Warning letter from Gravity

[DustNoNo]

For sending a letter they need your name, adress etc... and it's hard to get this information without a bailiff.

I prefer to warn you because i know administrator of ragnarok are young like me and going in a jail because of a game is ridiculous.

And yuki i met them in their office, i dont have to paid because i closed immediately my server and this is just a warn ,it's your life after all so it's not my problem.

[Mystery]

Im seriously laughing at the fact:

Sirs,

Maybe, "To whom it may concern", "Dear Sir, Madam"? Realistically, such e-mails should be written with proper grammar and/or if it's international, in their language. There are millions and millions of private servers out there and the fact that you get an e-mail with poor grammatical errors, tells you what about the sender? It's been past 10 days. What did you decide to do?

[Vach]

It's been past 10 days. What did you decide to do?

This part is perfect and more to the point; it's been 10 days... Did they do anything else?

[David]

Well, my english is not very good, but seeing the letter seems lack lot of information.

You got haters =D

[Yuki]

Yeah, it's past 10 days already... What did you decide to do in the end? Just curious...

Edit: I see that your main website is "Under Construction", but your individual RO server websites still work. What's the final verdict from them?

Edited October 24, 2012 by Yuki

[OnNplay]

If I a Gravity lawyer, I prefer to stop eAthena, rathena, 3ceam and all the emulator that which are the root of private servers. But this community contributes a lot to make Ragnarok Online more evergreen. I should thanks to them indeed.

[Jasc]

Eathena already won the law suit if I am not mistaken a while back. Gravity did try to go after them, but they failed.

Therefore, eAthena, rAthena are all legal, but using their files to make private servers is illegal. With hundreds of private servers, gravity probably won't bother going after small time stuff like this and paying lawyer fees if they aren't going to get their money back. It is a waste of money and time.

This reminds me of Apple going after jailbreakers and losing in that sense too.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Jasc

[Vach]

It gets complicated because of the way servers run and how Gravity has never actually asked for compensation for the Client (it's always been free to download). Like you mentioned with Apple and Jailbreakers... you own your device you can do whatever you want with it - most countries are long past the automatic plastic EULA that used to be assumed with digital products.

[Maki]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EAthena#Legality

Probably because of that =p

[Kitty]

~Stalks Maki~

Comcast (U.S. ISP) does the same thing except some of their letters that were sent out weren't even from their company. They were usually sent by prankers through copy and paste or nowadays mimic the real email address (there are ways to use other's addresses without having access to the E-mail account), and send them off to random people. Since Comcast is the best ISP in some states, many customers have or had service with them. Unsuspected people will call Comcast asking what's going on and Comcast will act like they did send the bill and request to be paid immediately

Now that reaction doesn't happen all the time but it happens more often if the person on the other line acts as if they'll break and will pay a fake bill. It's very easy to copy someone's real address, number, and corporate name. If you show up their door saying you got a letter of running a private server, of course they'll ask you to cease immediately even though they never even knew you existed.

[Vach]

Scare tactics have been common among legal proceedings for years, many people are so uneducated among what is and isn't legal any kind of "scare" will provoke them to action.

[Wolfeh]

I would think the emulator/source code is perfectly legal, it is the graphics which would be considered illegal as that was created by Gravity and property of Gravity. I think this is why what I like to call "cookie-cutter" MMO's are so common now-and-days, because you can basically rip an idea, make it look pretty, and it's legal, or in layman's terms, rip the source code or emulate another game then make your own graphics and such, so technically it is a new game yet at the same time, not.

Anyway from the laws:

§ 102 · Subject matter of copyright: In general28

(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original

works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known

or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise

communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of

authorship include the following categories:

(1) literary works;

(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;

(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;

(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;

(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;

(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;

(7) sound recordings; and

(8) architectural works.

( 9) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship

extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept,

principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained,

illustrated, or embodied in such work.

r/eAthena could also argue that the source/project is for educational purposes, as many people learn about the programming language it is written in when working with it.

§ 107 · Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use40

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a

copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords

or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism,

comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),

scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining

whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to

be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a

commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted

work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted

work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if

such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

From: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/

So even if Gravity wanted to, they could not stop the emulators. As for the private servers themselves, it would be a waste of time, money, and employees to go after any small fries, but very few servers get large enough to bother with and most die out on their own over time, only the official servers stay up forever. On top of that, regardless of what the anti-community thinks, it is not like private servers are stealing business from the official Ragnarok Online. If Gravity shut down the emulators and all the private servers in the world, it would not make me play the official RO, and I'm sure that is true for the rest of the community. I would rather -insert something crazy here- than play the official RO, I'm sorry Gravity, it is that bad.

So yeah, don't worry, it is most likely one of those fanboys trying to get some satisfaction from shutting down a private server, something so much more entertaining and satisfying than the official server they play on. Trolololo. Or could also be someone just trying to get in some lulz and practice in hacking or whatever it takes to send emails like those. Those emails are as legit as the ones from Mr. Saudi Arabia who wants to deposit a large sum of money into my bank account are.

[Vach]

I would think the emulator/source code is perfectly legal, it is the graphics which would be considered illegal as that was created by Gravity and property of Gravity. I think this is why what I like to call "cookie-cutter" MMO's are so common now-and-days, because you can basically rip an idea, make it look pretty, and it's legal, or in layman's terms, rip the source code or emulate another game then make your own graphics and such, so technically it is a new game yet at the same time, not.

