My Reaction To The DMCA Notice

Over the past few weeks and months I've grown accustomed to this forum and learned to love it like it was my own. I've talked with Fiel and I deeply respect what he does and what he stands for and I like to think we've become friends. For those of you who do not know me, I run the MapleStory news website, Maple-News.com. This is my reflection on what happened between NEXON America and SouthPerry.net. I know everyone at Maple-News feels this way and I think some things needed to be said.

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Maple-News.com[/url]

Fiel, the administrator of South Perry forums, received a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) letter from NEXON two days ago telling him to dismiss any further decryptions of their files. For those of you who don’t know Fiel, Fiel is the creator of the famous pre-patcher and a former Sleepywood.net star amongst the forums. He contributed valuable information to the community and without him, everyone would be left in the dark. Prior to this Fiel had spoken with Lloyd and was led to believe the issue was resolved. As you can see below, it was not. Fiel is only decrypting KMST and MapleSEA data because Asia Soft owns MapleSEA, not NEXON, making it fair game.

The DMCA notice reads as follows to Fiel:

 Spoiler

Originally Posted by Nexon America
From: Lloyd Korn
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 12:35 PM
To:
Subject: DMCA notice http://www.southperry.net

Re: DMCA Notice relating to http://www.nexon.net

To whom it may concern:

Nexon America Inc. (“Nexon” is the owner of the Website, http://www.nexon.net (the “Website” The website contains Nexon’s copyrighted material and the intellectual property in the Video Games on the Website, which include the game MapleStory (the “Game”, as well as the original images on the Website and embedded in the Game, and the object and source code for the site. In addition, Nexon is the owner in the trademarks NEXON and MapleStory, as well as hundreds of other trademarks used in association with the website.

You are currently hosting the following website: http://www.southperry.net (the “Rogue Website”. The Owner of the website has continually intercepted Nexon’s encrypted wz files (which contain Nexon’s copyrighted material and code of the Game), cracked the encryption code and reveals the encrypted data on his website without Nexon’s approval or authorization. I have specifically asked the owner of the website to stop illegally cracking Nexon’s code and he point blank refused. We will be releasing another update very soon which he told me he plans to crack and put the contents on his website. Because of this, the Rogue Website is severely damaging the Game and hurting Nexon’s business. In addition, by revealing and displaying the unauthorized, copyrighted material on its website, it is misappropriating Nexon’s intellectual property for its own commercial gain.

You need to look no further than the homepage at http://www.southperry.net and to the forums at http://www.southperry.net/forums/index.php to see Nexon copyrighted artwork and protected Trademarks all over the site which are used by the owner to promote his site, to show how to cheat and undermine the Game and to collect money from those who visit the site.

I hereby state that Nexon America Inc. is the owner of copyright in the images attached hereto and that to the best of my knowledge and belief, the infringing use was not authorized by it, its agents or the law. I further declare under penalty of perjury that this notice is accurate and that I am authorized to act as Nexon America Inc.’s agent in this matter. Pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and your Terms of Service, Nexon America Inc. demands that you shut down the Rogue Website and remove the infringing material contained on said site. Given that a new patch will be released very soon, I request that you shut down the site immediately to prevent Nexon from suffering any more financial harm!

You may reach me by e-mail at lkorn@nexon.net if you have any questions about this matter. The foregoing is not intended as a complete statement of our rights and remedies, all of which are hereby expressly reserved.

Sincerely,

Lloyd Korn

Lloyd Korn

Nexon America Inc.

General Counsel

Main (213) 858-5930

Fax (213) 858-5940

Email lkorn@nexon.net

http://www.nexon.net

As you can see, this is legitimate. NEXON now has the ability to stop sites who threaten their intellectual property…in other words according to their DMCA, they could DMCA Hidden-Street, MapleSim, MapleTip, Basil Market, etc. any site who uses their images, or any of their data. Even people like Fiel who have served the community and asked nothing in return get their dreams and hard work destroyed. Is this really where things have gone? Not only did Mr. Lloyd Korn give Fiel the impression that the decryptions would be tolerated and that things were okay, but he then proceeded to back stab him by sending him a DMCA notice a few days before his birthday! One action has turned an entire community of almost 3,000 members against NEXON America. They have lost valuable players and profit. I myself can say I am deeply disappointed. Pirates were a way for NEXON America to redeem their reputation and get players back. They merely took one step forward, and two steps back. There’s a difference between stopping Private Servers and attacking innocent websites. If you’re looking for a company that attacks a person and a forum community who has supported a game and a company through thick and thin and then kicks them when they’re down like a stray dog, NEXON is your man.

I am truly disappointed in NEXON and I feel somewhat ashamed in how Fiel and SouthPerry.net was treated. It’s hard to believe a game about mushrooms has gone this far.