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Coleco strong-arming homebrew publishers and fan sites


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If you are just reading this thread for the first time, here's some of the key posts to check out, however we do recommend reading the entire tread! It's VERY entertaining! :P

May 20th: Coleco Holdings LLC still continuing to lie on their Facebook page! Read: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/?p=3765560
May 20th: Response to Coleco's Statement: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-6?p=3765792&do=findComment&comment=3765792
May 21st: Classic Gaming Blog Kiblitzing picks up the story: http://kiblitzing.blogspot.com/2017/05/ip-not-so-freely.html
May 23rd: Coleco Holdings LLC may be working with a known software pirate who has been banned from AtariAge: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-15?p=3767764&do=findComment&comment=3767764
May 23rd: Another response to a different Coleco Holdings LLC Statement: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-17?p=3768190&do=findComment&comment=3768190
May 25th: Hackaday posts an article on this story: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-21?p=3769273&do=findComment&comment=3769273
May 30th: PattheNESPunk covers this story and adds his insight: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-28?p=3772854&do=findComment&comment=3772854
May 31st: Chris Cardillo of Coleco is selling unlicensed homebrew action figures??? http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-30?p=3773482&do=findComment&comment=3773482

June 3rd: Chris Cardillo says a whole lot of nothing: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-35?p=3775654&do=findComment&comment=3775654

(Read pages 35-37)
June 4th: I'm pretty much fed up with this crap: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-40?p=3776309&do=findComment&comment=3776309

June 5th: Chris Cardillo of Coleco calls out AtariAge about this thread: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-42?p=3777151

June 6th: AtariAge makes a statement in response to Chris: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/?p=3777374

June 8th: Another amazing video from PatTheNESPunk on the state of Coleco: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-52?p=3779038&do=findComment&comment=3779038

June 9th: Response to yet another ridiculous Chris Cardillo/Coleco statement: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-55?p=3779509&do=findComment&comment=3779509

August 5th - The "Coleco Expo" is a complete train wreck: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/265739-coleco-strong-arming-homebrew-publishers-and-fan-sites/page-85?p=3821444&do=findComment&comment=3821444

 

For those of you who prefer visuals over reading, these three videos from PatTheNESPunk summarize pretty much everything in this thread:

 

tl:dr: Coleco is strong-arming homebrew publishers and those trying to promote homebrew products.

Please take a moment to read this entire post.

Im not going to remind everyone the past history with Coleco and the Chameleon project. We all know what happened there, and if youre not familiar with what transpired, Google it, theres plenty of documented information about what took place. I would also suggest Opcode's Recent Post on similar Trademark issue subject matter for additional reading.

This post is about the current shady practices that Coleco is apparently using to place focus on their rumored upcoming projects at the cost of potentially damaging the homebrew and retrogaming community that have supported them through the years.

Hi. My name is Robb and I run the ColecoVision Fan Facebook page. We are a page of over 25,000 ColecoVision fans helping promote and support the homebrew community and even Coleco themselves. Recently I received a number of Trademark Infringement DMCA take-down notifications from Facebook by Coleco over several photos & videos of ColecoVision homebrew games that we published on our page. We were not using the ColecoVision logos in any way other than showcase photos or videos of homebrew published games and fan-made ColecoVision projects on our page.

I choose to run the ColecoVision Fan page for my own personal enjoyment and because I love the homebrew community. There is no revenue generated from the page, no ulterior motive of any kind, and in fact I volunteer to spend my own money to help the community because I *enjoy* doing so. My only agenda is to help gain exposure for the homebrewers who have spent a lot of their own personal time creating games for the fans. Due to these trademark claims, I have had to disable our page in fear of Coleco unfairly flagging more of our images at the risk of having our Facebook account permanently disabled. Coleco should not be allowed to strong-arm their fans and the homebrew community like this.

