This is a message on behalf of Don Miguel, the man who (like him or hate him) translated the full version of RPGMaker 2000.  Don has asked Flik and I to write up a message for the public to state the position of #rm2k on the subject of the stolen material posted on http://www.rpgmaker.net.  Don has asked this of us because Flik and I are both Americans and, at that, both very talented authors.  In the past, the folks at rpgmaker.net and their IRC channel #rpgmaker.net have insulted and degraded Don because of his Russian dialect.  It is sad that, even in the year 2000, someone can still be viewed as stupid for not speaking perfect English.  Lord knows that neither Aristotle, Leonardo DiVinci, nor Albert Einstein spoke perfect English- on the same level, while Don Miguel's English isn't as good as ours, that doesn't mean he is stupid or immature.

We're going to start by making some clarifications on BOTH sides of the fence.  So many people, both in #rm2k and in #rpgmaker.net, are not educated well enough on this subject that they tend to be biased to one side of another.  Hopefully these clarifications will put forth all the facts, so whomever reads this message can make a more thorough judgement.

First, in rpgmaker.net's defense, they have done nothing illegal.  There has been a lot of talk about copyright law in this matter, but that talk for the most part has been by people with little or no understanding of the copyright law.  Rpgmaker.net has no more legal right to RPGMaker 2000 than Don does- neither of them created the program nor have it copywritten.  The program belongs to ASCII, a Japanese company, and was pirated.  Technically it is illegal for both Don AND rpgmaker.net to have the program available for download, translated or not.  Since the pirated version of RPGMaker 2000 will not hurt ASCII's profits in Japan, it is doubtful they even care that the program is uploaded to both servers.  Had ASCII translated the program themselves and released it, both in Russia and in the states, then Don's translation would be highly illegal (not to mention unnecessary).  I believe I speak for the major portion of the RPGMaking community when I say that, had ASCII released the program in the states, I would have no qualms with buying a liscensed version.  This is why neither Don Miguel nor rpgmaker.net can take ANY legal action against each other in that regard.  If either of them did, BOTH sites would likely be shut down by ASCII.  

Now for the tricky part.  The webmaster of the RPGMaker 2000 section of rpgmaker.net, Hiei, has without a doubt stolen FAQs and tutorials (written by friends and supporters of Don Miguel) and posted them to his site without asking permission and without providing e-mail links as credit.  US copyright law states that any original material is AUTOMATICALLY copywritten to its creator.  No questions asked.  This automatic copyright, however, will not hold up in court without proof - which is why people REGISTER their copyrights.  Basically, this means you send your original material to the copyright office with a wad of cash, and in return the US government will back you in court if someone steals your copyright.  Unfortunately, the FAQs and tutorials which Hiei stole were written by people who either didn't have the knowledge or didn't have the money to register their copyrights.  And they shouldn't have to.  This brings me to the third clarification.

Netiquette.  It's a cliched term which dictates a basic structure of how folks online ought to treat each other.  But even though it's cliched, it's useful.  Let's face it - most folks online don't have the time, money, or know-how to have every FAQ, fanfic, webpage, animated gif, or lump of cheese that they make registered to them.  But for the most part they don't need to.  Basic netiqutte says that if you want to use someone's original ANYTHING on your website, you ask permission first via e-mail or some other online means.  If they say no, then you respect their wishes and do not post the material.  If they say yes (which, in my experience, is more often the case), you put the material on the page along with a link where the folks who visit your site can e-mail them.  I know first-hand the importance of this subject.  I have written many-a-fanfic that has been stolen from me and put up on sites without my permission.  If, by some horrid means, a webmaster puts up a file they didn't create and didn't get permission to use, they're supposed to remove that file if the creator requests them to do so.

Below is an e-mail sent from Hiei to a friend of ours, Dhenji, whose FAQ was taken without permission:

	Ello.  I'm Hiei.
 	Just telling you I've put your FAQ on our RM2K page on www.rpgmaker.net
 	if you have any objections, tell me.
 	-- Hiei 

And Dhenji's reply:

	As soon as possible, take my FAQ off your site.  Thanks in advance, laters.
	(*Hopes it's off within 24-hours of this email*)
	-Dhenji

If you look at rpgmaker.net's RM2k help section, you'll undoubtedly see Dhenji's FAQ still online there.  Dhenji forwarded me this e-mail on July 8, 2000, so it is apparent that Hiei has ignored Dhenji's request for the FAQ to be removed.

To reiterate- this is not meant as an attack, nor should be perceived as one.  We're going to end with this note- the absolute last thing that we want is an all out spam/flame war.  That's NOT the way to go about doing things.  Anyone on either side of this particular issue who spams or flames a guestbook, forum, or chat is only adding to the problem instead of getting it resolved.

Thanks for your time.

	- Brickroad and Flik