MS comes down on Kol and his Vista visual style

[RYFX]

:pinch:

[golazo]

the community likes to complain if some or part of their themes are copied by other skinners, how diffrent is it to MS protecting their interests.

(Y) couldnt have said it better

[fLuBbErZz]

KoL is a great guy... He respected Microsoft's decision(although i think that it was unnessecary to request him to remove it) There are so many skinners out there but they only pick him and ask him to remove it. That proves tha his work is far better than others. MS is like that. They like to pick on little things. That's what I don't like about MS... Why in the world does a MNC wanna pick a fight with a skinner? He's got the talent to do wad he did. But I doubt MS will hire him cos they haf those childish skinners @ Microsoft.. I think they haf enuff ppl. If KoL goes in, those idiots will lose their jobs... Hahahaha...

But yea... How're u gonna stop using MS? Switch to Mac? Or get a pirated version of MS that costs ?10? Hahahaha...:D:D

[HPMCommander]

Don't tell him to stop, HIRE HIM.

[Toastermax]

so its now unavailable? its gone for good?

[Albemuth]

I find it interesting how many apologists for Microsoft there are here. America is raising its junior corporatists well.

[Miran]

People forget that often if a company does not defend a copyright, they can lose it. I remember a while back with that guy "Mike Rowe" who set up a software company called "Mikerowsoft" - he was sued. The microsoft spokesman said they had no choice - if they don't defend their name, it can be taken by law.

[TheDogsBed]

People forget that often if a company does not defend a copyright, they can lose it.

That's a trademark and not a copyright that you are thinking of.

Don't tell him to stop, HIRE HIM.

You would hire the guy who can copy a design over someone who can come up with the initial idea? I think MS have it the right way around -- this time.

Edited December 14, 2005 by SniperX

[golazo]

for all the people who are sticking up for KoL, put your self in microsofts shoes.

if kol copied your vs without permission would you be happy?

[#Michael]

Can someone please tell me when this turned into a debate about windowblinds?

This is about KoL and microsoft. Stardock is a certified Microsoft partner....they worked with MS in the creation of the uxtheme skinning engine during the whistler/xp betas and now are working with them for the vista betas.

If you choose to take a swing at stardock for their objectdock software....this is also rk launcher/rocketdock out there also. Might as well go after those too. Gee the author of rk launcher recently added a genie effect to his dock....kind of like the os x dock.

Stop being a bunch of cry babies and grow the hell up. :angry:

WB5 offers many more features than just PPAT.....being able to do a vista like skin is just an added bonus.

Anyone ever stop to think that maybe KoL was asked to stop because he was emulating the new gui so much using an already copyrighted format by MS? By using the msstyle format (which is just an variation of the original luna.msstyle) you are just breaking MS intellictual copyrights.

[Jeremy1]

I find it interesting how many apologists for Microsoft there are here.

So you're saying Microsoft was wrong for asking someone to stop distributing a knock-off of their design? Really? How can you justify that?

[Qarth]

GO M$!

[((Ecko))]

Saw it comming, oh well....atleast they weren't a$$holes about it.

[Miran]

That's a trademark and not a copyright that you are thinking of.

Yes you're right. Ignore my comment then :whistle:

[munashii]

Wah wah wah. Get over it, **** happens. It amazing how people can even be surprised at this. You copy a huge company's work, you get shut down. That's how it goes. No more Microsoft products? Good luck with your IT company, you'll need it.

While Kol is talented I'm sure he knew what he was getting into when he started working on that. I'm not saying it's his fault, or that it's right, but come on, he had it coming.

[FiREFLi]

I cheer and applaud Microsoft for having the balls to do this

Balls?! A huge corporation saying "please stop what you are doing" to one young guy. How is that "having the balls"?!

[whitedragon]

Saw it comming, oh well....atleast they weren't a$$holes about it.

Nope, they left that for us!!! :laugh:

[Boz]

FAIR USE UNDER UNITED STATES LAW

The legal concept of "copyright" was first ratified by Britain's Statute of Anne of 1709. As room was not made for the unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted content within this newly formulated statutory right, the courts gradually created a doctrine of "fair abridgement", which later became "fair use", that recognized the utility of such actions. The doctrine only existed in the U.S. as common law until it was incorporated into the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. ? 107, excerpted here:

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 the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

People forget that often if a company does not defend a copyright, they can lose it.

