Scratch

JuiceyBox wrote:

Seeing how I can name quite a few people on Scratch who have no problem downloading and stealing art or music from others' projects, I think it would be nice to have the option to allow downloading on a project or not when we post it to the website. That way, sprites or music that we wanted to keep for ourselves wouldn't be taken by others, and projects we wanted to share could be.

:EDIT:

Summing up what we have so far:

Arguments for: Prevent Theft
Arguments against: No source of music, those without Java unable to view projects

New Idea: How about an option that lets you change things a bit so that, when people downloaded your project, they could view it, but couldn't alter any scripting or sprites in it? Like a lock kind of thing.

Option Two: (Maho's Idea) The option to Disable Remixes so anything wanted to be kept to yourself would be, for those who don't have java and need to download to view.

:Edit again (Im on a roll!):

I realized that with Option Two, people can just export art or whatever to somewhere on their computer, then reopen Scratch, import the file, and the feature's purpose is defeated.
Thus, we move back to my idea, though it may be hard to implement: Permission to alter scripting and sprites after Download. (An exporting/importing lock)

:edit AGAIN:

What if the download link appeared only to people whose computers didn't have java? Then Java-less members can download and view projects, and those who have it can view online and not steal our lovely sprites.
The only issue I see with that is that some projects work better downloaded than online.

I download if they say it is okay otherwise I download because I take a look at the scripts and see how they program it so I can improve myself, not steal anything.

Nitezscratch wrote:

When I got to this page, my initial reaction was, STOP THE THEIVES, BLOCK ALL DOWNLOADS!!!  (After all, there is an exact copy of almost all of my games under someone else's name.)  But, as I think about it, as JuiceyBox said, for those without Java, there is no way to view projects.  I see more problems than this however.  What if someone has a slow connection, and faces the dreaded full-loading-bar-and-no-project issue?  Without downloading as an option, those unfortunate souls could not view the project.

Therefore, I support the ability for each scratcher to allow or not allow downloading individually for all of their projects.  If this would be implemented, every project would be set to "open" by default; that way those who are no longer on scratch, or are not very active on scratch wouldn't have their projects thrown in a safe without their knowing.  This solution would especially benefit me, in my situation.  I certainly would prevent the downloading of all of my projects immediately, but I also would not leave my fans out in the cold.  Since I self-host my projects on NitezProductions.com, those who unfortunately could not view the project on Scratch, most likely can on my website, where servers aren't busy.

To sum it up, the point of Scratch is to learn from one another and create better projects right?  Then why do we allow others to claim credit for all of our work?  It must be admitted however (despite how much everyone seems to want to deny it) that it is all but impossible to learn how to program something simply by looking at someone else's code.  Everyone codes differently, and especially with Scratch, which is very forgiving when it comes to messy and null code, it is even harder to learn from someone else's code.  Plus, now with the Flash, and Experimental viewers, those without Java, those who can't load projects successfully in the Java player, and those who insist on looking at other's code, all have options.  The age of downloading to a file are over, and the age of viewing what you want through the browser are in.  In order to stop thieves, and have Scratch evolve is to prevent downloading as an option for creators.

Wow. 

No. Bad idea. Just put what you don't want people to copy on a hidden sprite. Then it won't have a thumbnail so no-one can export it or even view it. See the scratch wiki for how to make them.

cbcollab wrote:

Okay, so after reading this, I just had an idea.  When you download a project, in order for people to not be able to steal the exact same project, the project should have some sprite as a thumbnail that says "This is a remix of ____ " or something along those lines, and maybe they could make it irreversible. that way, its alot harder to steal a project, unless you want to copy all of the scripts manually and export all of the sprites yourself.  and everyone would know who the original creator is.

Sometimes people use sprites from different sources, where it becomes a bit more difficult to give credit and trace where it originally came from. So metadata for things like sprites is being considered at this time.