

ZX Spectrum devs claim missing royalties from Elite Systems - wozname
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/952953995/bluetooth-zx-spectrum-recreating-the-sinclair-zx-s/comments

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ama729
Here I think is the specific comment hilighting the issue:

[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/952953995/bluetooth-
zx-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/952953995/bluetooth-zx-spectrum-
recreating-the-sinclair-zx-s/comments?cursor=5779913#comment-5779912)

Apparently, they vandalized wikipedia to put an ad for their app.
Unbelievable.

edit: This is the first comment talking about the issue apparently:
[https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1066578103](https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1066578103)

~~~
ghughes
Another post from a dev who got scammed by this company:
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/952953995/bluetooth-
zx-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/952953995/bluetooth-zx-spectrum-
recreating-the-sinclair-zx-s/comments?cursor=5786604#comment-5786603)

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awjr
This came about because of this thread:
[http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46365](http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46365)

~~~
ZenoArrow
Seems to be down at the moment, does anyone know of a cached version? Haven't
managed to find one myself.

~~~
timthorn
Still up, just slow.

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ZenoArrow
It's been stuck 'Connecting...' for quite a while. I suppose I should've
expected such a response from a community used to 16 minute loading times (my
first computer was a ZX Spectrum). ;-)

~~~
timthorn
Does your browser have a flashing border at the moment? :)

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bencollier49
No-one seems to have pointed out that this is likely to be a trademark
violation:

"All rights reserved. 'Elite', the Elite logo, the Elite: Dangerous logo,
'Frontier' and the Frontier logo are registered trademarks of Frontier
Developments plc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and copyright are
acknowledged as the property of their respective owners."

In this case, unauthorised use of their trademark in the same trademark
category (computer games), is going to damage Frontier's reputation.

Could someone get David Braben to contact Kickstarter UK?

~~~
jamespo
Elite Systems have been around a long time too
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_Systems](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_Systems)

~~~
mpclark
Yes, Elite was a triple-A player and a very well respected UK games publisher
back in the 80s.

~~~
bencollier49
Oh, them!

Strange, there seem to be relatively few studios like that which didn't either
get merged into something larger or fade away completely.

Superior Software is another example.

Mind you, if what these developers is saying is true, then they would do with
improving one or two things.

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deletes
Now they got backed, I don't see the reason why would they not make the
keyboard. But if their business partners are getting paid is another story.

~~~
ZenoArrow
The fundraising period hasn't ended yet, at the time of writing this there's
12 hours to go, and judging by the Kickstarter comments people who have
already backed the project are starting to reduce/remove their backing. I
wonder if this is the first time there's a chance a project that reaches its
target on Kickstarter ends up under the target by the end?

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interstitial
A kickstarter project cannot go under funding goal in the last 24 hours if it
has already reached its goal. You can back out if you contribution doesn't
bring the project below goal. Part of the anti-trolling rules.

~~~
iand
People aren't backing out, they are reducing their pledge. Do same anti-
trolling measures deal with that?

~~~
_delirium
Also not allowed. From the ToS ([https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-
use](https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-use)):

 _Backers may increase, decrease, or cancel their pledge at any time during
the fundraising campaign, except that they may not cancel or reduce their
pledge if the campaign is in its final 24 hours and the cancellation or
reduction would drop the campaign below its goal._

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simias
Why don't they simply sue him?

~~~
ghughes
According to one of the forum posts linked elsewhere in this thread [1] his
company's accounts are in the red, so even if someone were to sue and win,
they aren't going to see any money.

[1]
[http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showpost.php?p=750206&...](http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showpost.php?p=750206&postcount=36)

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Pinckney
Sounds a bit like the mess that is the Up Front reprint:

[http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/160421/item/2750333#item27...](http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/160421/item/2750333#item2750333)

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AndyJ1972
The amount pledged is indeed going down. It appears people are being true to
their word.

Be interesting if it dips below the £60k required.

~~~
_delirium
I believe Kickstarter actually won't let you withdraw a pledge if doing so
would drop a funded project below its funding threshold.

edit: found the rule ([https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-
use](https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-use)),

 _Backers may increase, decrease, or cancel their pledge at any time during
the fundraising campaign, except that they may not cancel or reduce their
pledge if the campaign is in its final 24 hours and the cancellation or
reduction would drop the campaign below its goal._

