[fw.net replaytracker] update announcements

Post by **system11** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 12:45 am

Icarus: no problem, what you carry on your torrent tracker is your business and your risk, but where copyright work is involved, it doesn't need discussion here.

MrMonkeyMan · Post by **MrMonkeyMan** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 1:17 am

Oh well, I guess that's just a lot less stuff I have to keep seeding. Still seeding that DoDonPachi Special Version video for anyone who hasn't noticed it yet.

I was kind of hoping to see some soundtracks I didn't have pop up there though

black mariah · Post by **black mariah** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 3:02 am

The videos are copyrighted work too. I assume that everyone uploading vids is the original copyright holder, giving their permission, right?

Smartassy, yes, but I'm making a point here.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 3:17 am

Seeding ESPrade super replay.
The tint in the game is a bit darker than some other Cave shmups. I think the quality is okay though. Enjoy.

I'm playing Shenmue these days, so will seed for quite a while.

Devilsheep · Post by **Devilsheep** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 4:35 am

Well I'm not seeing a seed on the ESPrade replay.
But thanks, I am looking forward to it.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 4:40 am

well, I'm having trouble running it.

I thought I had it going, and then my ssh session had kicked me off.

EDIT: I just ran the download script instead of the goofy btlaunch.py script, and it's working. Enjoy!

Devilsheep · Post by **Devilsheep** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 4:42 am

Haha sweet! I look forward to this...

ESP Ra.De. is one of my favorite shmups of all time.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:25 pm

Added MUSHIHIMESAMA superplay torrent (showing maniac loop 1). It's really quite lovely to look at. Now seeding.

Devilsheep · Post by **Devilsheep** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:22 pm

Just watched the ESP Ra.De. superplay and it's very impressive!

I'll seed for a bit.

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 1:43 am

starting to seed

19xx
Blazing Star (by Kiken)
Dimahoo
DDP3 Black Label
Gigawing 2
Gunbird 2
Progear
Sengoku Blade (by Kiken)

videos from now on. I don´t have to work the next week and will be seeding whenever I´m at home. I renamed the videos, so I sometimes don´t remember who did them, if anyone knows, please contact me.

Post by **Icarus** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:23 am

Woah, plenty of tracker love going on here. Thanks for the uploads, Raiden

Got some old school replays coming - some TF4 and some Hyper Duel - and will be ready in the next week. Currently helping to seed those replays that have 2 or less seeds (Garegga, Gradius Gaiden etc), once I free up some resources I'll put up some more vids.

Also, I'm politely asking if a mod can sticky this thing, please? So it doesn't get lost in the board

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:27 am

Icarus wrote:I'm politely asking if a mod can sticky this thing

legal issues, etc, etc.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 6:01 am

Progear has some issues.

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 7:43 am

Progear has some issues.

what issues are you talking about?

Trevor spencer · Post by **Trevor spencer** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 7:27 pm

tracker site is down

poieo · Post by **poieo** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 9:23 pm

Thunder Force wrote:
Icarus wrote:I'm politely asking if a mod can sticky this thing
legal issues, etc, etc.

That made no sense whatsoever.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:20 pm

poieo wrote:That made no sense whatsoever.

Posting links to illegal shit in a sticky is a stupid fucking idea. Better?

black mariah · Post by **black mariah** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 10:21 pm

Yet there are links to it everywhere in here.

Post by **Icarus** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 12:31 am

GaijinPunch wrote:Posting links to illegal shit in a sticky is a stupid fucking idea. Better?

Ahh, I get it. Forget I asked about the sticky thing then.

Just one question - the only potentially serious illegal stuff that was on the tracker has been removed (OST torrents). Now, I'd understand the problem if someone just plainly ripped an entire commercially available replay DVD to an ISO and dropped it on the tracker, but how is a simple, distributed-on-other-sites video file "illegal"?

If I knew it would cause this much hassle, I wouldn't have bothered making the public tracker, and just used Azureus' embedded tracker to distro my own material

Trevor spencer wrote:tracker site is down

My servers my site is hosted on has this really annoying habit of regressing to an older version of my site every once in a while. Usually it's because the server backs up my site to protect against any problems, but this time, not only has it regressed to an old backup, it's also changed the dedicated IP address of my site, completely screwing with my DNS settings on NetworkSolutions.

Next time, I'll remember to make a backup of the site contents and SQL database...

So until further notice, both featheredwings.net and the tracker are offline

Even if the tracker and the site return, the tracker itself will be private access only until I get some detailed explanation/clarification on this "legal matters" business, what it entails and what it affects.

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:18 am

Would this thread be better if restarted without OST discussion? Or is something about the videos specifically a no-no?

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:40 am

ok, the soundtracks and the Battle Garegga DVD-rip are illegal, but why the Progear video? From my understanding, if someone films his way through a game, that is similar to someone filming himself at skating or something. Just because copyrighted skates are used, the video isn´t automatically copyrighted. Music isn´t automatically copyrighted either, it´s only when it´s sold commercially, but if someone publishes his music as freeware, it´s not illegal to spread it further.
Am I missing a point here?

Trevor spencer · Post by **Trevor spencer** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 10:49 am

i gutted now , cause that was a class site .