That's an important thing to remember. If Microsoft doesn't actively defend its intellectual property, in some cases those rights can be lost. I Am Not A Lawyer, but I'm pretty sure this is how it works in cases like this.

For example, if Apple decided to copy Glass in a future release of OS X, then you'd probably say MS would be right to persue legal action.

However, if that did happen, Apple could say "But Microsoft never tried to stop persons A, B, and C from doing the same thing" and actually win under current law. But if Microsoft can say "Look, we notified persons A and B that they were in violation of our rights" - they can retain their rights.

[KoL Veteran]

That's an important thing to remember. If Microsoft doesn't actively defend its intellectual property, in some cases those rights can be lost. I Am Not A Lawyer, but I'm pretty sure this is how it works in cases like this.

For example, if Apple decided to copy Glass in a future release of OS X, then you'd probably say MS would be right to persue legal action.

However, if that did happen, Apple could say "But Microsoft never tried to stop persons A, B, and C from doing the same thing" and actually win under current law. But if Microsoft can say "Look, we notified persons A and B that they were in violation of our rights" - they can retain their rights.

I agree that they have to defend their intellectual property and you can see that I don't have any problem with that, I removed all the skin from all the sites that I uploaded. But I don't think that is the case here. I've been working with this skin since July and after 5 month they decided to contacted me about it. If they really wanted to protect their intellectual property they should have contacted me before and they should have contacted all other authors and sites that are making and distributing the skins. They only took my skin down because of its popularity. The skin was one of the most downlowded skin ever on Wincustomize and devianART. My skin was not the only Vista based skin out there. There are a lot more and there will be a lot more.

[matt0]

I agree that they have to defend their intellectual property and you can see that I don't have any problem with that, I removed all the skin from all the sites that I uploaded. But I don't think that is the case here. I've been working with this skin since July and after 5 month they decided to contacted me about it. If they really wanted to protect their intellectual property they should have contacted me before and they should have contacted all other authors and sites that are making and distributing the skins. They only took my skin down because of its popularity. The skin was one of the most downlowded skin ever on Wincustomize and devianART. My skin was not the only Vista based skin out there. There are a lot more and there will be a lot more.

It's possible they just don't know about those skins. They probably didn't take it down because of it's popularity, it just got brought to their attention because of it's popularity. E-Mail MS about those other skins, 10 bucks says the request those dropped too.

[whitedragon]

I agree that they have to defend their intellectual property and you can see that I don't have any problem with that, I removed all the skin from all the sites that I uploaded. But I don't think that is the case here. I've been working with this skin since July and after 5 month they decided to contacted me about it. If they really wanted to protect their intellectual property they should have contacted me before and they should have contacted all other authors and sites that are making and distributing the skins. They only took my skin down because of its popularity. The skin was one of the most downlowded skin ever on Wincustomize and devianART. My skin was not the only Vista based skin out there. There are a lot more and there will be a lot more.

I agree totally!

[Miran]

Nevermind.

[DeusProto]

Microsoft has the right to protect its intellectual property rights. If someone rips off a COPYRIGHTED visual style then they should rightfully pay the price. Violation of copyright is illegal under U.S. law. Respect intellectual property rights and you wouldn't have to worry about this.

I applaud Microsoft for being more pro-active in the war on intellectual property theft. If you undermine the foundations of copyright law in this day and age, you undermine capitalism.

Edited December 14, 2005 by Rfire

[Brandon Live Veteran]

I agree that they have to defend their intellectual property and you can see that I don't have any problem with that, I removed all the skin from all the sites that I uploaded. But I don't think that is the case here. I've been working with this skin since July and after 5 month they decided to contacted me about it. If they really wanted to protect their intellectual property they should have contacted me before and they should have contacted all other authors and sites that are making and distributing the skins. They only took my skin down because of its popularity. The skin was one of the most downlowded skin ever on Wincustomize and devianART. My skin was not the only Vista based skin out there. There are a lot more and there will be a lot more.

Well in that case... Are you sure it was actually from MS and not someone messing with you?