EVERYONE need to read this thread in the link below, please post this other threads related to this, BTW it discusses that this is James Young is a HOAX read the last couple of posts
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=492330
Admins: Just talked with Microsoft being my profession and this was not sitting good with me since it was missing A. a contact phone number and for these cases it must also contain a Digital Signature with that being said they said it is fraud, I gave them the link here and they verified that they do not have a James Young employ and that the email extension [email protected] is not valid furthermore they said on there notices they will also have a phone number for the person(s) to call and correspondence is done through written. I will be receiving an email with the case number and contact information for the antipiracy case manager who verified the information and will forward it to the Admins here and at PPCGeeks as well. If one one the Admins here can PM there email addy so I can send the email to them for future verification on these types of notices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More info on the Ms Hoax please pass this info along to all sites and admins...
http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=7041
Microsoft Impersonator Sends Fraudulent Letters, Disrupts Community
Posted by Chuong Nguyen
March 13th, 2009 at 02:53 PM
It turns out that there may be an impersonator lurking around disrupting Windows Mobile communities. In response to an article that was posted this morning about Microsoft demanding that Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM images that were cooked unofficially be taken down, our own Microsoft MVP Adam Z. Lein spotted that the guy responsible for the letter to XDA-Developers may be a fraud, as was posted on PPCGeeks.
A similar hoax had occurred before at msmobiles in regards to Windows Mobile 6.5 screenshots. In the cease and desist letter to msmobiles, the gentleman claiming to be with Microsoft's legal department asked the site to remove screenshots of the forthcoming operating system
. The letter was sent after Microsoft had publicly announced and shown the very screenshots at Mobile World Congress 2009. According to msmobiles: "In any case, if it is genuine action on behalf of Microsoft, it is a case of extreme incompetence that this guy is showing because he is requesting removal of pictures of something that has been officially announced few days earlier." It should also be noted that pocketnow.com had posted screenshots and news of Windows Mobile 6.5 before, during, and after Microsoft's Mobile World Congress announcement and we did not receive a cease and desist letter.
The community over at msmobiles performed some additional investigations and found that the gentlemam, James Young, sent emails originating from IP addresses in London and not from Microsoft's corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, leading many to believe that he is not connected with the software giant. Additionally, emails were sent from [email protected], and not at a "@microsoft.com" email address.
Whatever the case may be, other forum members in our original post here at pocketnow.com made mention that only the Windows Mobile 6.5 cooked ROM made by ROM chef Da_G was affected and 6.5 ROMs for other HTC-made devices were seemingly okay.
i only hope it is a hoax
I f you read the links I posted you will see that some users and some who work for M$ verified that it was a hoax...
Thanks for this.
It has been raised in the Moderators Forum.
I'll closed this thread now because there are a few of them floating around, might as well keep the discussion focused.
Might I suggest that if this is found to be a hoax, the site admin (or a moderator maybe) will let you know. We would appreciate it if anyone who has had a takedown notice by the admin adears to it until further notice from xda.
Regards,
Dave
I'll re-open this thread for discussion.
Can I request that if Flar removed your ROM images / links that you do not re-add them until you here from Flar (or maybe a moderator).
The takedown notice for those images may be genuine.
Thanks
Dave
thank you Dave,
question, since this has affected several hosting sites, what would be the best way to get them to re-think there decisions ? To me I think is not going to be a easy task to do since they are now very unsure of where they stand..legally that is..I doubt the M$ is going to come right out and tell them "all is well"
Who ever this guy is..he hit a very tender spot and if it was not for a minor slip up this may not have been nipped in the bud as quick as it was..
I have unlimited bandwidth and file space to host...
I am just unsure of the "legality" of ROM images in the US on a file server.
If they are considered legit, and do not contain any illegal software in the ROM image itself, I would be more than willing to host on my 100MBit web server.
What a p*ss take but to be honest someone should have noticed the extension on the email address!!! Or even checked into it... "Just want to clarify not pointing the blame @ anyone"
I know now XDA has to do there research on this and comply with any thing that has happened till the all clear is called.
Just shame the ammount of disruption this has caused to chefs and users alike....
With regards hosting sites i think that they will be fines as i imagine the flagged ROMs were reported by the offender and most hosting sites do not have enough time to check every upload to there servers....
