Today I would like to share my experience with Adf.ly while trying to download 2 seperate 1.8.9 mods for Minecraft.
So I go to the Minecraftforum topic page for the mod (because these two mods arn't hosting their mods on CurseForge, I'll get back to that later), and I click on the adf.ly links to download the mods.
Of course I have to temporally disable my adblocking plugin because Adf.ly won't even let you continue with one active (fair enough, it is the entire purpose of the site's existence after all.). So I disable my adblocking plugin, and refresh the page, then immediately re-enable it because the following link (to Mediafire, oftentimes) is to a website whose advertisements are known to host malware.
What I expected to happen:
Deal with "fake downloader" ads for 5 seconds, then skip the ad and go to the download site to download the .jar of the mod of my choice.
What happened:
The tab that was going to load the content I wanted was force-closed by a running script from an ad on the adf.ly page, that then opened a tab to a phishing scareware page.
The typical "BSOD WINDOWS HAS ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM. ERROR ADDRESS 0X000FADDA08, ETC ETC. VIRUS DETECTED DOWNLOAD OUR SOFTWARE REMOVAL TOOL or CALL THIS NUMBER NOW (To give the Indian guy on the other side of the phone your credit card information so it can be sold on the deep web for profit)"
Not the normal kind of scareware site that you can just ignore and close out of, but the annoying kind that have a script that opens a pop-up dialog giving you "two options". Both options run a script. This is a known trick with malware. The only option when this happens is to press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC and kill the program process entirely, as hitting "NO" or "LEAVE PAGE" could also initiate a stealth download of malware. (Not all downloads need to go through your web browser's downloads)
*I'm in the process of uploading a Youtube Video demonstrating this issue happening. I'll embed it on this post when it's finished.
adf.ly the site, itself is known to host malware at times as well.
A popular website scanning service, URLVoid, even has a page about adf.ly
Any Mods you create for the Game from scratch belong to you (including pre-run Mods and in-memory Mods) and you can do whatever you want with them, as long as you don't sell them for money / try to make money from them and so long as you don’t distribute Modded Versions of the Game.
Now, I'm no Lawyer, and I've never gone to Law School, however, I do believe that putting links to your mods through adf.ly and other like services that give you a payout for ad impressions would fall under "trying to make money from" the mods.
It is at this point in the post, that I am sure that I have infuriated many mod makers out there, that have, at this point, stopped reading, and have already posted rage-reply's and bait posts.
This still technically violates the MINECRAFT END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT for "trying to make money from" mods made for Minecraft. But this does solve the issue with Minecraft Mod users, like myself, becoming irritated with fly-by malware advertisements that wind up on sites like adf.ly.
*If you make Texture Packs, or Sound Packs, you can also host them through the Minecraft Curse Forge and earn points from people downloading that content as well.
Let's make Minecraft Modding Great Again for the Future of Minecraft 1.9.X modding and beyond! Let's let users download mods without having to risk their computer to malware/adware infections from shady sites like adfl.ly!
Actually that section is referring to distributing modified source code of minecraft which to my knowledge no one actually does. Every mod I know of including forge runs alongside minecraft and makes alterations to the source code while it is running. It is a loop hole in that no one distributes modified source code so people are allowed to make money off of their mods so long as they stay within that loop hole.
That said I agree that there are better ways to do things other than using adf.ly, I would add patreon and even paypal as viable and better alternatives.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"If It Is To Be It Is Up To Me" simple quote and I don't know where it comes from but I enjoy it.
Current Mod: Armerger | Light Drafter
Actually that section is referring to distributing modified source code of minecraft which to my knowledge no one actually does. Every mod I know of including forge runs alongside minecraft and makes alterations to the source code while it is running. It is a loop hole in that no one distributes modified source code so people are allowed to make money off of their mods so long as they stay within that loop hole.
That said I agree that there are better ways to do things other than using adf.ly, I would add patreon and even paypal as viable and better alternatives.
You mean like Optifine or my own mods? They all directly edit Minecraft source code and none of them have been taken down.
