Brivium's "apology" xD

allegedly

Neophyte
Joined
Jan 29, 2015
Messages
3
I am indeed that person. I view copyright theft in the same light as any other kind of theft. I'm sure there will now follow multiple opinions on why I'm wrong but I'm happy with my view.

I could have used a large number of Brivium's add-ons but I had some doubt about the legitimacy of their business long before this blew up. I suspect the degree of their felony is somewhat more than has been divulged. That they should use an image subject to copyright in their apology for copyright theft speaks volumes. As I said before, I don't know for certain that they haven't paid the appropriate fees for the image's use but I would put money on it that they haven't.

I don't really think people are overreacting, the general view seems to have been quite measured. A lot of forum owners use their add-ons and I would imagine some must now have a few doubts about the integrity of their sites.
One thing you certainly did do is remove the linkback from the footer of the WordPress template you're using, and claim copyright over it. That's not the first time you did it either. Point of my post being is that no one can claim that they never infringed on someone else's copyright on the Internet. We do it all the time, maybe not intentionally or for-profit. But it's still copyright infringement nonetheless, especially if we try to pass off the work as ours, or use the image(s) in the website's design without crediting the author.

IMHO, only serious thing they did here is run a copyright infringing forum, but even that didn't have that much of an impact to the authors since it was local, and I doubt a lot of people from Vietnam even pay for scripts, let alone themes and modifications.

They're trying to correct their actions, and I applaud them for doing so. They could've just ignored the community, but they obviously do care. Many companies do just fine without their presence on official software forums, even though it doesn't help the business. But so long as you have the product people are looking for, you won't have any problem selling it.
 

zappaDPJ

Moderator
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
8,450
One thing you certainly did do is remove the linkback from the footer of the WordPress template you're using, and claim copyright over it. That's not the first time you did it either. Point of my post being is that no one can claim that they never infringed on someone else's copyright on the Internet. We do it all the time, maybe not intentionally or for-profit. But it's still copyright infringement nonetheless, especially if we try to pass off the work as ours, or use the image(s) in the website's design without crediting the author.

You could well be right but I'll generally only do it with permission e.g. if I recall correctly the Rocket theme which I purchased had a branding removal setting built in.
 

smacklan

Squirrel!!
Joined
Jul 1, 2005
Messages
955
It always infuriates me when people make the excuse that because digital piracy is rampant and "everyone does it", that those who call it for what it is are hypocrites and that it's a victimless crime. What a load of bulls***! It might be in vogue to rationalize one's own lack of character, but it's still exactly that - a lack of character. I can also assure you that I, personally, have lost ten's of thousands of dollars to these kinds of sites and scammers over the years so it is indeed not a victimless crime.
 

Danielx64

Developer
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
3,300
It always infuriates me when people make the excuse that because digital piracy is rampant and "everyone does it", that those who call it for what it is are hypocrites and that it's a victimless crime. What a load of bulls***! It might be in vogue to rationalize one's own lack of character, but it's still exactly that - a lack of character. I can also assure you that I, personally, have lost ten's of thousands of dollars to these kinds of sites and scammers over the years so it is indeed not a victimless crime.
Indeed, I remember IPSLindy saying something about how much they lose each year and when I did the math it was alot.
 

AdamD

Devotee
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Messages
2,897
I engage in "temporary" piracy all the time, meaning, I download software and test it, before I buy.
There's been to many times I've bought software (mainly games) and they've been absolutely awful, never again.
I always download games to try first, but if I like said games, I remove it, then buy the genuine copy.
I've never used pirated forum software or addons, however, I did download a copy of Vb5 once, just to see how bad it was, lol.

I think what Brivium has done, is an extreme version of piracy, he didn't just download a bunch of addons illegally, he ran a BIG site offering pirated, paid addons to potentially thousands of people, while profiting off of his own addons at the same time, probably containing stolen code from others lol.
 

BrandonSheley

loving life
Joined
Jan 2, 2006
Messages
2,603
Well sure you can have a ton of mods, when you have 10 people copying other peoples code, and turning it into a mod under your name.
I... I didn't realize that was what was happening? o_O

I admit I've read very little about what's gone on, I've tried to skim over items but that's about it.
 

LPH

Sponsor
Joined
Apr 7, 2004
Messages
449
I engage in "temporary" piracy all the time, meaning, I download software and test it, before I buy.
There's been to many times I've bought software (mainly games) and they've been absolutely awful, never again..

