CWF Supports The King Kong Defense

Logo from ThePirateBay for its King Kong Defense

The Pirate Bay torrent website is being sued by just about everyone for copyright violations. The big trial is taking place in Sweden where the defendants, three of whom run the site and one who has donated to it, are on the receiving end of criminal charges of “promoting other people’s infringements of copyright laws” according to an article in Wired magazines blog network.

We do not support illegal activities such as the sharing of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder.  But, we do support free speech.  This trial hinges on the prosecution’s misunderstanding of how file sharing works.  It is very rare that I will discuss anything not directly tied to gaming here on the blog.  After all the purpose of this blog is to discuss gaming.  “You Play It, We Discuss It” is our motto and one that I do my best to adhere to.  On the surface The Pirate Bay’s trial has nothing to do with gaming but we must dig beneath the surface to find the link.

Many electronic games such as those played on computers suffer loss of sales, or so we’re told, from gamers illegally downloading the games on the internet.  This loss of sales is supposedly the cause of major problems in the computer game industry covering everything from delayed releases, poor products, and lack of finances to fund new games and pay the developers for the games they’ve already made.

At the heart of the case is free speech and intellectual property.  Where does one end and the other begin?  The mighty Games Workshop corporation takes a hard line on intellectual property.  They have been kind enough to share a list of what gamers can and cannot do with their IP.  Most of it is benign but some is as draconian as to inhibit your freedom of speech on internet message boards and webcomics that you own and create.  If you discuss any Games Workshop game on an internet forum or webcomic in less than a positive light then Games Workshop may come after you for violation of their intellectual property.

From their official Can and Cannot Page regarding online forums:

We have no problem with people using forums to express their love (or even hate) of the hobby. We would, however, ask people to bear in mind that the hobby is for people all ages. Please be careful of the language used and the topics discussed. We would strongly recommend that you avoid any discussion of illegal behavior.

Regarding webcomics:

We would probably not take issue with anyone creating a web comic based upon our intellectual property – but as with forums, keep in mind that the hobby is for people of all ages. Please be careful of the language used and the topics discussed. We would strongly recommend that you avoid any topics concerning illegal behavior, obscenity, or libel.

Many gamers will remember the legal dispute between Games Workshop and the makers of the Warhammer 40,000 inspired fan film Damnatus (we discussed it here).  Games Workshop predicated their stance on their legal rhetoric below:

The video games that our licensing partners have created have done an incredible job of bringing the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 games to life, and we appreciate that hobbyists may even want to make movies based upon our intellectual property. Unfortunately, due to the nuances of the law in some territories, we cannot allow any unlicensed movies to be created which are based upon our intellectual property.

Other game companies use similar methods and take related stances.  These companies do spend a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money to create the games we love and play.  They are entitled to ownership of their work and to protect it.  Nobody can reasonably support someone illegally copying and disseminating an entire rulebook for a game.

The recent legal disputes…represent only skirmish in what is likely to be a decade long war over intellectual property, a war which will determine not simply the future direction of digital cinema but the nature of creative expression in the 21st century.-Professor Henry Jenkins, Rethinking Media Change (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003)

Then there are companies who seem to turn a blind eye to gamer activity that could potentially be in violation of the company’s intellectual property.  Wizards of the Coast sticks out in my mind.  They allow gamers a wide berth when it comes to creating works to use with and based on the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying system.  I know many gamers who create their own adventures and derivative works from the D&D system.  In fact up to and including D&D edition 3.5 is covered by the Open Game License.  Their 4th edition is covered by a different license however WoTC has said they do not require others to switch to their new license to cover older versions of D&D (3.5 and below).

We spend a lot of time discussing War at Sea on the blog, which is also produced by Wizards of the Coast through their Avalon Hill subsidiary.  I’ve come across numerous gamers who create scratchbuild ships to use with the WAS rules or who convert existing WAS models.  Some make other ships from the models, some repaint them, some modify them to better fit the unit represented.  In none of these instances have I heard that WoTC slinging a lawsuit against the gamers for violating their intellectual property.

These two gigantic game manufacturers (Games Workshop and Hasbro, which owns Wizards of the Coast) have taken two different roads when it comes to intellectual property.  The trial on The Pirate Bay symbolizes the clash between free speech and intellectual property.  The defense lawyers used what is being called the King Kong defense to state that a user named King Kong could “very well be found in the jungles of Cambodia” to show that the owners of The Pirate Bay have not interacted with the user King Kong and do not have a close tie to them.