Not sure i got anything else to say except lets all get back to usual.....
stylez said:
With regards hosting sites i think that they will be fines as i imagine the flagged ROMs were reported by the offender and most hosting sites do not have enough time to check every upload to there servers... I have personally had to initiate a DMCA, send it, and follow up with individuals before, as well as removing illegal material from some of the websites our current and former clients have hosted.
Not sure i got anything else to say except lets all get back to usual.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can speak to that since I am a partner with a game and web hosting company. We do look at the individual files on the box to determine if the reported apps or media violates either our Terms of Service or any copyright laws. We also check into each "report" we get to determine if the report is legitimate, and we do investigate IPs and domains, to determine if they are valid.
In our arena, we do get gaming guilds who pretend to be official companies who try to get us to take down a competitors site or server.
We have also used copyright DMCA ourselves, and we do send email notification, but ONLY after a written certified letter is sent. The email is sent to the listed contact of the company and contains a copy of what was sent via certified mail.
We do this since we normally engage in unofficial conversation if someone has used our copy-righted material to save us money, as most of the time they use it without knowing they can't.
As far as the DMCA goes, we can send notice using our own attorneys, but we HAVE to hire local counsel to serve any legal action notice if we end up going that route. However, we do have a choice of mediation and litigation clause which allows us to use the laws of and conduct legal activity in the state our company is registered in. MS would have to do the same thing.
so when will roms be back? will everyone have to re post them therselves?
If it's truly found to be a hoax, I'd sure hate to be "James Young", or whatever his real name is. He may quickly become the target of thousands of hackers. I would imagine with the combined power of everyone effected, he could find himself with:
An Empty Bank Account
Homeless
Late Vehicle Registration/Stolen Vehicle
On the FBI's Most Wanted List/On MI6's Most Wanted List
His Face In Porn Movies/Beastiality Movies
A Failed Drug Test at Work
On People Magazine's Worst Dressed List
etc, etc...
More info from another thread.
By Dereth
this guy obiously has no life....
he sends these to the pirate bay all the time:
http://static.thepiratebay.org/ms-loveletter.txt
and read this email at the bottom it states the copyright on the email.
http://static.thepiratebay.org/sega_mail.txt
"IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and attachments are confidential
and may be subject to legal privilege and/or protected by copyright.
Copying or communicating any part of it to others is prohibited and may
be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use,
copy, distribute or rely on this email and should please return it
immediately or notify us by telephone. While we take every reasonable
precaution to screen out computer viruses from emails, attachments to
this email may contain such viruses. We cannot accept liability for loss
or damage resulting from such viruses. We recommend you carry out your
own virus checks."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tell ya what this guy been everywhere!!!
Last month, Ars reported that Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) digital rights management protection had been cracked, and a program called FairUse4WM had been written that would strip DRM data from purchased audio files. Microsoft was aware of the workaround, but did not seem too concerned, merely stating that "we designed the Windows Media DRM system to be renewable, so that if such events occur the system can be refreshed to address them." Now it seems that the company has gone a little further than that, sending out cease and desist orders to web sites hosting the FairUse4WM program. According to the owner of the web site BG4G, the orders came in via e-mail.
The notices are of a standard boilerplate format, claiming that the sites are "offering unlicensed copies of, or is engaged in other unauthorized activities relating to copyrighted works published by Microsoft." The copyrighted works are Windows Media Player 10 and 11, and the unauthorized activities are listed as "offering 'Cracks' or 'Product Keys', intended to circumvent technical measures that control access to Microsoft's copyrighted works and that protect Microsoft's copyrights in those works."
The "Demand for Immediate Takedown" e-mail comes from a James Young, "Internet Investigator," who claims to be acting on behalf of Microsoft Corporation. The interesting thing about the e-mail is that it makes no mention of the DMCA, which is the one law that would make FairUse4WM (which does not contain any copyrighted code, portions of Windows Media Player, nor any copyrighted music files themselves) illegal. The DMCA contains provisions against programs that attempt to circumvent copy protection. It also provides a "safe harbor" for Internet Service Providers and web hosts that take down files in a certain amount of time (usually 10 to 14 days) after a warning letter has been received.
The DMCA is a US invention and applies only in the United States, but many companies have attempted to use it outside their country's borders. The notice advising web sites to take down the FairUse4WM program came from the domain Microsoft-Antipiracy.com, which according to DNS records belongs to Microsoft but is actually administered by the ISP Nildram Ltd, which is based in the UK (the web site itself redirects to a page on microsoft.com).
