As far as I know. WC is so demanding not because of SMM's promotion. Other countries also demanding but without SMM's promotion. DOTA's playing strategy is actually making WC so demanding. So, SMM basically using Blizzard's products to rent out to CC and collect money, and use some of these money to strenghten thier power by bribing some top officers. They say CC need to pay this commercial license fees because CC using thier product to generate income. We understand that Copyright Act is needed to protect intellectual property. We all know that government is trying persuade ppl to use original products. At the same time gorvernment also urge publishers to lower thier selling price. But SMM takes this oppotunities to abuse thier power and over charge thier product. Imaging that what would happen if local Microsoft destributor as well as others software companies do the same way as SMM does to all Malaysia business companies. Rent out thier products and charge monthly fees...!!! Why we don't have complaint with other games company such EA, e-club or New ERA and we are welling to pay thier licensing fees. Why SMM comes up with so much problems to all CC. I think the goverment and ACA(Anti Corruption Agency) shell take some time to investigate this metters.

Activision merged with Vivendi, will New Era gets Warcraft this year? We shall wait and see

Just out of curiousity, how much is SMM charging for WC per month?

Updates from cari forum

According from guangming daily, the Selangor cybercafe temp. representative demand SMM to show documents which given them the authority to collect royalty fees or else they will use legal action against them.

from the end paragraph:
SMM CEO Ricky Lim replied that commercial use of software via normal means of purchasing is not a do-able, it has to pay fees to them monthly. That is why the commercial agreement has to sign and respect copyright or else face the consequences

sorry for the bad translation, i skipped the middle part


His reply is half true, there no details explained regarding the agreement. The SMM version's agreement didn't touch about royalty fees and endorsement from the publisher but still demand cybercafes to pay monthly fees, for what? Even the real commercial use agreement didn't mention of demanding royalty fees.

for <30 PC, is about $1450 /mth and 31-40 PCs i think $1850, price may slightly varies , depend on agent.

My cyberjaya fren promised to get back to us by next week say his collegue not free today. Will update.

You guys will never stop approaching SMM issue the wrong way. Like what I said before, the best way is to make WC unpopular.

You can all go and talk to everyone you wish but the end result will be the same, SMM will win.

Relying on some incomplete documents and misled others with your opinion will only make matters worst for you guys. I have seen the cari forum document. The document may be true but the opinions expressed there is ridiculous.

Since I started posting, my partners and I have decided to explore venturing into some game distribution business. We have met up with some koreans game publishers. Now, I understand how the system works. They will give you a Master Distribution Agreement outlining what rights they give you, distribution rights, sales rights, license rights, etc. Then they will give you a POA for legal enforcement purposes. You pay tonnes of money to them to secure your commercial distribution or licensing or whatever you want to call it before hand and then they will give you whatever you want. It is all so simple. Money works.

Where is SMM's Master Distribution Agreement? Strace, post it here and I will tell you whether SMM got right or not. If I am not clear, I can get someone to read it for us too for free. I can get people in the industry to tell us the truth. Relying on the Cybercafe Agreement is not enough because SMM can refuse to issue you one unless you pay them their charges. Whether or not Blizzard collect license fee from you is not relevant. The real issue is whether Blizzard will issue you the Cybercafe Agreement which they will never do so because they have given that right to SMM.

Do you guys really think Blizzard will sell you 1 original box set and forever not collect any money from you while you make money from that 1 original box set? Be realistic, man! Blizzard is a business entity and to keep them going, they need money and licensing is where the business is, stupid! You think paying $200 is enough to Blizzard while you make thousands?

Answer to all your problems - STOP PLAYING AND SUPPORTING WC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to stacy for giving guangming daily to update us . I don't think stop supporting WC is possible solution here. Nearly all malaysian gamers play WC because DOTA keeps updating and releasing newer version of thier custom map. Unless these custom map has stopped releasing and WC will eventually become unpopular and unsupportive.

We all not agree with SMM beacuse...

1) You must pay monthly royalty fees extreame high compared to other game publishiers.
2) Every month CD always same title (WC and Starcraft only).
3) Warcraft released 2003 and Starcraft released 1999 are consider out of date!!!
4) Support cybercafe using crack files (No Cd files) to run on all PCs which is sometimes very unstable.
5) Montly supplement original CD boxes 1 to 2 only with 63 PCs
6) They rent you the CDs and you must return to them once you terminate the agreement.
7) We should received "Site License Agreement" from Blizzard upon signing up the agreement with SMM.
8) They use LAW and enforcement to protect thier illegal activities.


FIGHT SMM AND STAY UNITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post has been edited by Kent2007: Jan 20 2008, 01:27 AM

well my kai bro is cc owner they receive msg today regarding china press will post the proof of SMM scamming

See, you guys never understand the problem. WC is the big problem. As long as you want to play WC, you have to face SMM. My comments:-

(1) Monthly license fee is a commercial arrangement. If you don't want WC, don't pay. Stop stop playing WC. You think you can buy a Mercedes at Proton saga price? How I wish.
(2) You only get WC and Starcraft because this is only what Blizzard can offer you now. Other games, go for EA, E-Club or New Era.
(3) Out of date version? Same answer. That is only what Blizzard can offer you now. So, stop supporting WC.
(4) Support crack files? You are modyfying other people's software. Illegal. Not advisable. Boleh kena raid.
(5) 1-2 CD? Normal. All karaoke also don't get 1 for 1 CD in their karaoke machines from PPM or MACP. Understand the common system of business.
(6) Return CD? Of course lah. You are only getting a license to use the contents of the CD and not the property in the contents.
(7) "Site License Agr?" Blizzard already give right to SMM. Blizzard will give you through SMM. Back to square one. Common system lah everywhere. If you can get directly from Blizzard, I will buy all for my cc from you.
(8) Using law to protect piracies, normal lah. Microsoft, PPM and MACP also same lol.

