FFG goes GW: Orders Netrunner fansite to shut down

FFG issued a Cease and Dessist letter to NetrunnerDB and forced it to shut down. It was an important site for the community because you could build your own decks and dicuss them with people there.

According to the administrator of NetrunnerDB, they simply don't want any other deckbuilder to exist because FFG bought CardgameDB. They won't even allow the names of the cards, without any images. Even worse, shutting down CardgameDB has produced a chain reaction and other sites are either going down or refusing to release any content without FFG establishing what they can or can't say because they fear being the next target.

I guess they have decided shooting their own foot and shutting down fansites is better than how Hasbro does it with Magic.

Sad.

I'm not an attorney or any other legal expert, but it was my understanding that a company can't selectively protect its intellectual properties. It must either consistently protect them or not at all.

Shellhead wrote: I'm not an attorney or any other legal expert, but it was my understanding that a company can't selectively protect its intellectual properties. It must either consistently protect them or not at all.

There are hundreds of Magic: The Gathering sites like NetrunnerDB so I'm sure there was no legal need to shut it down.

I can see the reasoning behind what FFG are doing, as there is direct competition there, rather than just people using the artwork. The question is whether that weighs up to alienating the players. We'll only know in a few years time whether this becomes a regular feature.

Ooh internet lawyering! /popcorn

I understand how this can be aggravating to fans, but I don't have a problem with it (assuming they are in the legal right). This is very different than GW shutting down fan sites with custom content/scenarios as those do not compete with GW in any way. This directly competes with CardgameDB and CardgameDB provides the exact same function (even if people prefer the features of NetrunnerDB).

Does cardgamedb charge a fee? I never understand why these guys don't license out and use the site for advertising. Seems to me there could be a way to make some coin off a popular site.

Sagrilarus wrote: Does cardgamedb charge a fee? I never understand why these guys don't license out and use the site for advertising. Seems to me there could be a way to make some coin off a popular site.

It was free last time I used it a few months ago.

Sagrilarus wrote: Does cardgamedb charge a fee? I never understand why these guys don't license out and use the site for advertising. Seems to me there could be a way to make some coin off a popular site.

It's free and doesn't even have advertisments. Not that the Netrunner community is big enough for it to be even a blip on the radar, though.

In fact, CadgameDB doesn't have any kind of monetization either so even then it would be pointless.

charlest wrote: I don't have a problem with it (assuming they are in the legal right)

They are also in their legal right to blacklist reviewers or force out all the Arkham Horror content out of BGG. The problem with this is not legality, but that they are shutting down a fansite for their own product and making it harder for everyone to enjoy it.

I think this is also different from GW in that these sites allow you to actually play the game, without having purchased any of the cards. The GW thing, IIRC, was them shutting down all peripheral things like player aids and whatnot, but not really things that alone would let you play the game.

FFG has been incredibly generous with sites like that and OCTGN and Vassal, usually allowing people to play with their LCG cards as long as they've already been available for purchase for at least 6 months.

Some have speculated that this might mean that FFG is producing their own app or online client, possibly through CardGameDB, that would allow you to play Netrunner or other LCGs. I don't know if that's likely, but I would love to see FFG produce an app similar to Card Warden, where you can play a game like LOTR:LCG. So it's not a system that controls and runs everything (that would be insanely hard to program with all of the variables)... you would still have to control the game yourself... but it would be really nice to have the cards directly available via purchase on the app, so you don't have the whole rigamarole of getting them into Card Warden, which is really tedious.