Since 1992, we have made the following software for the Apple IIgs :
and, of course, we have other projects for new software.
We have choosen our good friend Joe KOHN to be the exclusive
distributor for our commercial products. Joe deals with customers,
copies the disks, mails them... everything that programmers don't like
because it takes a lot of time...
Joe is well known in the Apple II comunity because of his talents as a
writter (ShareWare Solutions II, A+/Incider, Buyer's Guide...).
Despite the efforts we have made for the IIgs, for the past 2 years, we have had problems with a guy called Charles 'DrTom' Turley. He pirates our software, uses a sector editor to modify them...etc.
As we are tired of his little actions, we will give you all the information we have about him and what has happened to us recently.
All the documents (mails, testimonies,...) you will see on this
page are true. I have modified the mails to turn them into HTML
format, I have removed a small part of the header to make them
easier to read but that's all. The contents haven't been modified.
I have used a non-proportional font on some parts of the e-mail to
make them easier to read and I have used a
bold font to highlight important the important things.
Of course, I have at home all the original messages, with full header
and with their original fonts.
All of this will be very long to read, and if you really want to understand everything, you will have to read it several times and sometimes go back to previous messages. It will take you at least one hour to read it all. The perfect tool for this job is a Web Browser, such as Netscape or Explorer. We haven't included any pictures, sounds or other little things like that. What we have to explain doesn't require such things.
A few days later, the same guy phoned me at home (in France) from the
usa. We spoke a little and he asked me if we (Brutal Deluxe) were
interested the Noisetracker program or something like
that... He spoke quickly and I missed half of the words but I have explaineded tp
him that we had a lot of work with our own software and no left time for foreign
software.
He called me several times (3 or 4) in the same year.
In december 1994, we were programming Blockade, and to thank him for the disks he had sent us, we have put a little message to him into the game. The message in Blockade's about page was Hello to Dr Tom, Nice NT2.0.
As soon as Blockade was available, Joe and other well known people of the Apple II community warned us about the personnality of the guy. He seemed to be well known as a pirate and sector editor of Apple II software. As french people, we don't know all the stories. We have let the software like that. Later DrTom has proposed that we enter into his group (1WSW) but we refused.
I was very surprised because at the time of Bille Art (1992) I didn't
know NinjaForce and I didn't remember anything like this in the
Bille Art scolling texts.
I showed them Bille Art and they told me that they didn't have this
version at home... I was really surprised and as soon as they
came back to Germany, they sent me their Bille Art version.
There were a few differences between the two versions. First of all the music had been modified (original music was better) and the scrolling text had been changed :
Original version Text, Part I :
...IN OPPOSITION TO OTHERS SCROLLINGS, WE HAVE NO LOUSY STORIES TO TELL YOU, WE WILL FIND ONE FOR NEXT SOFTWARE. LISTEN TO THIS ONE.... WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE G.SPOT AND THE PUB ? ... MEN CAN USUALLY FIND THE PUB!!! NOW IT'S TIME FOR...Modified version Text, Part I :
...IN OPPOSITION TO OTHERS SCROLLINGS, WE HAVE NO LOUSY STORIES TO TELL YOU, WE WILL FIND ONE FOR NEXT SOFTWARE. WE WELCOME THE ONE WORLD SOFTWARE WIZARDS TEAM AND AWAIT YOUR NEW WARES ! DR. TOM, WE WANT NOISETRACKER GS VERSION TWO PLEASE !!! NOW IT'S TIME FOR...Original version Text, Part II :
BEST REGARDS TO IAN SCHMIDT FOR MODZAP, THE AMIGA MODULES
PLAYERS ON GS, VINCENT NGUYEN FOR SYNTHESIS THE FIRST RAY TRACING
'STAMP' PROGRAM ON GS, OK IT'S A STUPID JOKE!!!
JASON ANDERSEN AND STEVE CHIANG FOR DREAMWORLD'S DREAMGRAPHIX
TIM MEEKING AND PROCYON FOR GNO.ME...