Microsoft has not commented on the takedown notices, but they would be consistent with the sorts of notices given to web sites hosting cracks for other media-related copy protection. In the case of FairUse4WM, the problem may be somewhat more urgent from Microsoft's perspective, as the subscription-based model used by many DRMed WMA online music stores allows downloading an unlimited number of songs, but they can only be listened to for as long as the subscription is active
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More reading regards this:
http://jamesholden.net/2007/04/25/microsoft-didnt-issue-takedown-notices-for-fairuse4wm/
Tell you what though there is a hell of alot of letters and some of them going back as far as 2004 from what i'm reading lets hope that XDA can nip this in the but...
this is all nice to be a freelance paid by M$ or ? black M$ funds haha. its way back to .... that this guy is scaring on the inet for them . SO XDA WHAT WILL BE RESPONSE TO ALL CLOSED THREADS
edit : i want my thread back restored from backup hehe red lines removed . WHEN ?
Use common sense, people! (Admins mainly)
IF Microsoft would have sent any of such letters, it would require you to remove ALL of their products, not just one - isn't it obvious?
I cannot imagine msoft asking xda to remove anything WM6.5 related, but not mentioning WM6.1 and WM6.0 ROMs and files
It's like Sony would have ask i.e. The Pirate Bay in a C&D letter to remove links to just 1 movie torrent and not mention links to all other Sony-owned movies present there.
I don't think it ever happened that way.
And letter coming from microsoft-antipiracy.com ? That's a no brainer LOL! It's as credible as if it would have come from microsoftsucks.org
Sure it's a hoax.
You've been pwnd
http://who.godaddy.com/WhoIs.aspx?domain=microsoft-antipiracy.com&prog_id=godaddy
http://msmobiles.com/news.php/8059.html
http://pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=7041
http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/notice.cgi?NoticeID=4780
http://brian.carr.name/mscompln.htm
F2504x4 said:
More info from another thread.
By Dereth
this guy obiously has no life....
he sends these to the pirate bay all the time:
http://static.thepiratebay.org/ms-loveletter.txt
and read this email at the bottom it states the copyright on the email.
http://static.thepiratebay.org/sega_mail.txt
"IMPORTANT: The contents of this email and attachments are confidential
and may be subject to legal privilege and/or protected by copyright.
Copying or communicating any part of it to others is prohibited and may
be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use,
copy, distribute or rely on this email and should please return it
immediately or notify us by telephone. While we take every reasonable
precaution to screen out computer viruses from emails, attachments to
this email may contain such viruses. We cannot accept liability for loss
or damage resulting from such viruses. We recommend you carry out your
own virus checks."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting... the confidentiality notice is often a sub mail server attachment, meaning its attached to the email as it leaves the companie's mail servers, not when it leaves the users outbox... There are universal clauses out there, but since this one matches pretty much 100% it would be safe to say that the company James Young mailed it from and this company are one and the same, or connected through a parent or something like that. Here is the one that my company attaches once the emails leave our intranet and go out:
This message w/attachments (message) may be privileged, confidential or proprietary, and if you are not an intended recipient, please notify the sender, do not use or share it and delete it. Unless specifically indicated, this message is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of any investment products or other financial product or service, an official confirmation of any transaction, or an official statement of <removed>. Subject to applicable law, <removed> may monitor, review and retain e-communications (EC) traveling through its networks/systems. The laws of the country of each sender/recipient may impact the handling of EC, and EC may be archived, supervised and produced in countries other than the country in which you are located. This message cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free. This message is subject to terms available at the following link:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
James probably worked there at the same company that sent the sony notice and got fired, so he's taking it upon himself. Maybe he got served a notice, and got mad that everyone else has it so he is sending out notices himself as a revenge plot... who knows... he has issues thats all.
Good news for xda developers :
http://www.duttythroy.net/component...crosoft-and-htc-say-ok-to-xda-developers.html
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/59043/microsoft-xda-developers-illegaal-maar-we-pakken-ze-niet-aan.html
Thanks and regards
I do not know if this belongs here but I wanted to look as what data are collected on my app, I'm on the AccountPrefs.xml file in the /data/data /de.androidpit.appcenter/shared_prefs/AccountPrefs.xml (de change to com for United States).
This includes e-mail address and password in plain text.
Code:
<string name="email">[email protected]</string>
<string name="pwd">yourpassword</string>
On other apps you can only see the email address.
