The Alphaville Herald

12 Responses to “Maxis Targetting Whistle-blowers?”

1. 

   Sebastien
   

   Dec 6th, 2003
   

   I hate to say it, but realsimsonline.com sells simoleons and advertises third party programs.. which is clearly in breach of the TOS, and as per MaxisTigger’s post on the Stratics messageboards if you have a URL in your profile that contains links to anythin that breaches the TOS, then you yourself have breached the TOS.

   You might want to contact RealSimsOnline, as they are the true cause of your breach of service. And you arent the only one who got this warning… :\
2. 

   urizenus
   

   Dec 6th, 2003
   

   I think the issue here is not the policy or the warning but the selective enforcement of the policy. Thousands of sims link to realsimsonline in their bios. Selective enforcement, and in this case the timing of it, is what raises eyebrows.
3. 

   Squirrel
   

   Dec 6th, 2003
   

   This raises a number of interesting issues, as I have recieved one of these warnings myself. I’m not so sure that these are selective enforcements, it seems more like they make routine sweeps of population to find stuff like this. The problem though is that many of the sites that realsimsonline links to we link to, hence our site could become forbidden as well.

   This is certainly a case of selective speech, and possibly the EULA that TOS has put in place violates our freedom of speech. I would suppose that their argument is that speech such as what they have flagged is corporate speech, akin to soliciting, but they are legally unable to put a stop to soliciting.

   I would suggest that we contact Lawmeme or TerraNova and see if one of their lawyers could take a look at this.

   On another note, please try and shrink the amount of text in your intros (not this one but the interviews have been huge). Thanks!
4. 

   Kale
   

   Dec 6th, 2003
   

   Concerns about selective enforcement is a big deal; but the policy itself is also an issue. I agree that there is a freedom of speech issue here, squirrel. I think you’re right to key in on what they’re going to see as “advertising” but I sure as hell haven’t turned a profit from anything remotely related to their corporate interests, and I’m fairly certain that Uri hasn’t either. So, you know, the issue does seem to me to roll back around to selective enforcement, which is what Uri was originally rightly concerned about here. I highly doubt anyone who links to some site holding EA as the holy grail would have received such a warning. If you haven’t turned a profit yourself than the company’s possible “advertising” claim doesn’t seem to hold any merit; certainly it can’t outweigh free speech claims. Then again, it’s just the U.S. Constitution we’re talking about; why would any company let that stand in the way of good ol’ capitalism?
5. 

   Squirrel
   

   Dec 6th, 2003
   

   Another notion. How many degrees out does Maxis’s censorship go. If I Posted my site in my profile (as I do) would they want me to nix it becuase this sit links to numerous site that would be considered forbidden (like PhatMoneyBot or Realsimsonline)? What if I linked to a site that linked to one? would it be forbidden then? The point being that due to the six degrees nature of the internet they would have to ban all “advertising” from player profiles. Also I would guess that they would have to add web addresses and business names to the list of prohibited words to be filtered, lest some player decide to spontaneously advertise a website or business in their every day speech.
6. 

   Peter Ludlow
   

   Dec 6th, 2003
   

   Damn good questions, Squirrel. If “being a commercial site” includes being linked to a commercial site, then by transitivity every site on the net that doesn’t dead end is a commercial site. The Herald links to PhatMoneyBot and various traders because we want the Herald to be a resource to scholars investigating vitual economies. We don’t charge for those links and we ask for nothing in return (no link exchanges for example). Yet Maxis would seem to consider us a commercial site — or they want us to think they do. The danger here is that their enforcement of the TOS appears to be applied in a non-uniform manner, and in the current instance, the enforcement appears to be deployed as an act of intimidation and revenge. Can you say “chilling effect?”

   There are other disturbing aspects of the TOS as well, and Maxis may choose to exercise these clauses selectively as well. Suffice it to say that I am currently consulting a number of legal experts in this area as well as IP and cyberspace law experts here at the law school at the University of Michigan.

   I look forward to some interesting test cases. I suspect we will be in court before long. That’s fine: these are important issues and it is high time these topics be addressed by our legal system.
7. 

   Squirrel
   

   Dec 6th, 2003
   

   Three Cheers for Us Going to Court Soon!
   HIP HIP HOORAY!
   HIP HIP HOORAY!
   HIP HIP HOORAY!
8. 

   Candace
   

   Dec 6th, 2003
   

   I totally agree, Peter and squirrel. It’s one thing (in my view, understandable) for EA to be concerned with anyone intending to make a profit from their copyrighted materials, but as I said, that is most certainly not the idea here. This is an intellectual forum, not even remotely aimed for profit.
   Further, “the transitivity problem” that is brought up by you two is right on the mark. That logic leads to an insane prohibition on nearly any expression.
   As to the chilling effect, if I’m supposed to passively accept anyone can waive the right to pursue academic and intellectual interests in VR (including TSO) by agreeing to the TOS, then I’m not merely chilled, but frosty and sickened.

   These *are* great issues, and I express the same sentiment as you do in looking forward to seeing them worked out.
9. 