Modified version Text, Part II :
BEST REGARDS TO IAN SCHMIDT FOR MODZAP, THE AMIGA MODULES PLAYERS ON GS, THE BEST MOD PLAYER FROM TIM MEEKINS SONIQTRACKER GS !!! KEEP EM COMING. PROGRAM ON GS ONLY! NO TOOLS PROGRAMS WITH...NF ASSEMBLER JASON ANDERSEN AND STEVE CHIANG FOR DREAMWORLD'S DREAMGRAPHIX 1WSW... MERLIN... TIM MEEKING AND PROCYON FOR GNO.ME...Original version Text, Part III :
THIS PROGRAM IS WONDERFUL, JUST BUY IT ! THE TWO MUSICS THEMES WERE CREATED BY GOLDGS USING SOUNDSMITH (c) FUN AND HUIBERT HAALBERS.Modified version Text, Part III :
THIS PROGRAM IS WONDERFUL, JUST BUY IT ! THE TWO MUSICS THEMES WERE CREATED BY GOLDGS USING SOUNDSMITH/VAMPS(3D) VERTUAL AUDIO STEREO BY DR. TOM AND SUPERSOUNDPRO GS !.
When you have looked at the modifications (Dr Tom, 1WSW, Vamp 3D...), it seemed clear to us who had modified it. When I asked Alex about his version to know where did it come from, he simply answered me :
At the begining, with Antoine, we found this funny. For us,
Bille Art was our first software, full of faults, and it was funny
to see that someone had used it to put his name into. If I had to
sector edit a software, I'll do it on a very known program like
Rastan or others games.
When we asked DrTom for an explanation about this, instead of
telling us that he was sorry, that it was only to make a joke to
Alex or something like that (and the story will be stopped there)
he started to tell us an incredible story about a friend of
his who had given him this version...
DrTom's BIG mistake was to send this version to european people. If he
had kept it for his friends and around him, we would certainly have never
heard about it...
You will find here the two versions, you can FTP them :
You can see for yourself...(they are shrinkit disks archive)
Convert was published in early 1996 by Joe KOHN. It was our first commercial
product. We decided to sell it for $15, and this price included the S/H
costs everywhere in the galaxy. Of course, it was really a low price
but it was OK for us. The purpose wasn't to make money but to see if
people were interested in buying our products. When you make freeware programs,
people are usually happy because they have nothing to pay, but when
you sell something, you can quickly know if your product is good.
At this time, Dr Tom asked Joe to sell him the software and Joe refused to
sell it to him (they had a long time story, full of hate...). Joe,
as distributor, could refuse to sell the program. It wasn't a problem for us... He does what he wants
Joe has written to me, to warn me about Dr Tom :
As Dr Tom was writing to me about Joe's refusal, I have decided to send him Convert for free, because I didn't want any money from him and because it was a good way to give him back the money he had spent a few months ago with the disks he had sent me...
So, I sent him a copy of Convert 3200. BUT I changed
one thing in the software : I have decided to change ONE BYTE
on the disk... just in case... I told Joe about this,
but he didn't know exactly what it was that I changed. Even Antoine didn't
know which byte had been changed. I kept a copy of this special
version at home and I have sent to Dr Tom a copy.
Of course, Dr Tom couldn't imagine that his version was a little bit
different from the original one.
As Joe is the only distributor of Convert 3200, it is easy to see if someone is licenced to use the software or not : we have just to look into the database... We can know too who has the source code, when people have ordered their copy... a lot of very interesting things...
It seems to be only a little detail, but keep them in mind, they will
be useful later...
The other information is about the next availability of the Convert source
code soon, at the same location.
Joe quickly did what had to be done to have the site shut down :
The first task was to download the file to have a look at it. Off course Joe remembered that the DrTom version was a little bit special, but as I had never told him what I had exactly done, he decided to compare the pirated version to his original version :
Of course Joe didn't know at this time that he had just given me the
proof that the pirated version he had downloaded from Mentzer's site was the
copy I had sent to DrTom a few months before.
I wrote a short letter to thank him for all the efforts he
had deployed to make the site closed and of course, I have learned form him
the good news about the identification of the DrTom version.
I sent an e-mail to Steve Mentzer, the WWW page owner to ask him some questions about his site and Convert. He answered quickly :
As you can read, he knew nothing, and he had nothing to say...
My second mail was to Dr Tom, just to ask him some things about the copy of Convert I had sent him few months before. He replied the same day :
As you can read, he hasn't given his copy to anyone. :-)
It is not necessary to be very intelligent to understand that Dr Tom is lying (it's not the first time) and that we have the evidence that he is a pirate.
Of course, at this time, he didn't know that we have evidence of this. He couldn't imagine that his version was modified...
Joe wanted to publicize this everywhere, but we finally decided to keep this secret for a moment. We were finishing LemminGS, we had no time to deal with this... We had evidence, some friends such as Nathan had downloaded the pirated version, I had a copy of the modified version I had sent to DrTom... everything could wait a little bit...
Dr Tom has made another mistake. Instead of giving an anonymous version (bought by a friend...) for the WWW site, he has given the version I had sent him.