All your statement susah to ikut. STOP SUPPORTING WC and YOU WILL STOP SMM problem!!!!

China Press update? We all cc owner are waiting.

By the way, I notice you guys are looking at some very old documents in 2006. Why not look at SMM's 2007 and 2008 documents? So far only see the 2007 POA. Nothing much to shout about because it has always been like that since 2002. What about the 2007 and 2008 other documents?

I also hope you guys don't teach other people in this forum to infringe the law. If they are misled, they will get raided and I bet you guys wouldn't be responsible for it. I kena during Depsima time and paid dearly for it. So, I hope you guys be careful in all your opinion and comments. Cheers to all ANTI-WC and ANTI-SMM.

erm...i think even oversea u still have to pay monthly fees for game in cybercafe.

well, its all depends on the growth of the country......

for me, i stay at home play wc3 enough, i do support blizzard...but well..playing at home is fun enough....

Just convince the court to issue warrant on checking SMM accounts then. If there were no cash flowing to Blizzard then it means they actually didn't collect royalty fees on behalf of the license owner. The POA is not collective payment of royalty fees. Simple isn't it?
While that, lets make them check ALL the other local games distributors accounts as well lol

I think if you want to keep this thread practical, better suggest more constructive options. Otherwise, it'll turn out to be just another spam thread with nothing happening.

You'll need to understand that the EULA does not cover commercial exploitation of the game. The commercial agreement does. In that agreement, SMM has every right to charge monthly fees or whatever as they see fit.

Yes, the POA doesn't specify the collection of royalty fees, but know that the POA is merely a *portion* of the agreement. The POA is standard in most license agreements that merely states SMM can take legal action on behalf of Blizzard against copyright infringes. The other portions of the commercial agreement clearly states that SMM can collect these fees.

The only thing you have to go on is whether the agreement between Blizzard and SMM provides this right. Unless you are able to obtain that document, nothing can happen. And AFAIK, most licensor agreement structures will include the right to collect monthly fees as a standard clause.

So there's really nothing much you can do, besides what Max7 suggested.

if anti WC i think is not the best option

Which is not what I'm suggesting either. There must be a source of these complains... why the hard feelings? If you make money off a product repeatedly, why can't SMM?

The way I look at it, the price seems to be ok but then again I don't run a cc. If the cc owners feel 'cheated', then maybe they should just request for a price revision or something. Surely, there must be a common ground where everyone can agree on.

This post has been edited by ZipD: Jan 21 2008, 05:52 PM

Still no news from my cyberjaya fren. I am patient bcoz the service is free. I reading all the posts. I think we can arrive some common ground. Actually I tink it is simple. if SMM got no right, don't pay. If SMM got right why SMM don't show? is SMM hide something important? SMM can show their right, is that simple why hide until today? I tink it is a very good suggestion for Strace that all game distrbutor account check to show they are really sincere trader. I bet none of them will show anything. I also bet that SMM never pay Blizzard anything.

I think it's not 'SMM got right why they don't show' but more like 'why show you?'. The agreement is private between SMM and Blizzard. If you think SMM is cheating you, then go to the Trade and Domestic Ministry and file a formal complaint.

Edinhoven, when I say common ground - I meant that all the disgruntled cc owners should discuss this among themselves and come up with a proper proposal to SMM. Not start a crusade. You mentioned seeking legal advice... is the advice based on the licensing agreement between SMM and Blizzard? If it's not, you won't find anything new that has not been mentioned here already.

p.s. Please don't label me a traitor or supporter of SMM. I don't work for them, heck, I don't even play DOTA. I'm just trying to tell you guys to think this thoroughly and not start something without getting all the facts first.

Yeah, SMM should show all the documents/contracts to cc owner where Blizzard has given the authority to SMM to collect royalty. This is commom business procedure, to convince someone to trust ur business policy. Otherwise anyone can claim to be royalty collector.

Yes I'm aware that they might have the authority to collect royalty fees. In standard practice, the sum of royalty fees collected from licensees has to be the exact same amount channeled to the copyright owner. If the royalty fees was used somewhere else, we all how the money was 'well spent'. There is no necessary to request the complete POA between SMM and Blizzard, a simple accounting check will do just good. Unless SMM is the copyright owner, they are not allow use the royalty fees as profit taking. Even PPM didn't chip profit from the royalty fees.

U r confused. We r in crusade to find truth. This is what this forum is about. If u want $$$, show me u got right to collect $$$. If Bank want me to pay for credit card use, they will send statement to show I use the card, where, when and how much. SMM didn't show anything but want $$$. if SMM want to hide, something is wrong. Goverment now in election year. Who is free anyway in government? Just let my fren get back to me on the advise. Be patient have to wait bcoz is free. Don't pour cold water just like that. Strace is compiling all document and facts. We will all know soon. ZipD, u better not campur tangan if u cannot contribute anything solid like Strace. At least some of us is "really" helping finding truth and not making empty bullet statement. We think properly after looking at documents. SMM and Blizzard got Agreement? If got, why SMM don't show? Why hide until now? Something must be wrong in the Agreement if really got such Agreement.