http://forums.creative.co...=by_date_ascending&page=1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel_K:
We are aware that you have been assisting owners of our Creative sound cards for some time now, by providing unofficial driver packages for Vista that deliver more of the original functionality that was found in the equivalent XP packages for those sound cards. In principle we don't have a problem with you helping users in this way, so long as they understand that any driver packages you supply are not supported by Creative. Where we do have a problem is when technology and IP owned by Creative or other companies that Creative has licensed from, are made to run on other products for which they are not intended. We took action to remove your thread because, like you, Creative and its technology partners think it is only fair to be compensated for goods and services. The difference in this case is that we own the rights to the materials that you are distributing. By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods. When you solicit donations for providing packages like this, you are profiting from something that you do not own. If we choose to develop and provide host-based processing features with certain sound cards and not others, that is a business decision that only we have the right to make.
Although you say you have discontinued your practice of distributing unauthorized software packages for Creative sound cards we have seen evidence of them elsewhere along with donation requests from you. We also note in a recent post of yours on these forums, that you appear to be contemplating the release of further packages. To be clear, we are asking you to respect our legal rights in this matter and cease all further unauthorized distribution of our technology and IP. In addition we request that you observe our forum rules and respect our right to enforce those rules. If you are in any doubt as to what we would consider unacceptable then please request clarification through one of our forum moderators before posting.
Phil O'Shaughnessy
VP Corporate Communications
Creative Labs Inc.
Forum Moderator
Creative Labs
Here's a few respnses on the forum post
TrooperTom - My god, you guys got some balls on you, either that or you'r all bordeline mad.He offered a service you guys cant/wont, and in so madde a lot og YOUR customers happy about their product again. Now you wanna whipe him out and keep him silent by threatning about legal actions. This is a beyond retarded, shame on you, shame on you.
jsmythe - I will definitely looking for a different vendor for my sound card, pmp, etc. needs. I don't want buy a product that the company is more interested in handicapping their products for some perceived loss revenue (resulting from said companies refusal to update the drivers to begin with) than satisfying their customers needs. Consider me a FORMER Creative product user!
corso64 - I'd like to add my 2 cents, for what it's worth. I also have been a loyal customer since ISA days, and still work with large companies who ask 'Will this multimedia product work with our systems?'. This is the last Creative product I will ever purchase and have stopped recommending your products period. I just registered so you could be aware of my concerns and post my comments. Vista has been out for over a year now, Vista SP1 is out, XP SP3 is around the corner, and Creative? You're *STILL* whining about your agreements with other companies? You guys are the ones who rolled over for Mickeysoft, and anyone else with an ax to grind - not us. Threatened ligitigation may make the board and your retainer fees seem worth it, but at the risk of alienating your customer base? Your products still stink under Vista and you are attacking your own loyal customer base in response to your own inability to write drivers worth anything. You might still carry the Creative name, but you are 'Creative' in only a few things: justifying mediocrity, maintaining the status quo, lowering the lowest common denominator, managing expectations, shooting the messengers, and blaming your customers. Yeah, that's how you secure future revenue - lowering the bar - on everyone. Good bye Creative - Good Luck.
Vincois - Bye bye CREATIVE.. All the products I own of yours are going into the trash. I was a long time user and your performance over the last few years has been in decline IMO. To Daniel_K, I hope you get your do. I applaud your efforts and wish you the best of luck. Former Creative owner...
malc30 - I like everybody else have only come here & registered to Laugh in the face of Creative & ALL there Products. Never again will a buy/promote or recommend a single item you sell. Your attitude Disgusts me & being Very active on a number of tech sites will make sure everybody gets to read your original post.Of course i am an Adult & understand the need to protect ones products but your attitude to this is Shocking & shows just how little you think about your customers. Your Company is Dead in the water as far as i am concerned & the quicker the rest of the wrold realises this the better.
arsenal - I came here to post one thing and one thing only: no one cares about your intellectual "property". If people are downloading things from him, then he is fulfilling a need that people have. Saying that you wont do the same because of a "business decision" reeks of the same corporate greed that is found all to often today. No one is saying you shouldnt get paid, but come on... helping people out with a driver isnt even close to stealing from you. head down to your local general district court if you want to see what REAL theft is actually like.
lembregtse - As many people who replied to this topic, I just registered to post my regrets to Creative's desiscion. I've bought many products in the past, but will not do in the future. It's not that I don't understand the reason why you did it. But how you did it was wrong. You as a company should understand that there are many customers left unhappy with your support on Vista drivers. Then at least what you should have considered to do is to work with him to make your drivers better. By banning his drivers and forcing users to use the Creative drivers you will make many unhappy. And don't forget, the best way of advertising is by recommending a product. One thing I wont do untill I see a better way of handling this problem.
There are currently 49 pages of comments just like these! But I expect creative will cut it off soon. This is just for archive purposes.
JV
1 Comments
---------
Dear Phil,
I hope you had a nice weekend. A lot has happened since you posted that message on Friday...
The message that you sent to Daniel_K to protect Creative IP had an unintended effect. It was probably better to keep such messages private, it was probably a much better idea to handle this in a completely different manner. But since you posted it on a public message board, it was spread over the ENTIRE INTERNET. We, the users of the Internet, would like to welcome you to the Internet Age.
In the Internet Age, information tends to have a snowball effect. A message isn't passed from one person to another, it's passed from one person to hundreds. And then those hundreds of people send that message off to millions of people. During those two days you had off, everyone was talking and Creative (you) wasn't responding. It's not just the 500 or so people who have responded to this e-mail... If you add three zeroes (500,000), you can imagine the impact of your message. A person who's had bad customer service tends to tell ten people... In other words, your communications team has a lot of damage control to do this Monday morning.
What is more important than a companies IP is their reputation. This message you sent upset a lot of people who were dedicated to buying Creative products. A lot of them won't come back. What does that do to Creative's bottomline?
A better approach would have been to acknowledge the frustration building in the Vista driver situation, and work with the Internet community to find a solution. Symbolically punishing Daniel_K for trying to help was a very bad move; it made the frustration spread to a lot of people who were not directly involved.
You will probably not respond to this message, but we suspect Human Resources will be calling you this morning. We hope you take this message to heart, and we wish you good luck in your future endeavors beyond Creative.
Signed,
The Internet Community
Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)