   RB
   

   Dec 7th, 2003
   

   It’s absoloute bullshit that’s what it is.
   this is the same no brain stuff that went on over at the old official TSO boards where most of the moderators were incompetant morons and did a very sloppy and poor job and removed posts and threads where they saw fit due to thier own personal bias. The stratics people do a much better job and have clearly defined rules which are enforced by normal mods not on power trips.

   Anyway enough of that. I refer you to this thread Peter,

   http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/sims/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=tsogeneral&Number=25564&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&what2=postlist&fpart=

   (it’s all 1 link, just copy & paste it into IE)

   Now this Tigger person *does* *work* for Maxis/EA as a paid employee doing a real job and not just a board mod, so should know what’s right and wrong.

   From what i can tell, (she says) it’s ok to link to sites that are not soley for making money. But then if that site goes and has links to other such sites on it, it’s not your fault. the AVH is a highly respected intellectual forum ONLY and is full of great quality journalism. It does not make 1 cent from any of this. not even for links to other peoples sites. those also merely for referance only. FFS get a clue EA/Maxis and do ya job properly for once. *rolls eyes*

   Mr Ludlow and the AVH staff do a brilliant job here and provide the community with a great reporting service. There is a clear and distinct communication breakdown gap between the various departments at the mammoth company known as EA/Maxis and it’s only getting worse.

   And yes realsimsonline.com sells simoleans, but i think they are getting desperate now. lol. i now count 1 large banner, 1 pop-up window, 2 links (text and/or image) on thier front page all pointing to the selling section. With the *support message* They mose well rename to realsimoleanssimsonline.com and be done with it. LOL.

   - RB
   Owner, President & CEO of RB Industries Corporation.
10. 

    Candace
    

    Dec 7th, 2003
    

    RB— thanks for the comments (I personally liked the part about Dr. Ludlow’s staff doing a brilliant job here ) In all seriousness now, though, thank you for the illumination— that thread you direct attention towards puts this in a certain perspective, and the pick up on this being a fiasco due to a huge communication breakdown between EA/Maxis adds a lot and probably also goes a long way towards why I can’t get a response from EA for months when I ask them what’s up with something going down at Maxis.
11. 

    Dyerbrook
    

    Dec 16th, 2003
    

    You need to clarify whether the reason URLs are removed is also because they disparage individuals Sims, neighborhoods, or the company itself. I have also been warned and suspended temporarily from both the game and the BBS for attempting to discuss the SSG and other cults openly. I have a website “SimsOutOfLine” which was devoted to this discussion. (It had thousands of readers before I reset the counter and took down some material). My URL in my Sim profile was unilaterally removed from my profile and the text was substituted not with XXXX but with a spam message about TOS violation and sites that disparage others. What this does is block legitimate criticism of negative phenomena in the game. My site has no third-party cheats or merchandise or any simoleon sales or anything of the kind on it, yet it, too, was removed from my profile and lot signs because it covered TSO critically, on the technicality that it contained violations of the TOS and its sub-set of regulations on the BBS, to wit, writing negatively of individuals Sims and neighborhoods(indeed, ANY discussion of the organization of neighborhoods would be banned on the old TSO). Urizenus, you have an awful lot to learn about the SSG, and frankly, your own credentials as a journalist for TSO are questionable as I have already noted on the Stratics discussion board, but I do hope you can see that this is issue is far far broader than your own personal case and sensational mainstream media coverage, and I hope you can see it involves an entire community of people who have been muzzled and prevented from saying what is happening in TSO: that it is being used by predators to recruit young, impressionable people into cults, that it is used for cybersex by minors and for improper relationships between adults and minors, and that virtualy nothing can be known about the facts of any of these allegations which all of us founding, long-time players know to be true because we can’t tell people’s real identiies and the company is dedicated to privacy of its clients –as well it should be. The company has no ombudsman system in place to deal with the real serious complaints (the SSG harassment, the BDSM proliferation, the individual cases of abuse of minors, etc.) because it is drowning in a sea of complaints by teenagers that their pets have been stolen by MOMI or that somebody gloved them. There is also the troubling nature of the report system itself — we are dealing with a KGB-style anonymous system of complaints where those targeted are unable to face their accusers or a jury of their peers in any kind of open proceeding. Finally, since so much hay is being made of this story, I wonder if you can give us some more background on this original story. How did you come to meet this boy — was it at the Church of Mephistophles, another lot or the Alphaville Herald? What was it about his comments that made you think they were not hyperbole (“I put her in he hospital” is not always meant literally by kids who beat up siblings”). What was it that made you think that hospitalized sister, obviously, already in the in the hands of competent authorities, was somehow a victim of *unknown or unreported* abuse? Didn’t you wonder that her parents already knew the whole story? Most states require hospital personnel to report all incidents of suspected child abuse even of one sibling against another, to the child protective services. What was it about this boy’s statements to you that made you think that the only way to address the problem was your valorous thundering at the gates of Maxis to attempt them to call the police in this boy’s community? As eager as I am to protect kids — I have them myself — have you thought about the consequences for everyone if any unchecked allegation made on the strength of hearsay is able to be acted on by having Maxis call the police?
12. 

    Rosenberg Julia
    

    Jan 20th, 2004
    

    I dont know what to say, but i likeed it.

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