• Which the release of FS2020 we see an explosition of activity on the forun and of course we are very happy to see this. But having all questions about FS2020 in one forum becomes a bit messy. So therefore we would like to ask you all to use the following guidelines when posting your questions:

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Flightsim.to new business model and terms of service leaves content creators without rights to their own work

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@RK, you have your opinion and I have mine.

Flightsim.to is hosted in Tonga and is a German company so it is subject to European law which is more restrictive than the US law.
They cannot under this European law force you to give up your rights without you being able to claim the deletion of your contents on this site.

As an American citizen, you may not agree with this, but in Europe it is like that.

Personally, I don't agree with this ToS anymore so I just ask to be able to delete my content as I have the right to do so, which Flightsim.to doesn't want hence the complaints of some developers.
 
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I have not followed all this thread, but I found this on a Google search for "Tonga":

https://history.state.gov/countries/tonga

If this info is current, does UK's withdrawal from EU impact developer's rights under UK laws ?


I agree with Dick's perspective:

https://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/t...t-rights-to-their-own-work.456792/post-912621


Developers should maintain all rights to their IP with no restrictive covenants. :redflag:

IMHO, nothing of enduring value will come from a covenant that restricts a Developer / Innovator / Creator / Maker / Artist.

Witness the misfortune of many musical artists / performers due to bad contracts signed as newbies to the industry's draconian tactics. :alert:

GaryGB
 
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Marc L said:
I support you, developers, their new TOS is Unacceptable, illegal, disrespectful! They better change that or FS.TO will definitely sink... wich is sad as it used to be the Best! (Im everyday visiting it for new addons)
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It's not super new. It changed in September/ October.

There was a lengthy thead on it on the offical MSFS forum at the end of last year - https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/to-all-developers/563974/1

After reading that I was disinclined to upload anything new and sizeable.
 
Lagaffe said:
Hi,

First, I have write my opinion on their forum: https://flightsim.to/news/our-approach-to-flightsim-to-premium-and-creators-program

Second, I have created a new ZIP with only a README.txt in which I said my disapproval of their new rules and the fact that our written consent was not sought. I ask to news users to go on my web site in order to download my news versions.
This ZIP has been uploaded in place of my old aircraft version and all these changes appear to have been accepted: the last version of 864Ko (README.txt) seems to be the last version of my Menestrel HN-4xx on flightsim.to.
Apparently due to the disk space and server problems this would cause, older uploaded versions do not seem to be backed up. (I hope I am not wrong).
So it's like deleting your own addons since they have already been refused by KL791

PS: No Steffsim, you answer is always on the forum: they are organized answers in reverse order: old to young. If you scroll down you can find it !
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I've done the exact same thing about a week ago. At this point it's the only way

It should also be pointed out that older files that were long-ago set to "unlisted" have magically become re-listed, even if they were unlisted long before these policy changes. So don't assume your files from a year ago that you unlisted are still invisible/non-downloadable
 
I'm not sure what they mean about "delete". Are the files removed from their servers so they have no ability to access them? Or do they simply become unavailable for download? And why do they need any confirmation that you now agree to anything? And exactly what are you now confirming? It's all very deceptive.

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There is a simple solution that Flightsim.to can enable. Contact each and every contributor, for each and every item, and ask if they now agree to the current terms of service and if they wish to leave their past contributions at their website. If they get a negative, or if they get no response, then the items should be deleted from their servers. Only afirmative responses for each item contributed should remain at their website.

Anything less than this is deceptive, and essentially theft.
 
Ok, if I have to agree to terms that makes it impossible for me to ever later remove my work from their site, then I will remove it before March 5th. No one should agree to those terms. They are digging their own grave now.
 
Okay, that's funny: Suppose Flightsim.to "steals" my software from me, so I no longer have the rights and the software belongs to Flightsim.to: Now I have unlicensed textures in my software, things "stolen" from other projects (purely only as an idea, I create my own work according to all rights without stealing), then Flightsim.to is also responsible in court for the fact that the software I created is legal and not stolen!? Or is it my software again if there is trouble with it and Flightsim.to has nothing to do with it, even though they may have even sold my freeware before?
 
onlinetk said:
Or is it my software again if there is trouble with it and Flightsim.to has nothing to do with it, even though they may have even sold my freeware before?
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It's always your software when resourceful lawyers look for the author, because that's the easiest to find.
Fortunately, I haven't put anything there, despite asking, because I've always been suspicious about why freeware is hosted in a Tonga domain. Germans are basically stingy and don't spend 160 euros ( 2 years before) a month on a domain when they can have it for 1 euro. So there must be another reason.
 
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They are now trying to defend themselves on Twitter... I love their claim to be developpers themselves... why haven't we ever seen any of them here? Why are they not on Avsim.com? Why are they hidding...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1627062260735807490

For those of you on Twitter please go an support the messages already posted by Norwegian friends. That they say in their Press Release is nonsense unless they change their Terms of Service.
 
simmershome said:
It's always your software when resourceful lawyers look for the author, because that's the easiest to find.
Fortunately, I haven't put anything there, despite asking, because I've always been suspicious about why freeware is hosted in a Tonga domain. Germans are basically stingy and don't spend 160 euros ( 2 years before) a month on a domain when they can have it for 1 euro. So there must be another reason.
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Hi - my German is not fantastic but it would be great if you can bring this discussion up on some of the German flightsim sites if it is not already there - It is important that the message also hit the German flightsim users - they are the second largest downloader group on Flightsim.to
 
simmershome said:
how about: fligtsim.group 29 €/y flightsim.team 44€ /y e.g. all free
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Those are not very appealing domains in comparison.

The idea that they're nefarious feels very silly.

They have their own plans and concerns that are not aligning with creators at the moment. That's about it. And they were clearly blind to that. Doubt they are now.
 
KL791 said:
Hi - my German is not fantastic but it would be great if you can bring this discussion up on some of the German flightsim sites if it is not already there - It is important that the message also hit the German flightsim users - they are the second largest downloader group on Flightsim.to
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Is it on flusi.info (big German Forum)
 
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