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Make IP Board Modifications Strictly Limited To License Holders


Guest JohnBrown

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Hi,




I reckon IPS Should make Any Modifications to any of their products only availiable to current users with valid licenses.

vBulletin has implied this policy and has forced many users without licenses to come to use IP Board. They then can get modifications without any hassles.



Doing this would restriction will make it harder for webmasters with nulled or illegal products.

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How do you stop 3rd parties distributing 3rd party modifications.

The only way they could comply is by IPS sharing customer details, which they arn't going to do are they?

Also I have seen a site with vB modifcations on which require no proof of license...

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The modifications that WE host (ala IPS Beyond) are only available to license holders.

We have no control over third parties that distribute modifications, nor do we really care if third parties distribute modifications (as long as they don't distribute copyrighted IPS code). :)

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IPSbeyond is a perk for us--an 'extra' resource only available to licensed users. It is not, however, the only place to download mods, skins, etc.



yes but that is the same for vbulletin, there are also third party modsites there. agreed vbulletin.org is the biggest, but nothing limits anyone from starting another. :)
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yes but that is the same for vbulletin, there are also third party modsites there. agreed vbulletin.org is the biggest, but nothing limits anyone from starting another. :)


So, what would you do differently? As Brandon stated, IPS already restricts the mods on IPSbeyond to license holders only.
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yes but that is the same for vbulletin, there are also third party modsites there. agreed vbulletin.org is the biggest, but nothing limits anyone from starting another. :)



According to the topic starter, Jelsoft prevents 3rd party sites somehow. Or at least, that was the assumption I made from his/her post. That is why I made the comment I did.
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i do think ips shouldn't void your ipsbeyond membership because you licence runs out, if we're still allowed to use the software we should be still allowed to gain member (remember its "MEMBER") support and access to (magic word again) MEMBER mods.

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i do think ips shouldn't void your ipsbeyond membership because you licence runs out, if we're still allowed to use the software we should be still allowed to gain member (remember its "MEMBER") support and access to (magic word again) MEMBER mods.


It's a bonus for those of us paying their protection money. mafia0yx.gif

I'm jus keedin'! :lol:

IPSbeyond has always been a perk for those current on support fees, and I see nothing wrong with IPS limiting the access.
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It's a bonus for those of us paying their protection money.

mafia0yx.gif

I'm jus keedin'! :lol:



IPSbeyond has

always

been a perk for those current on support fees, and I see nothing wrong with IPS limiting the access.


Amen to that! I'm sure IPS has no trouble with this (I hope they don't, at least) but remember, they have bills to pay too!

Besides, it's not like you have to renew support for every license. If you have multiple licenses, they have no way of controlling which license you use with support (w00t) . vBulletin may or may not be better software, but personally I can't stand their admin area. It is just so...UGLY... When I saw IPB 2.1.x's admin area I fell in love and instantly purchased my own license...and from what has been said here, it seems like I made the right choice. Honestly, limiting only valid customers to install modifications? Well, how do they determine if you're using a valid license? Sounds pretty yucky to me. Besides, vB doesn't have IPSBeyond, either...hehe.

You also have to remember that, generally, when you pay for something it is more valuable to you than something you get for free. Not to mention, only allowing access to IPSBeyond to people current on support helps keep the quality of the community higher than it would be if just anybody could access it ;)
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neen, as for whether they can know which license you're requiring support for, that depends on what you want them to do. If you want them to install a new version of the board, or come and troubleshoot a difficult problem, they you must give them the URL and they'll immediately know if you've got a valid license.

As IPSBeyond is more professional than any other customer-to-customer board, with better quality of discussion, then it's too bad it's not open to those who haven't bought the software yet. In my case, I knew I had to make some additional scripts for the conversion plus some mods to keep features from the old board. So it took a small leap of faith to buy the software before gaining access to the resource that could help me do it.

Now that our site already got a license and IPS Beyond access, then I acknowledge that IPSB might be weakened a bit if people have full access to it that haven't got a current license. And for two reasons mainly as I see it. Firstly, because there would be more people demanding support in relation to those giving it, more people with just a passing interest in being board administrators. Secondly, because non-license holders would be more demanding, more repeat threads and thread bumping. If there's a problem that can't be solved, you wouldn't be able to tell them they should submit a ticket.

My preference therefore, would be to give non-license holders reading rights, while only giving paying members posting and downloading rights.

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i'm not saying open it upto non licence holders just let non current licence holders who were in the past keep their access, some people provide alot of input to ipsbeyond.


Allowing access to anyone who's ever purchased IPB, would, IMHO, dilute the value of paid support. I enjoy helping others, writing little mods, making skins, and getting advice on mod-making from the big guns at IPSbeyond. If I could still participate in all of that, I wouldn't pay the fee, since I don't use the ticket system.

In plain terms, IPS would lose revenue if they did it the way you suggested.
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The modifications that WE host (ala IPS Beyond) are only available to license holders.



We have no control over third parties that distribute modifications, nor do we really care if third parties distribute modifications (as long as they don't distribute copyrighted IPS code). :)


Correction, you do care....

The more 3rd party stuff that comes out, the more popular your software is getting. :) :P


It's a good thing, IPB needs a good strong community of mods and components and developers. Keep it the way it is, null boards aren't that huge of a problem. It's better to lose a few customers to null boards by keeping things public, then losing potential hundreds or thousands due to inadequate resources available.
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IPS Beyond is a "perk" for current license holders. It is not a right, nor did we promise it to anyone.

Those customers loyal enough to keep their support contracts active, we wanted to give them something special. If we open up IPS Beyond any more than it is to customers who do NOT have a current support contract, then we've lost the intentions of the site to begin with.

We aren't stamping our (nor are we trying to stamp out) third party resource sites, and anyone (license holder or not) is free to visit them. :)

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