We have completed LemminGS in December 96. There were a lot of things
to finish, and, with the help of the Beta Testers we have removed all
the bugs.
As usual, the documentation and the easter eggs were made at the end
of the project, when we can see how much available space there is on the
disk.
The first thing we did was to protect LemminGS from
sector editing. As we didn't want to see the Bille Art story comes
back, we have protected the software : you can use a sector editor
to change a few things (scrolling texts, level titles...) on the game,
or on the Demo disk... You can try it, it's not dangerous !!!
The second thing was to put a message in the documentation, to ask
people such as DrTom and Mentzer to not use our software. It was clearly
written at the end of documentation :
As the programmers of LemminGS, we think that we can refuse its use to some people. As we had evidence of the Convert piracy, a good beginning would be to prevent Dr Tom to use our next software. As we have no way to do this, a good thing was to warn him with a message in the documentation.
LemminGS was finally available on January 12th. The demo was uploaded to several FTP servers and to Genie. Joe started to copy the full game for the buyers of Convert who had asked for the game.
I received an e-mail from Dr Tom the next day :
LemminGS was finished, and I went on vacation... I have decided to answer him.
I have cross-posted all his mails and all my answers to all the LemminGS
Beta Tester Team. They were very happy to read these messages, and most
of them were writing to me to give me their point of view or some informations
about what Dr Tom said.
Of course, Dr Tom didn't know that all these messages were cross-posted...
I have tried to add a little bit of humour (with the umbrellas) but
he didn't like it... :-(
His reply comes quickly :
Of course, I continued to cross post all these, and the reactions of the Beta Testers were very interesting. I have continued to reply, because Dr Tom answers became funny to read... As all these stories were incredible, I have tried to let him confirm his words :
As usually, he replies with a very long text :
As usual now, I decided to reply... I clarified some points, but without giving him the information he wanted...(as the number of Convert sold and others...). I have made it short, it was time to end this without ending discussion... I had the information required...
And, of course, he answers again :
I have answered him that he could send him the source code, no problem.
Convert source can't be really useful for non programmers. And even
for the programmers, they are very difficult to use. Even Antoine has
sometimes problems to understand some parts of my code... Dr Tom could
have the source code, he won't be able to use them...
About the Convert source code, you have to know that only a very few
people have asked for it. Some talented programmers such as Mike Westerfield,
Burger Bill, Ian Brumby or others have asked for it. As we keep track of everything
linked to Convert in a database, we know who has the software,
who have asked for the source code and so on...
At this time I didn't really pay attention to this but Dr Tom's friend
asked us for the source code at the same time that Dr Tom sent me his
second answer...
Less than one month after the release of LemminGS, I have received a mail from Joe, telling me that LemminGS and Convert source code were available on a pirate FTP site :
Of course, Joe has quickly reacted. He has taken information about the FTP site :
A new mail came from Joe :
As the source code was put along with LemminGS, Joe looked into the Convert database to see how many people had both the source code and LemminGS :
I have turned the last letters of Dr Tom's friend's name into **** to preserve his identity. Even if only 4 people had both LemminGS and the source code, we have no solid evidence that the source code on the FTP site came from him. This time, we haven't made any modifications on the disk.
When we study the database about Dr Tom friend we learn that :
It is unusual. All of those who have asked for the source code have asked for it
at the same time that they asked for the program itself. If you think that you need the source code,
you ask for it with the program. The cost of the source code is so low ($5) that
there is no reason to delay your purchase. Another strange thing is that he has
asked for the source code a few days after LemminGS. If he really wanted the source code,
he would have asked for it in the same letter as LemminGS...
I think that Dr Tom has asked him to order the source code because he needed it to
put it on an FTP site, as he claimed he would do in his messages.
Joe has gathered all the information coming from Adidam organization. And the good news came from Adidam, they had identified the pirate :
As you should know, Internet is far from an anonymous space. Each time you send a mail,
each time you enter on a FTP site, you can be clearly identified. All the information moving on the net includes your computer IP address. It is a four byte
number which is unique. Each time you ask for FTP, the computer records this address
and other information into a LOG file. If something happens, the first thing to do is
to check this file. Of course, some very good net pirates are able to modify these
files but it is very hard to do. They have to know Unix and the net very well.
If Dr Tom is fluent with music programs, it's not the case with Unix security rules
and he has made the stupid mistake to upload the files from his own account (wco.com).
FTP is called an anonymous service but it's far from anonymous...
