SNES SaveRAM Status (March 20, 1998)

Another e-mail from Jee Shin, the now named owner of the SNES SaveRAM Archive:

Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 04:14:04 -0500
From: Jee Shin gslice@sixtyfour.com
To: deezer@usa.net, megabyte@mindless.com
Subject: about stuff...

ok..i like what you're doing.
asking permission is fine by me.
i just wish you did that in the first place...the only reason why i was so pissed was that you did all this behind my back, and i needed some total stranger to inform me of your site and its usage of my SRMs. (the only reason i say that they're "mine" are that if my site wasn't around...where would your large archive of SRMs be? they would be nonexistent if it weren't for my site.)
but anyway, about HTML source code design...you stated that the tables were in fact mine...well...that's what i was arguing about. i don't care what your site looks like...it looks fine...i was just angry that you used ripped off my site. i mean, sure, u can say that it's public domain...but personally, isn't it kind of disrespectful?
anyway, whatever. i'm cool with what u have right now.
the only thing is...i would appreciate it if you guys actually removed the HTML source of the other SRMs that you supposedly "took off". they're still in your /snes/ directory, and the HTML source is still in the html file. i know that i'm sounding rash, but please, just remove those files and back them up on your own harddrive if u wish. by having those files up there, people can still access your site in order to download my SRMs. anyway, each SRM is only about 2kb each in size...so it wouldnt be that much of a problem for you anyway.
so...this is all that i expect from you two right now:
1) please remove the hidden HTML source code.
2) please remove the SRMs that you haven't received permission to post up for.
3) please alert me of any other site rippers.
4) please don't continue to take my SRMs unless the original author agrees to it.
5) please review or obtain correct knowledge of the international Copyright laws.

thanx for everything again, i really appreciate it. oh, and if u want, u really don't have to keep me unnamed. in fact, i would find it more effective if you actually posted up the URL to my site. you two have yet to do that...so your audience doesn't even have much to compare with...you know?
oh...and u have simplenet...right? just how many visitors do you get per day to your SRM site? (u don't have to answer that if u don't want to....)
well, there's really no use in arguing about anything anymore...i'm just dead tired from all this.
just a little thing...check out
http://emu.internexus.net/Zophar/wwwboard/wwwboard.html

see on the way bottom where Zophar gives credit to "Matt" and links to him? well, his script is public domain, but he still gives him credit for that. i just thought that this mess would've been avoided if u did the same.

ok well....bye now.

-jee

ps-you use netscape composer to make your sites...don't u? it looks like the netscape style...personally...i use frontpage98. good piece of software.

pss-u asked me if those copyright laws were actually true...well yeah, they are...and like I said before...ask Zophar about it. he seems to have a lot of knowledge about it. his e-mail address should be "zophar@voicenet.com"

psss-can u forward me a copy of the mail that JohnMOG1 sent you? i just want to see what you wrote to him and what his reaction was...(it's not that i don't think you guys are good people, i just don't have the ability to trust anyone i can't see.)

pssss-hmm...no such thing as pssss, is there? oh well. anyway, i figured out why i don't want other SRM sites around. it's kinda selfish, but it's also justified in some way. months b4, i had a thriving GS0 archive, but then big 'ol Zophar came out with one and wrecked my site. my months of work was all for naught, since no one went to my site anymore since he had the larger collection. people look at things and judge by size.

so...i probably don't want u to have an SRM site b/c i'm afraid that your site might get more popularity than mine, and then you'll eventually have more SRMs that I do, and my site will be lost forever...which would mean that my months of toil and labor would be done in vain. so...i just don't want my work to be wasted i guess. do u know what i'm talking about? i hope u can sympathize.

well...enough ps's. i'm off. later...and good luck with the rest of your site.

And my reply:

From: megabyte@mindless.com
To: gslice@sixtyfour.com
Cc: deezer@usa.net
Subject: about stuff...

Okay, since I'm actually able to right now, I'll reply personally.

I will remove out the commented source and files. The only reason they were left is because if we did get permission, I did not want to do the coding/uploading all over again. I will remove it site-side though (there's always hope of getting more permission :) We will report any more site rippers, or Deezer will, I don't usually go searching for the SRMs..

As for linking, the reason we kept it all a secret is that, why would we want to link to you if you made us remove the SRMs. I will add a link in the Sponsors & Links page very soon though. You would do the same?

About visitors.. I do not know how many visitors we get per day. Only Netside would know that, but I don't think he does either. We do get 100+ hits on our front page, and that is all I know right now. We are not a well-known site yet, as we only started around New Year's.

Deezer is going to e-mail Zophar about this whole copyrights thing. Deezer will have to send you the JohnMOG1 letter b/c I didn't get it.

My HTML... Netscape Composer? ACK. MS-FP? BIGGER ACK! No, we at Patent Pending use only text editors (DOSEdit, Notepad, Wordpad, Editpad, Pico) It's the only way to get nice source _and_ the desired site layout.

--=MEGAߥTE

PS. Since you closed down your S9X archive, could we use it? That is, if you still have it. This time, you'd be credited on the front page of course.
PPS. Exactly how much space does sixtyfour.com give you? We're thinking of a mirror site..