An evil app could copy this file and send easily.
This vulnerability should be closed.
Gigadroid said:
I do not know if this belongs here but I wanted to look as what data are collected on my app, I'm on the AccountPrefs.xml file in the / data / data / de.androidpit.appcenter / pushed shared_prefs / (de change to com for United States).
This includes e-mail address and password in plain text.
Code:
<string name="email">[email protected]</string>
<string name="pwd">yourpassword</string>
On other apps you can only see the email address.
An evil app could copy this file and send easily.
This vulnerability should be closed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Errr, contact AndroidPit? Why post on XDA about this? :S
Thanks for the warning.
polobunny said:
Errr, contact AndroidPit? Why post on XDA about this? :S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have contacted AndroidPit already.
But as long as the problem is not resolved, there is still a danger.
More issues with AndroidPIT
If an app you purchased from them is ever removed, you will no longer be able to use it and they will keep the money! Not like Google Play Store which offers life-time warranties on purchased app!
I am developing apps which I used to sell on AndroidPIT, but I noticed 2 problems:
1) license issues are very frequent: their API/servers just returns a NO LICENSE far too frequently and
2) they don't let me cancel specific order should a user be unsatisfied with the app or if user wants to migrate to Android Tuner, merging 3 existing apps they have purchased
So I asked AndroidPIT to stop selling my apps. And they not only removed my apps, but they also cancelled all existing orders but kept the money.
Now, they are telling users I'm the one responsible while they applied term 7.4 of their developer agreement, breaking term 4.7 of the same agreement:
4.7 Customers may re-install products for free if these products were initially purchased, but then deleted. In these cases, the developer is not entitled to remuneration and Fonpit does not have the right to a commission.
7.4 ..., Fonpit reserves the right to partially or completely remove the developerʼs products from the Internet and/or block the developerʼs access to the AndroidPIT Market.
Here are the last messages from AndroidPIT (as far as I know they have not refunded a single user to this date contrary to what they mention below):
From: Tuyen Ly [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: mercredi 27 mars 2013 22:54
To: Cedric Counotte
Subject: Re: FW: Battery Monitor Widget Pro - Customer Complaint
We didn't do anything. The app is not available on AndroidPIT anymore. You told me you wouldn't sell your apps on AndroidPIT anymore, it was not me. Since the app is not in our store anymore we can't take care of this issue. We can only refund in goodwill. Thank you for your understanding.
From: Tuyen Ly [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: mercredi 24 avril 2013 15:28
To: Cedric Counotte
Subject: Re: battery monitor widget pro
Hi Cedric,
I just like to remind you that YOU deleted your apps on AndroidPIT.
Please read our developer agreement if you missed it:
http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/developer-agreement
Regards,
Tuyen
AndroidPIT developer agreement contains this:
4.7 Customers may re-install products for free if these products were initially purchased, but then deleted. In these cases, the developer is not entitled to remuneration and Fonpit does not have the right to a commission.
7.4 In the case of a violation of the previously-mentioned rules, Fonpit reserves the right to partially or completely remove the developerʼs products from the Internet and/or block the developerʼs access to the AndroidPIT Market. If the developer is responsible for the violation of the previously-mentioned rules, he/she is liable for all compensations to Fonpit for any resulting damages. The developer exempts Fonpit internally from any possible third-party claims resulting from such damages.
9.3 Fonpit is not obligated to immediately delete the developerʼs data at the end of the contract. The developer has the right to request the deletion of this data.
If you haven't seen it: http://www.scroogled.com/ (it's by Microsoft--their name is at the bottom): "When you buy an Android app from the Google app store, they give the app maker your full name, email address and the neighborhood where you live. This occurs without clear warning every single time you buy an app."
App developers: do you actually get the real names of everyone who downloaded your app? If so, that's not that private. I don't download these kinds of apps (haha), but does this mean that the developer of Korea Sexy Girl Puzzle could release a list of the real names of everyone who downloaded his/her app? And, what about locations? What is the purpose of knowing the zip code of who downloaded your app? This issue isn't that big (unless you live in a very unpopulated zip code), but I don't see the reasoning.
---
Preferably, if you're an app developer, I'm just curious what exactly you see. But, if you're a non-app-developer, if you have legitimate information, I'd be interested. And not that it matters, but I'm an Android guy. This post isn't some Microsoft fanboy trying to start a flame war. Just want to get some facts, as I'm a little hesitant to trust one company's claim about a competitor.
