IPB Community To Deter Pirates

[MattMecham]

Guys,

No conspiracy and no "hush" attempt. It clearly became a contentious issue and we (IPS) were getting dragged into it. We've hidden the blog entry for now. It'll be moved elsewhere (unsure where at present) for further discussion. We've also started to make it a little clearer that the "Resources" blog isn't the voice of IPS.

[Razasharp]

Personally I'm glad it has been removed - because it was posted by a staff member, which would give the impression it was an IPS sanctioned idea - when of course it is not.

(Things like that shouldn't be posted by staff in the first place tbh - unless it's IPS's official line on the matter.)

[Mike54]

“ Originally Posted by Razasharp ”

Personally I'm glad it has been removed - because it was posted by a staff member, which would give the impression it was an IPS sanctioned idea - when of course it is not.

(Things like that shouldn't be posted by staff in the first place tbh - unless it's IPS's official line on the matter.)

Aye, no wonder it caused confusion.

[Razasharp]

“ Originally Posted by Mike54 ”

Aye, no wonder it caused confusion.

As it happens he's not staff. But when people have the company logo in their avatar, are in an official sounding 'group' (IPS Resources) have moderating powers, and a company email address - you'd be forgiven for thinking they are.

Also, the last post from Brandon said IP.Converge is encoded... I hope that's not the case

Board Message

[Dr. Jekyll]

“ Originally Posted by OneUpDave ”

It's a good mod, too.

Can I ask an honest question?

Why the hate on encoded files? Maybe I'm missing something, maybe it's the fact that I've only run into one or two pieces of software that was encoded that I've used. But why does everyone hate it so much?

1. an encoded mod is not compatible with server accelerator and will slow down the server;
2. many share hosting will not allowed customer to use encoded mod;
3. You can't see exactly whats being executed on your server
4. If a mod is encoded you can do small modifications to better suite your need (for example to avoid compatibility problems);
5. The encoded mod will "phone home" every 3 days to get authorized to continue to function (resource consuming if somebody have a board with several mod);
6. The server where the key are stored is a private server (IPS is not involved). What happen to the buyer if a mod phone home and nobody answer?;
7. Who runs/owns the centralised server?

Here are just some few problems.

What would you think if Microsoft will have the right to shut off you OS by remote after you have bought it?

[Mike54]

“ Originally Posted by Razasharp ”

Also, the last post from Brandon said IP.Converge is encoded... I hope that's not the case

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the ionCube loaders are part of the download package.

[Razasharp]

“ Originally Posted by Mike54 ”

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the ionCube loaders are part of the download package.

Hopefully, not for too much longer..

“ Originally Posted by MattMecham ”

Hello all,

Just wanted to stop by and make sure a few things were clear:

This project is developed by a few mods from our community. Alex heads up our community resources, but he's not paid staff. He generously volunteers his time which we're very grateful for.

The project is not developed or endorsed by IPS. It's the result of a topic on our forums from last week. Several authors of large modifications have encoded systems with anti-piracy measures so I presume Alex saw an opportunity to create a more centralized system and help out these modders that choose to encode/license their mods.

I believe that the "free market" model works well here. Mod authors have the right to charge for and encode their modifications and you have the right to use or refuse. Paid and encoded mods are clearly listed on our resources site so there should be no confusion on what you're paying for. I would think that if the encoding or license systems become unpopular and the mods won't sell then they'll review their policies. Ultimately though I don't feel that it is IPS' place to try and enforce a 'no encoded' policy. We will always ensure that any encoded mods are listed clearly.

For what its worth, I think this only relates to large scale modifications such as shopping carts, etc rather than smaller mods which will limit its use. I do not foresee a substantial amount of modifications becoming encoded as a result of this new system. Right now, the only mod authors encouraging it are those who already use their own call back type systems.

The only product of ours that is encoded is IP.Converge. This is a free application to all license holders. We chose to encode it to improve security through obfuscation. As it is an authentication module, we felt that the it would be better to not allow potential hackers to be able to view the source code. Of course, security through obfuscation is a poor choice alone but combined with good coding it can be effective.
Now, having said that, we are currently planning IP.Converge 2 and we are likely to NOT encode it as we feel that there is no longer any need to do so.

I also want to make it VERY clear that we have no plans at all to encode any of our commercial software. We have a small piracy team that works to combat the problem and our renewal scheme offers more incentive to have a proper license (spam service, free chat, etc). We did consider partially encoding IP.Board 3 long before it was written but decided against it. We have absolutely no plans to reverse this decision.

Indeed, I want to create more open APIs with better documentation to encourage simple modifications and we couldn't do that with an encoded product.

[Dr. Jekyll]

“ Originally Posted by Razasharp ”

Hopefully, not for too much longer..

I hope that too

[Razasharp]

“ Originally Posted by Dr. Jekyll ”

I hope that too

Thanks for pointing it out btw! I must have missed it first time on the thread.

[bfarber]

“ Originally Posted by Blind Bandit ”

I'm a little disappointed. As the topic showed very clearly that the mod authors weren't acting in the best interest of the community. And that the members of the community where being ignored.

Actually, at least one of the modification developers who was going to use the new system has told me he won't now, largely due to the feedback received while the blog entry was up.


I would like to point out that the endeavor is a private venture by individual members of the mod community. No body forces anyone to use such modifications, and as I've said over on the IPS company forums, everyone can easily "vote with their wallet". If you feel a modification is too expensive, or that it shouldn't be encoded, don't buy it. I imagine mod authors will compare sales in a couple months, realize no one is buying their software since they started encoding it, and will adjust accordingly. At least, I would expect that to be the case.


For what it's worth, I put out free scripts and mods from time to time. I don't charge for any of them that I upload to the resources site, and I don't encode any of them. Not ALL modification developers are wanting to encode their work, mind you.