"At the request of X and X"

Lol, I get it, it's not technically incorrect but it's not how I would've described receiving a DMCA notice from the lawyer representing X and X.

+points for being diplomatic though :p

Most companies being sued will keep information given out to an absolute minimum in order to prevent shooting themselves in the foot inadvertently. Something neither Paul & Fred or Stardock are capable of doing apparently. How is this political?

Hmm, yeah that doesn't sound right. How do you call it when you say something and do your best not to offend anyone? Could've sworn there was a word for it but I can't quite find it atm.

neutral.

You're probably thinking of "politically correct".

Ah, diplomatic would probably be a better word.

Let's hope it does. :)

Thanks, that was it. I'm really going senile these days, lol.

I was about to write something opinionated and authoritative but then I realized I don't even know what a DMCA is.

The DMCA is the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, a United States copyright law, more specifically the US complying with the WIPO* Copyright Treaty and WIPO* Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

* WIPO = World Intellectual Property Organization

A DMCA takedown notice is a legal notice provided by a copyright owner (or a legal representative thereof) to an online service provider that content they are hosting is being used without the permission of the copyright owner. Provided the notice is valid, the service provider must remove access to the infringing content in an "expeditious" manner, until such time as the person who uploaded the content contests the decision, and either the copyright owner fails to respond after a period of 14 days, or the copyright owner takes the matter before the courts and loses the case.

N.B. I am not a lawyer, the above is my best attempt at a layperson explanation, and may not be entirely correct.

DMCA stands for "DON'T....MY COOKIES...AAAAAAAAHA".

Stardock took a massive hit to their core business of 3rd party Windows GUI tweaks when Windows 7 locked down APIs and then DirectX 11 was tricky to figure out, and have been bleeding money ever since. Tripling down on Paradox Studios "infinite DLC content" release model allowed Stardock to stay in business. DLC-locking required game content on everything Stardock has made/published since 2011. Challenging existing licensing agreements/IP property/royalty payment structures in court to see who blinks first with the added bonus of not having to payout on anything while the lawsuits are active/unresolved.

F&P on the other hand haven't made a Star Control game since the 1990s, dumped all Star Control 1/2 related assets into a non-commerical usage open-source license and told the fans "you deal with it" so their company could work on other/less complex games, and were happy with the existing state of limbo until royalty payments stopped coming in.



In closing:
Both sides are at fault, both sides suck. Allow both Stardock's Star Control Origins game + the vaporware F&P Star Control reboot game to exist but assign all rights/revenue beyond 1yr after release of each game into a blind trust benefiting charities.

People keep saying that F&P haven't done anything in the videogame industry, and that Ghosts of the Precursors is vaporware by default. That is a load of bull.

As part of Toys for Bob, F&P made the following games during the last decade:

*Skylanders
*Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy
*Spyro Reignited

Activision owns Toys for Bob, which means most of the profit goes to Activision, and that the studio isn't able to help F&P with projects. In short: F&P has to treat Ghosts of the Precursors as a side project.

Whew, good thing they left the DLC available for sale.

=P

Just buy the game directly from Stardock . :p

https://store.stardock.com