The Adidam guys has given enough evidence to wco.com to convince them to close Dr Tom's account. It's funny to see that Dr Tom wanted to worry us with LemminGS and Convert source code piracy, and it's him who is worried with the loss of his account... :-)
We have decided with Joe, to inform people (in comp.sys.apple2 newsgroup) about this. Joe has explained in the newsgroup that Dr Tom had been clearly identified as the uploader of LemminGS and Convert source code and that he had lost his wco.com account because of this.
Dr Tom's answer has quickly arrived. As usual, instead of posting one message, he has cut his message in 3 parts, perhaps to give the impression that the quantity was more important that the content... I have gathered them into one part...
I find this answer very funny. I enjoy the story about the guy who entered his house
to post the program from his computer... As usual, we have all the evidence we
need, and he tries to invent an incredible story. It seems to be an X-Files movie :
he is innocent but no one wants to believe him, he is the victim of a plot, unknown
people have done the bad things but it's not him... :-) I love the details about the
fact that nothing was moved in the house...I am surprised that there was not
any coffee ready, near the computer : the house is opened, the computer ready to
be used, the login and password to the connection available, but no coffee... It's
strange... I think that the guy who has uploaded the files from this computer can
be angry because of this... It's wonderful, there are dozen of net coffee shops (a place
where you can rent a computer for 1 hour to access Internet) in the silicon valley, where you could upload files anonymously, and a guy chose Dr Tom's house to do it... And he must be a good guy because he didn't move anything or steal anything.
It's a well educated pirated. Amazing, it's simply amazing... And at the end, he explains to us quietly that the house will be now secure. It's always a pleasure to read his explanations, because we never know what he will imagine...
Sadly the story of someone who entered into the house to perform something was already
used in Bille Art story... I think he should find another excuses for next time...
Of course, as he didn't know that only 4 people have asked for both LemminGS and source code, he thinks that the excuse 'someone else has done it' could be ok. Sadly no. Next time, he will be able to explain that a UFO has hypnotized him and forced him to perform such bad things. Of course, the chief of the UFO will have the faces of Joe or Auri... (wanna bet ?)
I have studied the modifications in the Bille Art scrolling texts and, except for the fact that the words are linked to Dr Tom world (1WSW, Vamp...), I have noticed two interesting things in the following sentence :
DR. TOM, WE WANT NOISETRACKER GS VERSION TWO PLEASE !!!
The first thing was about the word DR. TOM. Don't pay attention to the uppercase,
in Bille Art scrolling, all the letters use uppercase. I was surprised by the period which
is put just between DR and TOM. You can see it again in the other sentence
("AUDIO STEREO BY DR. TOM") later in the scrolling text.
When I have to write Dr Tom, I usually write it as "Dr Tom" or sometime as
"DrTom", but I will never put a period after the "Dr" word. I have
studied all the mails from Joe and he has always write Dr Tom as "Dr Tom", he
has never put a period. You can have a look to his mails, or have a look in the newsgroup
or on Genie to check it.
Dr Tom, when he has to write it, uses a period. You can check it in the LemminGS Beta
mail he has sent me, in the text files of NoiseTracker 2, in the text files of
DrTom Upload1... That can certainly be checked somewhere else.
The second thing I have found strange was about the PLEASE word. Not the word itself but the fact that it is at the end of the sentence. Perhaps it is because I am not fluent in english (you have noticed it without difficulty), but I find that it's a bad position to put the PLEASE word. I think that Please, lift up your hand is better than lift up your hand please. I understand that we can put the PLEASE word at the end of a sentence sometimes, but in this case (Bille Art text) I find that the fact to put it at the end make think to an impolite sentence, as if the person was insisting. I have found the same syntax in Dr Tom 's mail Answer 2 in the sentence "Do a reality check PLEASE!". Always with the same insistence on the last word, the uppercase of the word here increase it again.
This is what I can say about the style of the Bille Art texts. Of course, as they are short, it is difficult to do more...
The text available with Convert 3200 on the WWW pirate site is luckily longer. As I told
it in the previous parts, we can notice the use of the word FREE, in uppercase, and
the fact that it is repeated several times in the same sentence, at the end of it, as if
the writer became mad (Do you remember Jack Nicolson in the Shining movie ??).
We find the same style in Dr Tom's mails. He has used the FREE word and always in uppercase (true again with NoiseTracker2's text files). He
writes several times the same world in the same word (AURI and LIE), always at the end
of a sentence.
