4 ms·

So no one has discovered the motivation of this person? They must have spent a lot of money to engage in this behavior.

vessenes 8mo ago
In fact they just spent a few thousand dollars according to the article. But they cost the museum probably 200k+ in time and legal fees - asymmetric copyright warfare.
- thaumasiotes 8mo ago
  But that can't be their motivation, because the museum was only targeted by coincidence. Most people are unwilling to spend a few thousand dollars on a project that accomplishes nothing other than costing them a few thousand dollars. So we're curious what Brandon White was thinking.
  - bsder 8mo ago
    > Most people are unwilling to spend a few thousand dollars on a project that accomplishes nothing other than costing them a few thousand dollars. So we're curious what Brandon White was thinking. 1) You vastly underestimate the persistence of Internet trolls with too much time and money. It doesn't take many; it only takes one. 2) This could be someone testing the seams so that they can sell their services on more important targets.
    - qingcharles 8mo ago
      They could also be mentally unwell. I've known people like this who the Internet massively empowers with its asymmetric abilities and its anonymity. This person might have unlimited free time to conduct their campaigns. Ask any court clerk about the unending filings they get from disturbed individuals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Lee_Riches#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Lee_Riches#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Martin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Martin
      - TurdF3rguson 8mo ago
        Not to mention you know who (rhymes with bloatus)
  - vadansky 8mo ago
    I think the theory was he had a rare copy and wanted to drive the price of it up.
    - duskwuff 8mo ago
      That's hard to reconcile with actions like issuing DMCA takedowns on videos of the game (or even Discord messages which mention it). If fewer people know a game exists, there's less of a market for copies of it.
ndiddy 8mo ago
Personally I believe that whoever is doing the copyright abuse either is the original developer of the game or has some sort of relationship with them. Even though the "international copyright registration" site has no real authority, the documents they submitted include high-res 3D renders of models from the game, design documents, and source code commented in Japanese, none of which were publicly available prior to the copyright "submission". I don't think it's just some random crazy person. It's true that they're behaving in a strange way and utilizing shady overseas institutions, but the owner of Rodik is listed in the Panama Papers as having an offshore company in the Cayman Islands ( https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/74594 https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/74594 ) so that fits his MO. As for motivation, in Japan there's much less of a cultural norm around sharing information publicly compared to the West. It's much more "if I have this thing and you don't, and I don't know you, why should I give it to you?" Some people will even get annoyed with you if you follow them on Twitter and you don't know them, or if you link to their website without asking them first. With that context, I don't think there needs to be much of a motivation beyond "people are posting videos and copies of my game online and I don't want them to". Of course whoever is doing this doesn't seem to want to make themselves known publicly besides all the takedown notices, so I doubt we'll ever conclusively find out who they are. Much of what was being taken down is valid fair use, so even if it is someone associated with the original developer I don't really feel sorry for them getting their automated takedown request powers taken away.
- protocolture 8mo ago
  >Personally I believe that whoever is doing the copyright abuse either is the original developer of the game or has some sort of relationship with them. Even though the "international copyright registration" site has no real authority, the documents they submitted include high-res 3D renders of models from the game, design documents, and source code commented in Japanese, none of which were publicly available prior to the copyright "submission". Eh I am a bit of a collector and this line of thinking would let me establish copyright for a ton of games I have some precious treasures from. Also I know a guy who worked for Sega and Nintendo for a while who is still sitting on a stack of design docs from his time in both, and he definitely doesn't own the IP for any of their games. I suspect this person has located or inherited these items and is trying to establish copyright in the same way that Craig Wright is trying to pass himself off as Satoshi.

In fact they just spent a few thousand dollars according to the article. But they cost the museum probably 200k+ in time and legal fees - asymmetric copyright warfare.

thaumasiotes 8mo ago
But that can't be their motivation, because the museum was only targeted by coincidence. Most people are unwilling to spend a few thousand dollars on a project that accomplishes nothing other than costing them a few thousand dollars. So we're curious what Brandon White was thinking.
- bsder 8mo ago
  > Most people are unwilling to spend a few thousand dollars on a project that accomplishes nothing other than costing them a few thousand dollars. So we're curious what Brandon White was thinking. 1) You vastly underestimate the persistence of Internet trolls with too much time and money. It doesn't take many; it only takes one. 2) This could be someone testing the seams so that they can sell their services on more important targets.
  - qingcharles 8mo ago
    They could also be mentally unwell. I've known people like this who the Internet massively empowers with its asymmetric abilities and its anonymity. This person might have unlimited free time to conduct their campaigns. Ask any court clerk about the unending filings they get from disturbed individuals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Lee_Riches#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Lee_Riches#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Martin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Martin
    - TurdF3rguson 8mo ago
      Not to mention you know who (rhymes with bloatus)
- vadansky 8mo ago
  I think the theory was he had a rare copy and wanted to drive the price of it up.
  - duskwuff 8mo ago
    That's hard to reconcile with actions like issuing DMCA takedowns on videos of the game (or even Discord messages which mention it). If fewer people know a game exists, there's less of a market for copies of it.

ndiddy 8mo ago

Personally I believe that whoever is doing the copyright abuse either is the original developer of the game or has some sort of relationship with them. Even though the "international copyright registration" site has no real authority, the documents they submitted include high-res 3D renders of models from the game, design documents, and source code commented in Japanese, none of which were publicly available prior to the copyright "submission". I don't think it's just some random crazy person. It's true that they're behaving in a strange way and utilizing shady overseas institutions, but the owner of Rodik is listed in the Panama Papers as having an offshore company in the Cayman Islands ( https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/74594 https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/74594 ) so that fits his MO. As for motivation, in Japan there's much less of a cultural norm around sharing information publicly compared to the West. It's much more "if I have this thing and you don't, and I don't know you, why should I give it to you?" Some people will even get annoyed with you if you follow them on Twitter and you don't know them, or if you link to their website without asking them first. With that context, I don't think there needs to be much of a motivation beyond "people are posting videos and copies of my game online and I don't want them to". Of course whoever is doing this doesn't seem to want to make themselves known publicly besides all the takedown notices, so I doubt we'll ever conclusively find out who they are. Much of what was being taken down is valid fair use, so even if it is someone associated with the original developer I don't really feel sorry for them getting their automated takedown request powers taken away.

protocolture 8mo ago
>Personally I believe that whoever is doing the copyright abuse either is the original developer of the game or has some sort of relationship with them. Even though the "international copyright registration" site has no real authority, the documents they submitted include high-res 3D renders of models from the game, design documents, and source code commented in Japanese, none of which were publicly available prior to the copyright "submission". Eh I am a bit of a collector and this line of thinking would let me establish copyright for a ton of games I have some precious treasures from. Also I know a guy who worked for Sega and Nintendo for a while who is still sitting on a stack of design docs from his time in both, and he definitely doesn't own the IP for any of their games. I suspect this person has located or inherited these items and is trying to establish copyright in the same way that Craig Wright is trying to pass himself off as Satoshi.