Instead of governments working to truly reform copyright and trademark law to both protect the creators of original products AND encourage creative outlets by customers, which ultimately serves to heighten the visibility of the games and products, we see the various industries lashing out at four guys in an attempt to terrorize consumers everywhere.  Their scare tactics won’t work and the day will come when free speech is vindicated.  A balance is necessary and obtainable.  We do not condone violating anyone’s intellectual property but at the same time game companies must realize and embrace the fact that fan actions taken with a positive attitude serve to broaden the scope of the games we play.  These fan movies, fan fictions, converted models, scans, and distribution projects help to raise awareness of the games while also inducting more gamers to purchase and play these games.

In the long run the game manufacturers will make out.  People need to be sensible and the game manufacturers should allow gamers to police themselves.  If the manufacturers place a little trust in their customers they will be greatly rewarded.  This is why we support The Pirate Bay’s King Kong Defense and why we hope The Pirate Bay is proven innocent at the conclusion of their trial.  We have not, do not, and will never support piracy but we do support free speech and free expression of ideas.

If you agree we ask you to DIGG The Pirate Bay Trial and raise awareness on this issue.

Flames of War: St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Tournament Video

Yesterday at Battleground Games in Abington a massive Flames of War tournament was held using the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre rules.  A total of 7 players participated with 4 Allied and 3 Axis players.  The Soviet Union and United States were represented with infantry and paratroopers en masse.  The Wermacht and SS were represented on the Axis side with a plethora of infantry, artillery, and tanks.

We captured the battle in over 70 photographs.  Instead of sharing them with you in their traditional form we have created a video slideshow of the pictures set to music.  Please watch the video below.  We hope you enjoy it.  If you are running an older computer or one with low memory we suggest you download the video here.  Streaming the video may be too much of a toll on your machine.  Otherwise we hope you enjoy the video and we look forward to your comments.  Please continue reading for the video.

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War at Sea February 27, 2009 Rules Clarifications

An update to the Update and Clarifications (formerly called Rules Clarifications) came out at the end of this month. We have have made them available at https://wargamingforums.com/downloads/War_at_Sea_Clarifications.pdf (the pdf requires the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the file. You can get Acrobat Reader for FREE HERE).

This update makes two changes to the February 4, 2009 document.  The first is one that we can claim responsibility for.  The second concerns the Hi-Level Bomber special ability.

Even if you have the document from February 4th we strongly urge you to amend it with this new update.  You can either download the complete file using the link above or you can manually make the changes.  We will tell you how at the end of this article.

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War at Sea February 2009 Rules Clarifications

The newest Update and Clarifications (formerly called Rules Clarifications) came out this month. We have have made them available at https://wargamingforums.com/downloads/War_at_Sea_Clarifications.pdf (the pdf requires the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the file. You can get Acrobat Reader for FREE HERE).

The new clarifications combines the April 2007 and July 2007 updates, eliminating the need to have the old ones, and introduce several major and minor updates.

The new clarifications introduces some minor changes, which I’ll cover below, along with roughly 3 major updates that every War at Sea gamer has to pay close attention to.  The major updates are actually new rules that were supposed to come out with Task Force but are now available giving us plenty of time to master them before Flank Speed releases in June 2009.

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War at Sea: Stat Cards Gallery Update

The number one thing I’m contacted about by blog visitors is my War at Sea Stat Card Galleries.  The enthusiasm from visitors is always high, their appreciation sincere, and their inquisitiveness on when more will be shared pervasive.

This article is titled War at Sea: Stat Cards Gallery Update but it is more an open letter and response to everyone who has privately contacted me about the galleries.  I am thrilled and excited to receive e-mails from the plethora of visitors on this subject.  Far too often bloggers operate in a vacuum subject to the whims of their internal monologue and those who post comments.  Without comments the blogger doesn’t know if people are reading the posts and what their thoughts are.  As important as it is for the blogger to post new content it is equally, if not more, important for readers to post comments.

Leaving a comment is very easy to do.  At the bottom of the post is an empty box.  Once you signed in (because you REGISTERED your FREE blog account) type your remarks in that empty box and click the SUBMIT COMMENT button.  You’re done.