Anyway from the laws:

§ 102 · Subject matter of copyright: In general28

(a) Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original

works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known

or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise

communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Works of

authorship include the following categories:

(1) literary works;

(2) musical works, including any accompanying words;

(3) dramatic works, including any accompanying music;

(4) pantomimes and choreographic works;

(5) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works;

(6) motion pictures and other audiovisual works;

(7) sound recordings; and

(8) architectural works.

( 9) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship

extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept,

principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained,

illustrated, or embodied in such work.

r/eAthena could also argue that the source/project is for educational purposes, as many people learn about the programming language it is written in when working with it.

§ 107 · Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use40

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a

copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords

or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism,

comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),

scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining

whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to

be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a

commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted

work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted

work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if

such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

From: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/

So even if Gravity wanted to, they could not stop the emulators. As for the private servers themselves, it would be a waste of time, money, and employees to go after any small fries, but very few servers get large enough to bother with and most die out on their own over time, only the official servers stay up forever. On top of that, regardless of what the anti-community thinks, it is not like private servers are stealing business from the official Ragnarok Online. If Gravity shut down the emulators and all the private servers in the world, it would not make me play the official RO, and I'm sure that is true for the rest of the community. I would rather -insert something crazy here- than play the official RO, I'm sorry Gravity, it is that bad.

So yeah, don't worry, it is most likely one of those fanboys trying to get some satisfaction from shutting down a private server, something so much more entertaining and satisfying than the official server they play on. Trolololo. Or could also be someone just trying to get in some lulz and practice in hacking or whatever it takes to send emails like those. Those emails are as legit as the ones from Mr. Saudi Arabia who wants to deposit a large sum of money into my bank account are.

(Spoiler Tags because of large post)

I love your post, very thorough and way better than how I was trying to say it. Primarily the last couple paragraphs which are very true indeed. It's like when someone interviews for a job and they have had 3 interviews - at that point the company is wasting money if they don't hire the person because they've spent so much time on just "interviews." Gravity would be wasting manpower and money to effectively get nothing (okay I see no similarities... but wasting money bad!!).

The one thing I think many people have forgotten is that Gravity owns the graphical assets, whether they have released the client software for free or not... so people will use them on sites or in a way that could be misread as "Stealing Profit;" common examples are in ad-banners to sites that do have other revenue or or the aforementioned "VIP Private Servers."

[Aeomin]

.... grammar? united mmorpg link already alerts FAKE. itself is a private server.. oh com'on.

[Impala]

Hi

I opened my server last february 23.

2 days after opening, i received the same mail from the official Gravity email like you received.

I am not going to close my server, but for my information i would like to know if you had more problems with gravity after the mail.

Regards.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Impala

[DustNoNo]

I had some problems with gravity after the mail, i met them at their office and we talk about my old server (ymir-online) i immediately close my server after that. So ill give you the same advice i give to some people in this forum : close your server and dont play with fire.

[Impala]

I was talking about the 1st post on this topic, where an admin posted the mail about http://www.united-mmorpg.com/

 

As i can see, his 3 servers are still open, so...

 

All i know is Gravity never realy attacked any server. The only one lawsuit known was against eAthena, and Gravity failed hard.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Impala

[DustNoNo]

Lawsuit is taking time and you should know that. They have the time/money to do that, so i just give you an advice. Your server is really more important than your life? Personaly i wont take the risk to go in jail and paid 250 000€ (i don't have this money).

 

If you have the talent to make this kind of server, you should know there is many more way to make money on the internet (more than a server RO trust me).

Edited February 28, 2013 by DustNoNo

[Asura]

I had some problems with gravity after the mail, i met them at their office and we talk about my old server (ymir-online) i immediately close my server after that. So ill give you the same advice i give to some people in this forum : close your server and dont play with fire.

Hi DustNoNo,

 

Oh yeah? Their office? Nice try there.

[DustNoNo]

15/27 Rue Moussorgski

75018 Paris

+33170385582

 

Check my location, yes their office.

[Mootie]

 

15/27 Rue Moussorgski

75018 Paris

+33170385582

 

Check my location, yes their office.

 

Then you can close your mapping service....

[Mystery]

I'm sorry, but no. There are so many private servers out there it's hard to keep track. If this was the case, Gravity would of done something to all private servers (or at least majority of them) or even shut down eAthena, rAthena, Hercules, rAMod, eAMod, brAthena, etc. 

 

Also, as Mootie pointed out, people should stop providing services then for private server owners since now you're labeled as an acquaintance towards specific servers you work(ed) for. 

 

These emails are false until otherwise proven factual with actual proper grammar, logos, real business addresses, etc.

[Saisho]

I don't have notice of anyone who actually received an official letter a many years.

 

what i see is someone sending fake letters to try to get rid of other servers as unfair competition trick.

[zeonrules]

I'm sorry if I'm bumping this topic, but where was this discussion left? Is the original poster still reading this? Anything he'd like to share yet? Let us know, thanks!

[Vince]

Hi Zeon.

 

As I'm (well, was*) implicated in the french community, I guess I can tell you what is really happening.

 

A guy (former admin of an old private server (which was closed a long time ago)) recently became (few months ago) a community manager (or maybe an admin... Well nevermind, lol) and is hunting private servers on Facebook (that's not a fucking joke, even if it's pittyful ). Gravity uses him as a mercenary, he's scarying private servers, warning them, to avoid tribunal & lawyer problems [=> to save money, I guess].

 

This message has no legal value, but is a real warn sent to many french pserv admins.

 

Back in my time (2007) when French RO (official french server) was launched, Gravity started to hunt french private servers (the big ones) with formal emails. Only one (maybe twice, don't remember) admin received a REAL letter ("mise en demeure").

Edited March 11, 2013 by Vince