So, can we have the opinions from people that have actually been remotely active around here and actually read the arguments posited before, or should I just take a cup of coffee while the Nanobuds fans parot the same 4 lines?
Do I count on this?
I'm pretty much a neutral party, I have been around for a loooooooooong time and even if I don't post in hacking threads I lurk around all of them.
First let me say that the display of bickering from both sides is ludicrous.
We all know how stubborn, condescending, and self-righteous some of the people involved in this can get.
Miacis shouldn't be mocking and taunting others with witty sarcastic comments or his avatar and personal text; Nano shouldn't go to other sites, get people riled up and bring them here to target the people he disagrees with.
First of all clear your minds, let your heads cool down, act a little bit mature, and then discuss these issues with civility instead of constantly jumping at each other.
There's been animosity between KCMM and PM members for a long time, and seems people in both sides still resent it, how about leaving that aside too?
It would have been much better to have this conversation between the KCMM and ex-PM staff somewhere else to reach a middle ground and final decision.
Now, as for the main issue; some people here are complaining about theft and making analogies but this is not your average case of burglary, we're talking about files that were leaked, that have been circulating around the internet for months now.
People already have these files, they've already modified them, used them, added to them, complemented them. Whether they're allowed into the vault or not is not gonna change the fact that those files are currently hosted somewhere in the internet being downloaded and shared.
The people who downloaded those files, edit them and upload them somewhere else aren't thieves, they're not stealing, they're just using them, and ultimately sharing them.
The only "thief" would be the person who got the files and leaked them in the first place. If you want to point fingers and blame it on someone, that's the person you should go after.
When you read the vault rules that have been in place for years, and the specific set of rules for these PM files, the staff's decision is simply to allow users to share their edits to files that are already available to people.
That's it.
Banning it from the vault won't make it disappear from the web, and people who upload edits to that work won't get praise as creators of the content, since pretty much everyone will know who made the work originally.
Personally, I never liked the system of "as long as you credit the original creator you can upload your version without asking for permission", but if it wasn't in place, a lot of improved versions of older content or new content taking little bits of pieces from others would never see the light of day. Which would be a shame in a community and storage system where the main point is sharing everyone's work.
I totally get the anger and frustration that comes from someone making minor edits to your work and uploading it on their own; I mean, it happened to me back in the day; but in the end, people are forced to give proper credit where credit is due and it gives more options to choose from to the users downloading content.
Now, some complaints are about the original creator's wishes.
I don't know, but I highly doubt that Nano alone or all these PM fans can talk on behalf of all the other people that worked on that PM content.
Some might not dislike the idea of the files getting shared, some might want to complete it and release them themselves later on, some might prefer to keep the files to themselves and never share them with anyone.
In that case, wouldn't it be better if each of those people directly involved approached the staff and talked to them about what they think and want?
It would be great if the people who worked directly in those files were willing to discuss it with the staff here and reach a middle point of agreement.
It would also be great if the staff here was willing to ultimately follow and support the decision of the ex-PM members whose work is directly involved.
A lot of you guys have used this just as an excuse to white-knight your beloved ex-PM staff and to lash out against the evil KCMM staff.
Some are even unable to detect sarcasm in a mocking post.
People like that are not worth talking with in this case, just makes the debate go in circles.
Which is why again, I propose this is taken to another place and only discussed between the direct involved people.