Oh oh!!!!! (warning mail from Amiga.corp)

[MosMensk]

The webmaster of Http://www.horza.dircon.co.uk found this in his mail box today.

First i thought the mail was directed at me...I looked something like this :eek

Here goes:

"Sir:

Please remove our commercial property from your web site immediately! Also,
you do not have permission to use our registered trade mark "Amiga" on your
site. We do not condone piracy of any form.

Postmaster of dircon.co.uk, we are asking that you have this user site
discontinued immediately or further actions will be taken against the
hosting company and the servers hosting this illegal pirate site.
Sincerely,
Gary Peake
Director - Developer Relations and Support
Amiga Inc.
http://www.amigadev.net
http://www.amiga.com"


Any comments?? A fake maybe??

[Malc]

What was on his web site exactly?

Was he publishing Amiga Kickstarts and Workbench?? if so then you are not allowed to distribute them due to a massive copyright protection held by Amiga over the top of them.

I don't honestly think that Amiga can do anything about sites that have permission from game developers, demo coders, music writers etc because it has nothing to do with them.

I say, if your site is legal worry not - IF you get the e-mail from Amiga check the header using Outlook Express - it may very well be a fake e-mail from many sites that currently allow users to enter an email FROM anyone they choose.

This means you can fill in the TO: box and the FROM: box and make it look official as fuck - until you check the header and it tells you that the E-mail came from a very different server.

Caution is advised to those offering kickstarts and Amiga trademarked software over the web though.

[RCK]

I'm totaly agree with Malc.

And don't forget to check the header of your email message source. The smtp serveur (which send the mail) should have one ip adress which belong to Amiga corp. (whois lookup (http://www.ns.com/cgi-bin/whois.cgi) can tell you that), however, you can kick the mail.

be carefull if you post kickstart or workbench on your site, it's the only point where Amiga corp could attack you.

[Unregistered]

Amiga have a point, but it is a sad reflection that the company asking people to take the boing ball of sites.

If you are distributing kickstarts/workbench then you deserve everything you get.

Amiga have no power over the removal of games. Tell them to sod off :)

[Gibby]

You are always on dodgy ground when you display official logos on websites.

I have a football(ish) website and I display the Middlesbrough logo on the website. Apparently I have to pay to do that. Currently I am doing it illegally cos I have no right to use it.

[Khephren]

I used to work for a publishing house designing magazines and we were asked for a five figure sum from the Premier League to use the clubs badges.

Most companies/businesses I though would welcome using trademarks, but there are some real idiots out there so get used to it...it will only get worse.

[Gibby]

Maybe its just Middlesbrough then?

I wouldn't put it past them, they do a very good job of making their fans dissatisfied.

Luckily for me my Web site is not high profile enough to get noticed. Actually I think thats a bad thing.

[Unregistered]

I ran the biggest dosgames site, from my own server, that was all legal and above board, but one day my Internet Service Provider, where my wonderfull £1200 Cobalt RAQ 3 (a very nice web server), was located decided to void the contract, and claimed i was a warez site, now who cares about old dos games? That I had permission from developers to distribute? Well, this world is fucked up even if you stay legal. And all the big warez sites never get touched. Jeez i'm off to cry :-(

[Unregistered]

I think the mail isn't fake, I've had a similair one.
I contacted gary@amiga.com and got back a really intimidating e-mail. His vocabulary doesn't go further than proscecute, proscecute, proscecute, ...

The man cannot be reasoned with. He's a sad git. :(

[Akira]

My thoughts. FUCK THEM.

It's PATHETIC that they are trying to take a site down, because they mention the Amiga name. I mean, wtf is wrong with them, they are trying to nick cash from everywhere possible.

These attitudes show even more that they just want to cash-in on the Amiga community. These people are not true amigans, they are true bastards.

I wish I could NAPALM their company. I supoprt the REAL AMIGA, not Amiga Inc.

Ok, I'm off to hear some more modchips...

[Twistin'Ghost]

I agree. Amiga Inc's frothing zealotism even makes CBM's nihilism seem appealing. Due to Amiga Inc's treatment of Amiga fans (and yes, customers), they will never get a dime from me - much the same way Micro$oft will never get any of my hard-earned dosh either.

[oldpx]

The webmaster of Amiga In a Box had recieved a similar message from the same guy before. That was discussed on the UAE discussion board. So I can assure you that this is not fake.

Amiga corporation has been a real sand in the ass for amiga fans since it's birth. Their mission should have been be to keep the memory of Amiga alive but they act as if their intention is to kill the scene. I do not believe they will ever release a new machine. They see the entire subject as "business" and are trying to make profit over the name of a once famous technology however the name "amiga" is all they have.

I claim "we" -the users- are the "amiga" not those greedy bastards.

[Mangar]

Has anyone actually found out if it is in fact an e-mail from gary peake? not hard to find out.

I find it EXTREMELY hard to believe that amiga inc would not want sites displaying their logo. they need all the help they can get..

then again.. I find it hard to believe they are going after sites about anything.. The goofs should be thankful for emulation.. its not only keeping old amiga users around but attracting new ones as well.. My 3 year old daughter gets a kick out of playing James Pond.. doesnt mean people in canada are going to order it from some UK place and end up paying 60 bucks once conversion and shipping costs come into play.. pah

[Akira]

I agree wit heverything Burseg says here... Good to see I'm not alone in my boycott against those Amiga Inc. bastards :)

Anyway, I suppose it was indeed a mail from Peake. They did it before, when in Gateway hands. They don't know wtf is good for them, they obviously do not care about the REAL Amiga, even less emulation. They are out just to cash in in amigan's nostalgia.

As I said, pathetic.