We have received a DMCA complaint from Evony and therefor disabled all attachments.

Please also refrain from posting deep links to Evobot until the matter is solved.

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Re: DMCA Complaint

Copyright Holder: Evony, LLC

Name of Copyrighted Software: Evony (the “Work”)

Infringement of Trademark

Trademark Holder: Evony, LLC

Name of Trademark: Evony





Dear Sir or Madam:



This letter is to notify you, pursuant to the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, that we believe one of your customers is infringing the intellectual property, copyright and trademark of Evony, LLC and its licensee, Regan Mercantile, LLC. Specifically, Evony, LLC is the owner of the copyright for the computer game Evony and the multi-player server software run by Regan Mercantile, LLC. The copyrighted software is available at the corporation’s website that appears at the following URL: http://www.evony.com. The following site hosts and/or distributes software that violates Evony, LLC’s copyright:



http://www.evonytalk.com



The aforementioned site either hosts or distributes software which illegally modifies and/or alters Evony, copyrighted software or bypasses anticircumvention technology, thereby infringing upon Evony, LLC’s copyrights. Accordingly, Evony, LLC and Regan Mercantile, LLC demand that you act expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the web page listed above in order for you to claim a safe harbor under the DMCA from liability for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Please immediately delete or disable access to this web page and remove its contents from view. Should you have any questions, please contact the undersigned at XXXXX@XXXXX.com.



The content used by the infringing websites is not only images, Lord names, and objects but also through an unauthorised third party client, which is also violating the Terms of Use from Evony, conducting illegal activities by accessing our servers. These illegal activities are being hosted by your company via the infringing websites.



I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by Evony, LLC, Regan Mercantile, LLC, their agents or the law, and that the information in this notice is accurate. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that I am authorized to act on behalf of all of the aforementioned entities.



Sincerely,



XXXXXXXX/X/XXXXXX



XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXX

That sucks. They ought to figure out not to bother with those of us who pay to play (even just a little), because it will affect their bottom-line overall. They're idiots.

so has anyone come up with a way to play wit a bot and not be detected?

They used their lawyers to zap Evomap as well: http://www.xandium.net/ This is taking away peoples right to freedom of speech. If it came to an American court they would probably lose.



Evomap is closed for now due to Evony sending the DMCA letter to our webhost. We do not want to get in a legal fight, and will let Zero deal with this issue once he returns. We are sorry for this (temporary) closure.

Below is the DMCA notice they sent to our web host:

DIGITAL MILLENIUM COPYRIGHT ACT (DMCA) COMPLAINT: WWW.XANDIUM.NET


February 10, 2010
BY FACSIMILE AND ELECTRONIC MAIL ONLY


The Planet
Global IT Hosting
315 Capitol Street, Suite 205
Houston, Texas 77002
Telephone: 281-714-3000
Fax: 281-714-3001

Re: DMCA Complaint
Copyright Holder: Evony, LLC
Name of Copyrighted Software: Evony (the "Work") Infringement of Trademark Trademark Holder: Evony, LLC Name of Trademark: Evony


Dear Sir or Madam:

This letter is to notify you, pursuant to the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, that we believe one of your customers is infringing the intellectual property, copyright and trademark of Evony, LLC and its licensee, Regan Mercantile, LLC. Specifically, Evony, LLC is the owner of the copyright for the computer game Evony and the multi-player server software run by Regan Mercantile, LLC. The copyrighted software is available at the corporation''s website that appears at the following URL: http://www.evony.com. The following site hosts and/or distributes software that violates Evony, LLC''s copyright:

http://www.xandium.net

The aforementioned site either hosts or distributes software which illegally modifies and/or alters Evony, copyrighted software or bypasses anticircumvention technology, thereby infringing upon Evony, LLC''s copyrights. Accordingly, Evony, LLC and Regan Mercantile, LLC demand that you act expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the web page listed above in order for you to claim a safe harbor under the DMCA from liability for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement. Please immediately delete or disable access to this web page and remove its contents from view. Should you have any questions, please contact the undersigned at legal@evony.com.