Also, Mojang's own statement includes "pre-run and in-memory mods" - with "pre-run" referring to mods that externally modified Minecraft code, as opposed to doing it at run time (in-memory).
No, Mojang is clearly referring to making money from ANY sort of mod, this is just an example of how modders pretend that the EULA doesn't forbid them from making money, or that Forge is the only legal way to mod (and how would Forge even be possible without the original source code anyway? I also see plenty of Forge mods that have basically copied+pasted original code, slightly edited; for example, check out this mod, see the method "func_151538_a"? That is nearly identical to the source, only changing a couple hard-coded numbers to variables).
I see some mods have a link to a Patreon page. This still counts as "making money from mods" so I'll assume that this, too, is also against the EULA.
What's strange though, is there's a sort of double-standard here.
You make a mod, regardless if it includes bits of Minecraft source code or not, you can't make any money from it. (Patreon, Adf.ly, etc) BUT, if you make Youtube videos of you playing Minecraft, you CAN make money from that. (Via Ads)
Within reason you're free to do whatever you want with screenshots and videos of the Game. By "within reason" we mean that you can't make any commercial use of them or do things that are unfair or adversely affect our rights unless we've specifically said it's okay in this EULA, allowed it through the Brand and Asset Usage Guidelines, or provided for it in a specific agreement with you. If you upload videos of the game to video sharing and streaming sites you are however allowed to put ads on them. Also, don't just rip art resources and pass them around, that's no fun.
Make a Youtube video of you doing a Minecraft Survival Series that has an original story you wrote about some ghostly maniac called Israphel that is OP with arrow storms, and you can put ads on it.
They are not distributing source code of minecraft, what you are seeing is de-compiled/de-obfuscated methods. The gradlew tasks that run are converting the minecraft jar into an understandable format that you can use to help you make a mod. I can't say for your mods but Optifine also does not distribute altered source code. It uses ASM (a feature of java) to alter classes before they are fully loaded into the JVM.
For the mod you give as an example, which is horribly outdated and doesn't even appear to be finished. Yes that code segment is almost identical. If that was the only thing they had in their mod it would very clearly break the EULA but they do have plenty of other code that very clearly is not copied from minecraft source code.
By "Mods," we mean something original that you or someone else created that doesn't contain a substantial part of our copyrightable code or content.
Even this example wouldn't break that part of the EULA
how would Forge even be possible without the original source code anyway?
Actually forge does not use source code directly. Forge makes use of freely available features of the java language to de-compile/de-obfuscate the minecraft jar file. They then use the result of that process to design the code that they distribute. Their code uses ASM (another freely available feature of java) to make changes to the running code of minecraft and they never distribute a Modified version of the game so they follow this part of the EULA.
When you combine your Mod with the Minecraft software, we will call that combination a "Modded Version" of the Game. We have the final say on what constitutes a Mod and what doesn't. You may not distribute any Modded Versions of our Game or software, and we’d appreciate it if you didn’t use Mods for griefing. Basically, Mods are okay to distribute; hacked versions or Modded Versions of the Game client or server software are not okay to distribute.
That aside I have not come across or am aware of ANY mod that is being sold. Every example I know of is either some form of ad revenue (even curse is still ad revenue as the money is generated by people being brought to their site and products) or donations to the modder because you appreciate their effort. No one is making money directly from their mod which falls under "fair use" which is mentioned in the EULA here:
Essentially the simple rule is do not make commercial use of anything we've made unless we've specifically said it's okay. Oh and if the law expressly allows it, such as under a "fair use" or fair dealing" doctrine then that's ok too - but only to the extent that the law applicable to you says so.
But even if it wasn't mentioned it would still fall under the legal definition of fair use as Forge and mods in general (there could be exceptions that I don't know of) are useless without Minecraft and do not subtract from Minecrafts value, in fact most add value.
Again I agree that there are better ways for modders to be reimbursed for their efforts than adf.ly (and other such sites) it is still well within their rights to use. But your "call to action" is flawed as you are not required in any way shape or form to download or use a mod that is behind an adf.ly link. The modder may have compromised their mod by using adf.ly but it was still YOU who chose to download from that link and YOU have to deal with whatever may come of it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"If It Is To Be It Is Up To Me" simple quote and I don't know where it comes from but I enjoy it.
