 PM
A sad reminder of what can happen, if people are not careful to not violate, what the Sheriff of Nottingham regards as copyrighted. <_<

id like to take the time and thank the users who have taken their time
and talked about the book not quote it.

and remind those that still wish to quote misfire tables, wargear, and details on effects
we knows were you live :pmaster:
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daemonic badger
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Veteran/OAP
It's hard to understand how the guys who investigated this could have screwed up so badly. I mean, if they just asked him about the donations, i'm sure the explanation would have been satisfactory. I guess they could argue that he's making money out of their intellectual property, but i mean, come on, its not like anyone who donates $5 to the site is going to spend less on BloodBowl products, if anything it'd be the other way round?
Jesus, they suck.
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SkavenDan
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Its no suprise to me they are so bitter about any one knowing anything about them!

If I wasn't as Busy as I am I would take the content put it online in a Russia server and say true to sue me. I know the law P

But as already said this has a double blow effect by killing Pro GW sites they kill of there customers!

Its almost like the Advanced Order system which gets you a massive 3-5 days lead on the rest (if your lucky)

I think they saked everyone in marketing personally.
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wardancer
Chieftain
well, they doing more and more to kill the hobby. I'm writing my protest to them today and I think other people should do it. At the end of the day its US that make it possible for them to earn money.
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deathmaster riddick
I Am The Monster
so this is what the sudden crackdown on copyright infringement has been about.

although i'm sure this won't happen to the UE while our loyal moderators continue to keep the law(however sensible or ridiculous that law may be)
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SneakyRodent
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Claws of the Horned One founder member

I find it unbelieveable that GW would seek to alienate their fan base and customers in this crass, heavy handed and totally unnecessary manner.

This site was hardly a major risk to them, and rather than misuse their ideas and material for personal gain or defamation, was actually supporting their game/products and engendering interest in the hobby, to which (I would have thought) would have brought them more money, not less.

Using this 'slegehammer to crack a nut' approach really does not make them look good, and I have the utmost sympathy for the TBB owner and its users.
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Morgoth
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The Ancient Evil

SneakyRodent
Nov 5 2009, 10:15 AM
..Using this 'slegehammer to crack a nut' approach ...

Wonders whether they will ever notice, the nuts they crack are their own (small but still....)
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Surbrus
Clanrat
The sad thing is, in a perfect world this guy wouldn't have too much to fear from the lawsuit against him, as it is very poorly thought out (the only thing he did wrong was use a trademarked name in the domain name... which actually is just free advertising for GW). However GW can just do the same underhanded move any big company can do, which is just stalling in the courts until the defendant goes broke from legal fees.

They just keep shooting themselves in the feet don't they? As others have said, this sit is actually indirectly giving GW money by keeping the game alive. In the real world, most companies have to do their own advertising, not just leech of off the work of their consumers (and for those companies that can depend on their consumers word of mouth, they usually don't stop that free advertising). GW needs to wake up, and realize how lucky they are, before they drive too many consumers away, or a competitor arrives in the market.

Customer loyalty does have a limit.

[end rant]

MUTATE: fyi I don't play BloodBlowl and have never visited the site before, therefore I am hoping I don't appear to have any bias. It is purely my disgust with how people in power can be so bad at doing their jobs.

MUTATE THE SECOND: Never mind that I said the guy was at fault for using a trademark, a quick Google search reviled that there are exceptions to using trademarks in domain names, one being that it is a non-competing use. Since this site does not compete with GW (in fact it greatly helps them) it would fall under an exception... however, I am an Economics student, not a Law student, so I may not be entirely correct in my assumptions here.

Source http://www.avivadirectory.com/domain-law/ see "number of exceptions"
Please note, this does not prevent GW from stalling in the courts to run the defendant broke, that would be for some consumer rights or human rights group to deal with.
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wardancer
Chieftain
I wrote a letter to them, lets see if they will answer to it. I think others should othe same. If they start getting lots of protest letters after every stupid move like that, maybe they will really re-consider next time.
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