That said I do have actual progress to announce.  I spent three hours tonight scanning in stat cards and making them available in the War at Sea: Picture Card Gallery comprised of the Base Set stat cards.  The process is time consuming and painstaking so I believe readers will be interested in how the cards are scanned and made available on the blog.

  1. All my stat cards are kept in a binder (nine to a page) and I try to scan them in groups completing one page at a time.  It is easier to remember where I left off and where I need to continue.  I own duplicates of almost every single miniature (and card) for each of the sets.  I go through each of my cards looking for the one in the best condition.  This can take as long as a minute per model to identify the best card.
  2. After I have three cards I lay them out on my scanner with space between them.  I scan the cards three at a time at 600dpi into a computer.  This provides a clear and clean high resolution scan without spending too much time scanning.  It takes 30 seconds to scan three cards at 600dpi.  I save the scan of all three cards as a single jpg.  I will work with this in the next step.  When one group of three is complete I do the next one until I have completed nine cards.
  3. I open each scan, in turn, using Adobe Photoshop.  I crop the image so I work on one card at a time.  I resize the image, maintain its high resolution, and then save it as a jpg.  I back up the steps to the main scan and work on the next card.  When I’ve completed each step for each card I close the file and open the next scan.
  4. After all nine cards have been processed in Photoshop I open a FTP program.  I’m fond of Fetch and Cyberduck on the Mac or SmartFTP on Windows.  I upload the individual card to the appropriate folder on my server.
  5. I update the zip file with the latest additions and upload that to my server.  Uploading each card, the zip file, and original three card scans can take up to 20 minutes due to their large size (usually 8-12MB).
  6. In the case of the Base Set scans I go to War at Sea: Picture Card Gallery and edit the article.  I upload each of the cards into WordPress’ gallery for the particular article.  I sort them into the appropriate order based on their set number.  After saving my edits I verify that everything looks appropriate in the article.  I check each new card to ensure it looks crisp.

All told the entire process takes a very long time.  Tonight I added three pages of cards (or roughly 24 cards) and it took me two hours from start to finish.  This project is very time consuming but tonight I completed all the scans for the Allies.  Originally I finished the United Kingdom and did a few scans for the United States.  I left a comment on War at Sea: Picture Card Gallery and War at Sea Task Force Picture Gallery stating my intention to complete the Allies by the end of the month.  Instead I pushed forward and completed them tonight.

You have patiently waited a long time for the scans and I am happy to give you this late Christmas gift.  While working on the project I have also made a decision that will impact how the project continues.  Originally I planned to scan the fronts and backs of all stat cards from the Base Set and Task Force.  I have since changed my mind and will only scan the front of the cards.  I have decided that the purpose of scanning the cards is to offer gamers a preview of what they will get when they purchase the starter and booster boxes for each set.  It allows gamers to determine if a particular set is worth their expenditure of time and money.  In the current fiscal climate people have to be wiser than ever before on how they spend their money.  It may be difficult to choose what games to purchase and how much to spend on a game.  It is my hope that these scans, along with our extensive War at Sea coverage, will help gamers make informed choices.

There is another reason to not scanning the backs of the cards.  If we scan and make the backs of the cards available there is no reason for gamers to purchase War at Sea.  They could print out the scans making their own cards with some cardboard.  Instead of the beautiful miniatures they could use pieces of paper or tokens.  I’m not opposed to trying a game before buying it but if gamers completely skirt purchasing the games they play then the companies who make them will be unable to afford manufacturing those very games.

It is important for gamers to support the stores they play in and the games they play by purchasing those games in their local gaming stores.  Gamers may think twice about buying War at Sea if they can print out the complete stat cards.  As an avid War at Sea gamer I want Richard Baker to come out with the 5+ sets he has planned.  That means we need to buy the product to play with.

This leads me to the conclusion of this open letter.  The entire blog and all the stat card scans come with a terms of service or user agreement.  There is no cost to using the blog, the scans, or anything you find on the blog.  The only requirement is that you adhere to the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License covering the blog and everything on it (including the scans).  In addition to the terms cited in the license it means that if you use anything you see on the blog, like the scans, that you need to provide a link back to the blog on the website(s) you put the scans on.  Or, if you print them out and show them to friends you need to tell your friends about us and how to get to us.

It is a simple thing that grows the hobby, keeps us operating, and let’s us know what you want to discuss.  As always I am grateful for your time and appreciate your reading the blog.

Thanks,

Jonathan