Current Mod: Armerger | Light Drafter
Hello everyone.
Today I would like to share my experience with Adf.ly while trying to download 2 seperate 1.8.9 mods for Minecraft.
So I go to the Minecraftforum topic page for the mod (because these two mods arn't hosting their mods on CurseForge, I'll get back to that later), and I click on the adf.ly links to download the mods.
Of course I have to temporally disable my adblocking plugin because Adf.ly won't even let you continue with one active (fair enough, it is the entire purpose of the site's existence after all.). So I disable my adblocking plugin, and refresh the page, then immediately re-enable it because the following link (to Mediafire, oftentimes) is to a website whose advertisements are known to host malware.
What I expected to happen:
Deal with "fake downloader" ads for 5 seconds, then skip the ad and go to the download site to download the .jar of the mod of my choice.
What happened:
The tab that was going to load the content I wanted was force-closed by a running script from an ad on the adf.ly page, that then opened a tab to a phishing scareware page.
The typical "BSOD WINDOWS HAS ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM. ERROR ADDRESS 0X000FADDA08, ETC ETC. VIRUS DETECTED DOWNLOAD OUR SOFTWARE REMOVAL TOOL or CALL THIS NUMBER NOW (To give the Indian guy on the other side of the phone your credit card information so it can be sold on the deep web for profit)"
Not the normal kind of scareware site that you can just ignore and close out of, but the annoying kind that have a script that opens a pop-up dialog giving you "two options". Both options run a script. This is a known trick with malware. The only option when this happens is to press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC and kill the program process entirely, as hitting "NO" or "LEAVE PAGE" could also initiate a stealth download of malware. (Not all downloads need to go through your web browser's downloads)
*I'm in the process of uploading a Youtube Video demonstrating this issue happening. I'll embed it on this post when it's finished.
adf.ly the site, itself is known to host malware at times as well.
A popular website scanning service, URLVoid, even has a page about adf.ly
Here's the URLVoid results page for adf.ly
I already know how some mod makers are. They think that they should make money for their mods.
That seems fine and all, but mods have always been:
*Free extensions for existing, popular games
*Are a way for new programmers to gain experience and gain feedback to improve their craft
*Are a way to build a portfolio to provide to employers/contractors
Let me pause here and remind everyone of the Steam paid mods disaster of 2015. Have we learned nothing?
*Trying to force people to pay for mods results in disaster
*By extension, forcing people to sit through ads or websites that serve ads that could host malware can lead to disaster
What's MOJANG think about "Making money for mods you make, via advertisements"?
This is a quote from OWNERSHIP OF OUR GAME AND OTHER THINGS from the MINECRAFT END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (updated October 27th, 2015)
Now, I'm no Lawyer, and I've never gone to Law School, however, I do believe that putting links to your mods through adf.ly and other like services that give you a payout for ad impressions would fall under "trying to make money from" the mods.
It is at this point in the post, that I am sure that I have infuriated many mod makers out there, that have, at this point, stopped reading, and have already posted rage-reply's and bait posts.
What's a possible solution to the adf.ly issue?
Hosting your mods on Minecraft Curse Forge!
For those that don't know, Curse Forge has a rewards program, outlined in this FAQ
You can redeem points for Amazon Giftcards, or an outright $500 deposit into your paypal.
More info on the rewards program is outlined on the Minecraft Curse Forge Website.
This still technically violates the MINECRAFT END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT for "trying to make money from" mods made for Minecraft. But this does solve the issue with Minecraft Mod users, like myself, becoming irritated with fly-by malware advertisements that wind up on sites like adf.ly.
*If you make Texture Packs, or Sound Packs, you can also host them through the Minecraft Curse Forge and earn points from people downloading that content as well.
Let's make Minecraft Modding Great Again for the Future of Minecraft 1.9.X modding and beyond! Let's let users download mods without having to risk their computer to malware/adware infections from shady sites like adfl.ly!