The content used by the infringing websites is not only images, Lord names, and objects but also through an unauthorised third party client, which is also violating the Terms of Use from Evony, conducting illegal activities by accessing our servers. These illegal activities are being hosted by your company via the infringing websites.

I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by Evony, LLC, Regan Mercantile, LLC, their agents or the law, and that the information in this notice is accurate. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that I am authorized to act on behalf of all of the aforementioned entities.

Sincerely,

Signed Marco/F/Mereu

Marco F. Mereu

Corporate Counsel



Marco F. Mereu
Corporate Counsel | Legal, IP, Strategic Division
Evony(tm) - Free Forever

Tel: +1 (646) 233-4177
Fax: +1 (212) 656-1561
Suite 2B 300 Rector Place
New York, New York 10280 USA
www.evony.net

I wonder how many other websites Marco F. Mereu has censored.
There was a thread about him on the Evony forum, but that has been censored!!

http://bbs.evony.com/showthread.php?p=966645

You wonder if the DMCA actually applies. It is possible that Marco F. Mereu is making empty threats!
Here is the Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Mi ... yright_Act

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures (commonly known as digital rights management or DRM) that control access to copyrighted works. It also criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, whether or not there is actual infringement of copyright itself. In addition, the DMCA heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet. Passed on October 12, 1998 by a unanimous vote in the United States Senate and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28, 1998, the DMCA amended Title 17 of the United States Code to extend the reach of copyright, while limiting the liability of the providers of on-line services for copyright infringement by their users.

On May 22, 2001, the European Union passed the Copyright Directive or EUCD, which addresses some of the same issues as the DMCA. But the DMCA's principal innovation in the field of copyright, the exemption from direct and indirect liability of internet service providers and other intermediaries (Title II of the DMCA), was separately addressed, and largely followed, in Europe by means of the separate Electronic Commerce Directive. (Unlike U.S. federal laws and regulations, the execution of European Union directives usually requires separate legislation by or within each of the Union's member states.)

Anyone who wants can file a complaint about this to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Here is their Delaware website (Evony LLC is registered in Delaware): http://acludelaware.org/ask.html

Copied from another forum:

Well, this is a classical abuse of DMCA. You probably notice that Evony doesn't even care to follow DMCA procedure, pointing out the specific files containing materials they object. They even used identical DMCA notice for various sites: a forum (evonytalk.com), a map site xandium.net, and evobot/autoevony -- even though these sites have very little in common.

and

it's easy to fight.

They're now burdened with demontrating the merits of thier claims or the DMCA says they foot the whole bill, every penny, including any losses, fees, costs, etc.

Evony likes to bully people with these hollow threats. They pick on little guys thinking nobody would ever dare challenge them. What I find hilarious is Evony reverse engineered much of their product from other products like Kingory and Age of Empires II. They are the biggest abusers of the DCMA around.

Anyway, sad to see you disable the links. Guess this is what the moderators on the Nazi oops I mean Evony forum have been gloating about recently. They have been gloating they have fixed the botting problem. Obviously not through detection, but from mass banning catching a lot of innocent people and bullying the sites that contain the bots to remove the links.

You guys need to have a chat to Bruce Everiss. He is someone who wrote a scathing article about Evony and the bullies at Evony tried the same heavy handed tactics on him. He decided to fight them and the dirt he has dragged up on them is astounding. You can find out everything about this Marco creep. He has extensive information on him. Every time they try muzzling him, he bangs another nail in their coffin. Go to www.bruceongames.com and have a laugh

IT MAKES ME BLOODY SICK

WHY CHEAT AT A GAME?

GET A GRIP

IV SPENT ALOT OF MY TIME ON EVONY FARMING BUILDING AND ATTACKING WITH NO USE OF A BOT

USING A BOT IS DISGRACEFUL AND PEOPLE WHO USE A BOTS IP ADDRESSES SHOULD BE BANNED FROM EVONY