I won't say that the guy who has written Bille Art Texts or Convert Text has the same style
as Dr Tom. No. I will say that Dr Tom has the same style as the guy who has written the
Bille Art and Convert texts. Because, the mails from Dr Tom were written AFTER the texts in
Bille Art and Convert...
...Dr Tom will be able to explain that someone (Joe, Auri...) has copied his style to write
such texts to make us think that HE was the author of such texts...
I think that Dr tom has sector edited Bille Art because of the following facts :
About the explanations given by Dr Tom :
- As usual the story about the modified version put in his friend's home is too incredible.
- The guilty people are always the same ones (Joe, Auri...).
- If Joe is able to use a sector editor, I am afraid that he has a poor capabilities about
music.
About the explanations given by Dr Tom :
- He has given 3 different stories.
- The guilty is now well known (Auri). Joe, this time, wasn't available...
- You will notice the difference between story number 2 and story number 3. In number 2,
he has given the copy to Auri. In number 3, Auri has copied his version when he had his face
turned away (go back in his car...). But, if Auri has really copied his version when Dr Tom wasn't there,
how can he know that Auri did it ? When you are not there to see something you can't know
about it...
- I have given Auri (and Dave Lyons) a copy of Convert 3200 myself in Feb 96 when I was in
california. I have never given them the source code. This copy was the original one, as all that
Joe send everytime.
- Auri is a friend of mine. He has made interview of Brutal Deluxe in Power GS, he appears
in Blockade greetings, he has nothing against us, and has no reason to pirate Convert or to
write such a revenge text.
About the explanations given by Dr Tom :
- As usual the story about someone who enter into his home to use his computer to put the
files on the FTP site is incredible.
- Strangly, he hasn't found anyone guilty... As Auri was back into Indiana, he couldn't
do it... Burger Bill lives in Los Angeles... Joe, as distributor of LemminGS doesn't make
a 'good' guilty... (happily, I was in France. We never know...)
- He tries to appear as the victim of a plot...
continue ? I don't know. If Mr Turley stops his little game, perhaps.
Brutal Deluxe software is not only two programmers, lost in France, far from everything. We
have a network of friends, everywhere in the world (Usa, Australia, Europe, Canada...) who warn
us as soon as one of our software is pirated or modified.
Joe is not only the guy who copy the disks and who send them. He tests our
software, helps us to turn the documentation into a 'good' english form, he
takes care of our interests (send the software to Apple II magazine for a
review, announce them on Genie and elsewhere...). He usually does everything
which takes time, and it's very nice for us.
Of course, anybody will be able to put our software on FTP sites or WWW pages, but we will
know about it quickly and the site will be closed (or the files removed). It's a non ending game, and
a dangerous one. Internet is not so anonymous as you might imagine. Dr Tom has played this
game and he has lost his wco.com account.
I don't think that the Apple II community is full of pirates, ready to upload software as
soon as they are available. I think that our problems were created by a single person. I
consider all of this as acts of revenge against us (Joe and us) than as acts of piracy.
Pirates usually try to be discreet, they don't write large texts or avoid to post on FTP
site from their own account.
There is a big difference between someone who buys one of our software products and who makes a copy for
one of his friends and someone who make the software available to everybody. If I can find
excuses for the first category, it is not the case for the second one.
Our commercial software (Convert) is not expensive. As a buyer, you have privileges : you can
ask for help about the software, ask for the source code, you are licenced to play LemminGS, you won't pay for Convert update ...
You may think that if you have a copy of Convert, you may use the software as if you have
bought it. It's wong. Because of this lack of privileges.
Each copy of Convert that we sell is a support for us to continue to make new software.
You need new software. We have the capabilities to make them. The number of those who can make such programs decrease. The equation is simple.
Let's see how Dr Tom introduces himself. You will see that it changes everytime. The following sentences come from Dr Tom's files :
In the Tom Upload Sound GS Part file :
In the list of the 1WSW members :
In NoiseTracker2 ReadMe file :
In VAMP 3D file :
You will notice the period after each Dr word... :-)
And about the Doctor title ?? Mystery... He doesn't seem anymore a doctor than you and me... But one thing is sure, he loves to add honorific titles (coordinator, cofounder, artist, doctor, designer...) to himself.
You will find there are some messages from Apple IIgs users and friends, some of them are well known in the Apple II community. It is a free speech area, where they can say what they think about Dr Tom, correct some facts that Dr Tom has told in these mails or answer his insults.
I will take no responsibility about the content of the following messages, as I do not know all the facts about how DrTom has wronged other Apple II developers.
zardini@cyberstation.fr
zardini@ixl.u-bordeaux.fr