~Ibrahim~
P.S. The infographic they made: http://blogs.technet.com/resized-im...00-00-00-97-94/2318.scroogled_5F00_041713.jpg
sour grapes ? win 8 sales are not good so why not lets do some mud slinging on android. but I am not a developer and I am too eager to learn what a developer would have in reply.
OK, this "sharing" is the same sharing done by Amazon, Etsy, and "everyone else on the internet." Developers, like Amazon or Etsy peeps, agree not to share the data. The data is required for financial transactions, apparently. Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/09/mi...ogle-developers-need-to-process-transactions/
Microsoft, apparently, responded with this:
"Google also claims that sharing this information is necessary to process your transaction and maintain your account — that is, to issue refunds, reversals and payment adjustments. But, similar stores — including the Windows Phone Store and Apple’s App store, don’t do this, because it isn’t necessary for an app maker to have your full name, email address and ZIP code to process the initial transaction, issue refunds or handle customer service issues. Google could easily provide more anonymous means to handle these transactions."
Source: http://blogs.technet.com/b/scroogle...on-t-get-scroogled-by-google-s-app-store.aspx
~Ibrahim~
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this. I am having a hard time finding a solution to my problem. I know this isnt the "correct" place for this post but XDA is the best and I know the answers are here.
I make applications for people and businesses. They pay me for my services. They are very simple apps that, for the most part, bring someones social medias to a single place with some other basic features. The issue I am having is that when I submit these app to google, they claim impersonation...
"This is a notification that your application, The Unofficial Futureman App, with package ID com.singlestoneapps.futureman, has been suspended from the Google Play Store. REASON FOR SUSPENSION:Violation of the impersonation or deceptive behavior provisions of the Content Policy. Please refer to the impersonation policy help article for more information.
If you are authorized to publish on behalf of the original content or brand owner, please contact us via the Google Play Help Center and attach verifiable and accepted proof of permission.
This particular app has been disabled as a policy strike. If your developer account is still in good standing, you may revise and upload a policy compliant version of this application as a new package name.
This notification also serves as notice for other apps in your catalog. You can avoid further app suspensions by immediately ensuring that no other apps in your catalog are in violation of (but not limited to) the above policy. Please also ensure your apps’ compliance with the Developer Distribution Agreement and Content Policy.
All violations are tracked. Additional suspensions of any nature may result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.
If you feel we have made this determination in error, you can visit this Google Play Help Center article."
This isn't the only one I had the issue with. I submitted "rebutles" for them and never heard back from google. At this point, my account has been TERMINATED. They are claiming that I am pretending to be these people in order to get downloads. Whats form(s) do I need to bypass this? Is there a generic form? How do I submit it to google in order to avoid this issue? Any other advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks again XDA
First off, it's been over the 72 hour thing. But, I'm more of getting some facts.
A few days ago I got an e-mail from Google saying they were taking down one of my apps because of... well you can read it. (Note it doesn't actual say what exactly I did wrong, what part was breaking the policy, or what the 2 year old app with no problems before hand was doing an impersonation of)
Anyways, what should I do? Since I made everything in the app 100% by myself for school. I know this is in error, but I have no idea what I'm defending since they marked this 2 year old app as impersonation
If anyone is at Google and reading this. Please PM me so we can figure this thing out. I will send you the packet name.
Below is what they sent
Hi Developers at ,
After review, Bob The Mole, , has been suspended and removed from Google Play as a policy strike because it violates the impersonation policy.
Next Steps
Read through the Impersonation article for more details and examples of policy violations.
Make sure your app is compliant with the Impersonation and Intellectual Property policy and all other policies listed in the Developer Program Policies. Remember additional enforcement could occur if there are further policy issues with your apps.
Sign in to your Developer Console and submit the policy compliant app using a new package name and a new app name.
What if I have permission to use the content?
Contact our support team to provide a justification for its use. Justification may include providing proof that you are authorized to use the content in your app or some other legal justification.
Additional suspensions of any nature may result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.
If you’ve reviewed the policy and feel this suspension may have been in error, please reach out to our policy support team. One of my colleagues will get back to you within 2 business days.
Regards,
The Google Play Review Team
LINKS
The policy
https://play.google.com/about/spam.html#impersonation-intellectual-property:impersonation
contact them
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/troubleshooter/2993242