Maybe that attitude is the same as taking a shirt from a store, wearing it over the weekend, deciding it isn't me, and returning it. I don't know if that is a false equivalency but I changed my policies and now never look at a paid add-on unless I purchase it.
 

Danielx64

Developer
Joined
Nov 8, 2009
Messages
3,300
Maybe that attitude is the same as taking a shirt from a store, wearing it over the weekend, deciding it isn't me, and returning it.
Well you got a chance to try out the shirt in the store, the same cant be said for software mostly games.
 

AdamD

Devotee
Joined
Oct 21, 2007
Messages
2,897
Maybe that attitude is the same as taking a shirt from a store, wearing it over the weekend, deciding it isn't me, and returning it. I don't know if that is a false equivalency but I changed my policies and now never look at a paid add-on unless I purchase it.
Current system is - Look at, don't touch.
System I use is - Look at, touch, see if I like, then either put back, or buy. :p
 

Sysnative

Habitué
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
1,103
It always infuriates me when people make the excuse that because digital piracy is rampant and "everyone does it", that those who call it for what it is are hypocrites and that it's a victimless crime. What a load of bulls***! It might be in vogue to rationalize one's own lack of character, but it's still exactly that - a lack of character. I can also assure you that I, personally, have lost ten's of thousands of dollars to these kinds of sites and scammers over the years so it is indeed not a victimless crime.

That may well infuriate you, but as far as I can see no one has claimed it is a victimless crime.
 

obazavil

Aspirant
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Messages
37
Is bad to install nulled forum / addon
Is really bad to own a warez site of XF
Is **** bad to do above things and also sell your own stuff in XF with some stolen code too :p

And piracy is piracy. I have also downloaded and tested music long time ago before I bought it, but that was still piracy even if I bought it later.
 

Flexin

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 15, 2011
Messages
246
I agree with xenForo for removing him and his products from their website. I agree people deserve second chances but I don't believe his company should get anymore.

I was never a fan of the way he ran things or packaged his products. There was interesting products but something always seemed off. It kept me from buying anything from them. With everything that went down, I won't be changing that. That is not a company I want to do business with. The people that still want to do business with them are free to do so on their site.

I'm excited for the new products that should start showing up from other developers.

James
 

Jake

Developer
Joined
Jan 19, 2013
Messages
1,048
And he also recommend a strong union between us. So everyone can know that Brivium and Jon W are going to an agreement to make benefits for both sides, and also for the customers of XenForo.

Jon W are you working with brivium now, or is this like when he said he was working with barbole? I sure hope it's the latter lol
 

Alex.

The Ancient Dragon
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
11,568
Bloody nora. They're in love with all their new users. And a quaint "Mercy Beaucoup" at the end. So sweet, charming and dainty. I'm conflicted whether to feel sick or laugh at the stupidity of this stunt. :sick:

The whole "in love" covers why they have their relationship status in their postbits. Find your soul mate while troubleshooting your buggy spaghrtti XenForo modification. It's genius I tell you! Move over, @eHarmony.

In this day and age, there is no reason someone shouldn't be able to learn written English. It isn't that difficult to get to a decent conversational level. We didn't have the internet when I first began going to grade school. Today anyone with a decent connection can learn. There are communities for this type of stuff.

There's not an aspirin big enough on this planet to cure one's headache after they get done reading one of their newsletters.
 
A

AWS

Guest
Did I miss something? Where are you quoting that from?
It's in Briviums apology post. They said they mended fences and that Jon would be working along side them or some such like that.
 
A

AWS

Guest
To save you the painful read.

About the Waindigo's allegation: We referred a function of his code, equivalent to 21 lines or a code paragraph. We thought that it might be suitable for one of our products. With this case, we had sent the apology to Jon W (Waindigo) and he accepted that, as he mentioned in our thread recently. And he also recommend a strong union between us. So everyone can know that Brivium and Jon W are going to an agreement to make benefits for both sides, and also for the customers of XenForo.
 

HWS

TAZ Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Messages
206
https://***********/threads/briviums-official-apology-and-notice.1386/

From that link, I can see Brivium still uses XenForo for his forum.

He admitted to own a board which distributed warez and pirated software for several years.

Why did XenForo not revoke his licenses??

My best guess for the far future is that he will sell his add-ons to another coder who returns to XF with them.
 
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