thank you c242
it seems that it is allready down in theme XP

If they do, they don't seem to care until you hit 'em with a stick

Treetog,

You should send the author and ThemeXP a bill for services @ 2700 x $9.75 = $26,325.00 USD.I'm sure that would get their attention. Pressing this matter with legal action would certainly set an example and probably send out a wake up call to all these sites that they are responsible for the content their servers deliver.

Renato....kith has quite a good idea there...

Jafo, does ThemeXP have any site TOS? I don't seem to see one. (Of course, my ad/script blocking does eliminate some stuff from sites, but I'm not especially inclined to disable it for that site.)

I just don't recall seeing anything that provides rules for what can or cannot be uploaded there. I don't see any disclaimer either, though. But as you say, disclaimers can be worthless, especially if there's no real TOS and advisories regarding acceptable, unacceptable or illegal content. Clearly copyrighted material/trademarks, etc are allowed there as one can readily see from the walls section.

My email to a quite helpful Admin at themexp.org, who has always been prompt in responding to concerns of ripping, etc....[thanks, Greg]...

Greg....Hi...

It seems we have a bit of a problem when a site 'hosts' stolen [ripped] works which are in fact themes only available through purchase from the original Authors.
As you will understand, this equates to property theft, not just copyright theft...[which is bad enough].
Since 2600+ downloads were made through themeXP.org, that equates to approx 26,000 dollars US of lost [potential] earnings that Pixtudio.com are entitled to.

Now, although responsible action was taken by themeXP.org following notification of the fact, there is an inherent duty of care as a facilitator of property distribution to make every effort to ascertain proprietorship of anything/everything submitted to the site.

The person who uploaded the stolen work is ultimately responsible. Your obligation[s] is to forward any and all details of his account/name/address/email so appropriate Legal Action can be taken to exact compensation.

Property theft is a crime.
The Internet is no different to any other entity, and appropriate compensation will be forth-coming from any and all parties involved in the theft and handling of property.

There is absolutely no legitimate defence for this person's actions. Any and all defenders/supporters should suffer immediate expulsion from any and all websites hosting/involved with skins and skinning.

Anything less is inappropriate and cannot be condoned.

OK, so I sound like I'm coming down 'heavy', well, I am....I'm sick to death of these little kiddies stealing from, and abusing genuine artists' property and rights....and I know you're of a similar mind.

Somehow, every skinning site needs to be 'linked' in a way that can aid in policing these thefts....interaction between the various admins so that nothing of this sort can happen, or, if it does, unilateral action is taken by every site to eliminate the wrong-doer....permanently.

At the end of the day, we all want a harmonious, congenial skinning community to thrive...

Post this publicly if you so wish....call it a 'wake-up' to all those idiots out there...

Cheers,
Paul Martin
Jafo
[Admin...Wincustomize.com]
[Admin...Pixtudio.com]
[Senior Member...Deviantart.com]

treetog, maybe public key encryption could be added to the function of the installer?

each time a person installs it, they have to enter their email address used to purchase it, and also the serial number used to purchase it, then they get sent a key for that one install...

the key could be a temp file created for use only during the install and at compleation it ets deleted, even hide it out in never never land on the drive and not in the theme dir, install dir, temp, etc... make a folder is oh, Windows (WinNT) \media\goof\public.key +r +s +h ....

does the install, and the key go'es poof...

or you could even generate the key while they are online and email it to the registered email addy as an attachment, they keep it local... if that key hits the net, you know who did it...

just some thoughts, silly as they might be

actually that was what I was thinking...

Oh no, a disclaimer means squat when your service ends up providing stolen products.
It is like having an consingment shop and someone is dealing in stolen good and selling them through your services, you are still dealing in stolen goods. The police might give you a break if you work with them on the investigation, but, you would still be breaking the law, even with a disclaimer.. In order for such a thing to work you would have to attempt all possible means to ensure the things were in fact not stolen or that your storing and providing them to others was not in fact breaking any law, and at the same time prove you did it... I am betting ThemeXP wouldn't pas either of those acid tests...

not out of design, but lack of controls, checks and balances...

btw all those Beacon clones are ok?
the ones on themexp that is...

And now "razorart" Here is http://www.themexp.org/view_info.php?id=5422

Well I downloaded both and couldn't find any permission from any authors.

you know thinking about it, if you become an affiliate, and are also doing commercial packs, that could be a good draw/bait for becoming an affiliate. The ability to also have some security built into your pack that works in conjunction with the skin engine, or a couple of common dll's for the SD products for error checking and some such.

just a thought, screwy as it might be and way of any conceivable mark

luck