Actually that section is referring to distributing modified source code of minecraft which to my knowledge no one actually does. Every mod I know of including forge runs alongside minecraft and makes alterations to the source code while it is running. It is a loop hole in that no one distributes modified source code so people are allowed to make money off of their mods so long as they stay within that loop hole.
That said I agree that there are better ways to do things other than using adf.ly, I would add patreon and even paypal as viable and better alternatives.
Current Mod: Armerger | Light Drafter
You mean like Optifine or my own mods? They all directly edit Minecraft source code and none of them have been taken down.
Also, Mojang's own statement includes "pre-run and in-memory mods" - with "pre-run" referring to mods that externally modified Minecraft code, as opposed to doing it at run time (in-memory).
No, Mojang is clearly referring to making money from ANY sort of mod, this is just an example of how modders pretend that the EULA doesn't forbid them from making money, or that Forge is the only legal way to mod (and how would Forge even be possible without the original source code anyway? I also see plenty of Forge mods that have basically copied+pasted original code, slightly edited; for example, check out this mod, see the method "func_151538_a"? That is nearly identical to the source, only changing a couple hard-coded numbers to variables).
TheMasterCaver's First World - possibly the most caved-out world in Minecraft history - includes world download.
TheMasterCaver's World - my own version of Minecraft largely based on my views of how the game should have evolved since 1.6.4.
Why do I still play in 1.6.4?
I see some mods have a link to a Patreon page. This still counts as "making money from mods" so I'll assume that this, too, is also against the EULA.
What's strange though, is there's a sort of double-standard here.
You make a mod, regardless if it includes bits of Minecraft source code or not, you can't make any money from it. (Patreon, Adf.ly, etc) BUT, if you make Youtube videos of you playing Minecraft, you CAN make money from that. (Via Ads)
MINECRAFT EULA: USING OUR GAME
Make a Youtube video of you doing a Minecraft Survival Series that has an original story you wrote about some ghostly maniac called Israphel that is OP with arrow storms, and you can put ads on it.
Try to kickstart a Minecraft Live-action CG movie, however, and Notch or Mojang will take it down!
The EULA is all over the place.
Don't even get me started with the whole server EULA change fiasco!
They are not distributing source code of minecraft, what you are seeing is de-compiled/de-obfuscated methods. The gradlew tasks that run are converting the minecraft jar into an understandable format that you can use to help you make a mod. I can't say for your mods but Optifine also does not distribute altered source code. It uses ASM (a feature of java) to alter classes before they are fully loaded into the JVM.
For the mod you give as an example, which is horribly outdated and doesn't even appear to be finished. Yes that code segment is almost identical. If that was the only thing they had in their mod it would very clearly break the EULA but they do have plenty of other code that very clearly is not copied from minecraft source code.
Even this example wouldn't break that part of the EULA
Actually forge does not use source code directly. Forge makes use of freely available features of the java language to de-compile/de-obfuscate the minecraft jar file. They then use the result of that process to design the code that they distribute. Their code uses ASM (another freely available feature of java) to make changes to the running code of minecraft and they never distribute a Modified version of the game so they follow this part of the EULA.
That aside I have not come across or am aware of ANY mod that is being sold. Every example I know of is either some form of ad revenue (even curse is still ad revenue as the money is generated by people being brought to their site and products) or donations to the modder because you appreciate their effort. No one is making money directly from their mod which falls under "fair use" which is mentioned in the EULA here:
But even if it wasn't mentioned it would still fall under the legal definition of fair use as Forge and mods in general (there could be exceptions that I don't know of) are useless without Minecraft and do not subtract from Minecrafts value, in fact most add value.
Again I agree that there are better ways for modders to be reimbursed for their efforts than adf.ly (and other such sites) it is still well within their rights to use. But your "call to action" is flawed as you are not required in any way shape or form to download or use a mod that is behind an adf.ly link. The modder may have compromised their mod by using adf.ly but it was still YOU who chose to download from that link and YOU have to deal with whatever may come of it.
Current Mod: Armerger | Light Drafter