Post by **Dave_K.** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 3:59 pm

Arrrg! I have that mushi replay half downloaded...I can't even view the half I have since it was a zip file and says its corrupted. Can't you bring it back for the legit downloads?

Post by **Icarus** » Sat Mar 26, 2005 4:38 pm

As stated in my previous post, fw.net and it's tracker are offline until my host fixes the problem it's having. I've noticed that my site seems to reside on several different servers - the main server which my DNS settings at NetworkSolutions points to, and several backup servers, each with a different copy of the site - and occasionally, they keep changing around. And when they do, there's no warning. This is most noticeable when I log into my control panel and check the dedicated IP address for the domain name.

I've sent numerous emails and support requests the past two days, and I'm waiting on a reply. Fingers crossed they return my site back to the original server it was on, and intact as well. (Thankfully I have a backup of the site, and the tracker, but I have not copied over the current incarnation of the SQL database with the registered user data, or the torrents folder. Ack.)

So until they finally get off their arses and resolve the problem, the site and the tracker are down, so my apologies for the inconvenience. Please, sit tight and be patient, and I'll notify the board when it's back (although I'm still waiting on an answer to my previous question, and the fate of the tracker hinges on the response).

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 8:01 pm

Not to get too technical, but reproducing video from anything a video game you don't own the copyright to is illegal. Will those companies give a shit... I would seriously think not.

Post by **system11** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 8:46 pm

Icarus wrote:Please, sit tight and be patient, and I'll notify the board when it's back (although I'm still waiting on an answer to my previous question, and the fate of the tracker hinges on the response).

OSTs = illegal
Superplays from game DVDs = illegal
Superplays downloaded from sites = who knows, probably as above
Self made replays, tune remakes = probably ok.
ROMs = illegal
Emulator binaries = legal, unless cracked shareware

Of course, what you put on your torrent tracker is up to you to deal with - just don't use the shmups forum as a web based tracker update service if you're carrying something even grey area.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:35 pm

Self made replays, tune remakes = probably ok.

Doesn't this fall under 'exhibition'. I seriously doubt anyone would give a shit, but still...

Post by **Icarus** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 3:50 am

Once again, my bad for ripping one replay from the Garegga DVD and popping it up on the tracker. The way I saw it though, it was just one single replay, people not able to purchase the DVD might have wanted to watch it, and it's not quite the same as ripping the ENTIRE DVD to an ISO and popping that up on the tracker. Even I'm not that stupid.

Then again, I was about to distro OSTs, so I guess I am that stupid.

However, I also think that replays made by players and downloaded off their sites (or from someone else's) are free game, considering that the replay makers in this case are "giving the data away", so to speak, for free. Illegality in my view only concerns stuff that is readily purchased, and only if you provide the purchaseable content in it's entirety. If it's distributed for free, what's to stop people spreading your work? (And you'd want your work spread further in this regard, right?)

Unless, of course, the replay makers don't want their stuff to spread to more people. In which case, Kiken, Alamone, Alluro, etc, just tell me and I'll not bother distroing the stuff via tracker.

And IIRC, when the replay FTP first surfaced, someone dropped the .vob files from the DDPDOJ replay DVD up there, and not a squeak was heard, when when someone posted the news on the Gamespy resident forum. News of replays made available via the FTP were popping up all over the old forum, and again not a squeak. So I'm wondering if it's the chosen distribution method that's attracting the bad press here this time around.

Ahh, whatever. The site is still down, and will be for a bit longer, and I'm giving serious consideration to making the tracker private use only (as in my use only). Which is a shame, as I firmly believed that it could have been a useful public resource for the members here to use to distribute replay content either self-made or found online. There's just far too much negativity for it to continue, in my view.

Lock or delete this thread if you wish.

poieo · Post by **poieo** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 1:24 pm

MOD EDIT: Attention poieo. Saying "screw you" to the site mods and telling "the forum and the shmup community" to "go fuck itself" is not acceptable. Your post has been deleted, and consider this your formal warning. If in future you still can't get your viewpoint across without hurling insults then you will likely face an account ban... -TF

Post by **Icarus** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:52 pm

The site and it's tracker is back up, by the way, for the time being.

Now can we get this issue resolved without resorting to threats, verbal abuse, censorship and banned accounts? I'd still like to know whether it's okay to upload replays and post the news on this thread, especially considering the rules that some are working so hard to enforce are very hazy and unclear at best. I can't say I agreed with the way the post above was originally worded, but I can't say I agreed on the resulting response either, and the original post did have a few good points, no matter how crass the language used. Perhaps a simple edit would have worked better.

But who am I to complain about the way this place is moderated, no matter how overly strict I think it is.

Rules are there to be followed, yes, but I believe that every situation must be taken to account, and all options considered. A community service without a method to spread the news is like a games magazine telling it's readers: "Hey! There's a new game coming out! We're not going to tell you what the game is, who made it, and when it hits the shelves, so get off your arses and go to the shop and find out!" It just isn't the right thing to do, and you alienate your target audience that way.

I'm open to suggestions as to how this can be sorted, so we can get back to business and share stuff (which, I might add, is an ethos that seems to be sadly missing from the earliest forum iterations - "share and share alike").