And Jee's reply:

Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 15:19:13 -0500
From: Jee Shin gslice@sixtyfour.com
To: megabyte@mindless.com
Subject: Re: about stuff...

i don't have a links section...but if u insist...i guess i'll add one.

well, they never told me how much space sixtyfour.com gives me..but i'm guessing that it's unlimited. of course...that doesn't mean that i can upload a gig of stuff, but it's probably a loose quota.

anyway, MS Frontpage98 is pretty good. yeah, i know that microsoft is hell and bill gates is the devil, but i really don't care. frontpage is easy to use and lets me do a lot of cool things with my source code. of course...text editors are best for editing the finished HTML code...but i'm always designing new sites. i'm a web designer...not a web maintainer. ok well...anyway...

sorry, but i deleted my S9X archive in early january. i asked a bunch of people and put out a public inquiry to see if anyone would want to take over my S9X files...but no one responded, so i guess no one wanted to host one. i would give it to u if i had it....but i totally deleted it off of my site. in fact...with Snes9X coming back and all, I'm guessing that S9X's will start getting popular again.

hmm...ever wonder how Zophar gets so many SRMs and SaveStates? It probably because he's a well-respected member of the emulation scene....but well...whatever. Maybe if he bothered to make a news piece about our Archives, we'd get a few more hits, but i doubt that he'll do it.

anyway..good luck with everything.

-jee

ps-i hope you're not as bothered by my consistent ignorance of the usage of uppercase letters...but i type faster when i don't have to hold shift.
okee...later

And that's about it.. there was a bit more, but it's not important here.

SNES SaveRAM Status (March 19, 1998)

I just recieved this from Deezer:

Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 02:37:05 -0600
From: deezer@usa.net
To: megabyte@mindless.com
Subject: Stuff

So far I got a reply from JohnMOG1@aol.com. He grants us permission to use his SRMs he made.

Thanx a bunch JohnMOG1!

SNES SaveRAM Status (March 18, 1998)

Here, after I was ready to lay everything to rest, is another strange twist. The following is another message from the owner of the other archive.

Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 16:15:40 -0500
To: megabyte@mindless.com, deezer@usa.net
Subject: ok...about the copyright nonsense...

Deezer, I seem to have much more respect for you than MEGABYTE here, since you seem to have a more intellectual response. MEGABYTE on the otherhand, is a liar and a person led solely on emotion.

You claim that copyright and the (C) sign mean nothing. Well, I believed so, too. But, I read on Zophar's Domain that the symbol itself can be placed on any original property, and it will instantly be marked, "copyrighted by the owner." I was curious and confused, so I wrote good 'ol Zophar an e-mail about it. He told me that if anyone has the copyright sign on his site, all of the owner's property is copyrighted on that specific page. He also went on saying that you don't have to register with the Copyright Agency. You only need to register the copyright if you want to use the copyright in a court. So in other words...if I wanted to sue you guys, all I'd have to do is send the guys at the Agency $20 (yep...that's all), and wait 3 months before filing a copyright infringement claim. He even sent me a link to a government site explaining all of the details of copyright laws. I read the whole thing, and I was pleased. You know, it said that if I register AFTER suing you guys, and I won, you guys would have to pay for the attorney fees and stuff like that, but i wuoldn't really gain any money. But, if I registered the copyright 3 months earlier, I can tell you guys to pay from between $5,000-$100,000. So the choices I have are either screwing you over, or screwing you over and getting money. I will do NEITHER of them, since I'm not like those typical American bastards who sue people for stupid things like picking your butt in a coffee shop or something.

Listen MEGABYTE, you're given copyrights when you write the C symbol on the page, and post it up. Oh, and the SRMs aren't the property of the contributors once they submit it to me, personally....which they did. All of them. ALL. I stole nothing. I really don't want to argue with anyone anymore, I just want all these deceptions and negativity to go away. Please don't do anything in spite of me, and I won't do anything in spite of you. Let's just let this all go away.

Well, what can I say? First he calls me a liar and makes a rash psycho-analysis. Well, I'm not sure what happened. Maybe he read my 'Intellectual Property' article wrong. As for the liar part, yes, if you wish to use that term, I was a liar. But, NOT ON PURPOSE. I thank him for giving me more accurate information about copyrights, but the problem was that since I don't have internet, I wasn't able to get yesterday's update up until today. He, in the mean time, based his view of me solely on one e-mail that wasn't even meant for him, but I posted it, and on one article, in which I had mis-information. Everybody makes mistakes, and in this case, we both did. I still would like to see the actual law statements about copyrights, but for now, I have amended my article. This still doesn't destroy it's main topic, though. About taking us to court.. like we'd actually try to get a lawyer for the first part, but I'd like to see these 'government link sites' so I can actually get some true proof. I find it semi-amusing that he had more respect for Deezer than me, even though Deezer, not me is the one who insulted him directly, and the fact that I have no internet, and therefore am not able to reply to him as Deezer did, and my only choice was to write stuff up here. About technicalities.. we slapped on a © to our site before you did to yours, so wouldn't that reverse the whole situation? Just a thought..

Anyway, your SNES SaveRAM Archive wasn't exactly your forte anyway. The rest of your site is by far, superior to your SaveRAM sections.

Umm, Deezer probably won't be to happy about that.. I run most all of the other sections, but he runs the SaveRAMs.

If you have more questions about copyright laws...please e-mail Zophar. And please don't hesitate to e-mail him just because he's "da shit." He's quite the friendly person and enjoys answering e-mails, so I'm sure he'd answer your simple question about copyrights...which many people are confused about. Oh, and if you do e-mail him, please don't even mention the whole situation here. ...the only reason is that I'd take it as an offensive action by you...and I don't want to have to have a feud with you or anything.

Mean-ness sucks....negativity sucks. Let's just got on with our lives, shall we?

That's what I had intended in the first place... and exactly who is negative here?

Thanks for your cooperation.

That's that for now, and I'd kinda like it to stay, that.