I have posted the photos below so everyone can see the images that were reported. As you can see, these are mostly images that were taken by myself or by other fans of homebrew developed games by publishers such as CollectorVision, Team Pixelboy, Opcode Games, and AtariAge.

None of the products showcased in the photos were created by ColecoVision Fan and we were simply posting these photos to help spread the word to the community about these homebrew projects. Coleco claiming trademark infringement on these photos would be akin to Nintendo or Sega coming along and flagging photos found on the many fan pages, Facebook pages, websites, videos, or podcasts of their games. Think about how this would impact the fan community if you were no longer able to post a picture or video of anything that said Nintendo, Sega, Atari, etc, on it. Also keep in mind, I own the respective rights of the photos and videos that were removed or have the permission from the rights holder of those photos to post them. Coleco owns no copyright on the images or videos themselves, they only appear to be claiming trademark infringement because their logo was on an item featured in a photo or video.

So why is this shady?

When we emailed Coleco about the images being marked as trademark infringement, this is how they responded:

I am sorry that you are having concerns with your site. It is exciting that you are working on developing new video games. Please let me know if you would like to submit products to have them officially licensed by Coleco and ColecoVision. I am sure that we can work something out that is fair. We are mostly concerned with the image of certain games being appropriate for the children who will be playing them. Secondly, it is important that all IPs (if any) have been properly cleared by the rights holder.

It would be nice to look at what you have developed.


What does this even mean? ColecoVision Fan is not developing any games for the ColecoVision system. Nor are we interested in licensing anything from Coleco. If there are any IP rights issues that should be taken up with the publishers themselves, not a fan site. And if third-party IP is involved, that is beyond Colecos purview. Coleco has no rights to dictate what hardware and software can be released for the defunct ColecoVision console. Nor should they have any expectation regarding editorial control, such as what they feel is suitable for children.

Coleco wants to make money by licensing the Coleco name and ColecoVision brand name. I dont blame them. But the practice of flagging and removing mentions of homebrew products is reprehensible and not a practice that is conducive to having a robust community of first party and homebrew products alike. Should all homebrewers and fansites (podcasts, Facebook pages, websites, etc) now be in fear that they will be the next target of a DMCA takedown from Coleco? Coleco has told us that we are not their only target and they will be claiming trademark violations on others as well. This is NOT the way to be welcoming to your potential customers or to thank pretty much the ONLY people who have brought exposure to your brand for the past 30 years.

The ColecoVision is a system that ended its retail life around 1985. There was a Flashback console produced a few years ago, but aside from that, the ColecoVision has been mostly a dormant product in the retail eyes. Fans and homebrewers have kept the ColecoVision brand alive over the past 32 years since its departure at retail. Now, it appears that Coleco (not the same company from the 80s, but a holding company who has purchased the name) is looking to get back into the gaming business again.

Last year, the failed Coleco Chameleon product did significant damage to the Coleco brand and eroded trust that fans may have held in the company. In fact, every move that was made was questionable and the practices could only be described as shady. It appears that Coleco is starting down another road of missteps that will only further push its fanbase away.

It is rumored that another Coleco system may be announced this year as they made mention of having plans to develop new products using the Coleco brand name.

Let me remind everyone that without the homebrew community, without fan sites like ours or the many YouTube channels, podcasts, websites, Facebook groups, etc, there would be very little interest in the ColecoVision and the system would be lost in the past, nostalgia that is mostly forgotten about. Our page has raised a great amount of awareness for the system since we created it a little over a year ago. Homebrew developers have created a wide assortment of high-quality games for the ColecoVIsion, keeping its fans engaged and coming back for more. Coleco should be working WITH groups like ours to help develop their brands, but instead they are flagging images of homebrew products, potentially damaging relationships with developers and turning away fans and possible future customers.

Why is Coleco trying to control what a homebrewer produces on a system that hasnt seen a retail shelf in 30+ years? Why would they be pushing away the people and communities who are responsible for having enough exposure to be able to launch new products? This is not the right way to show that you respect the homebrewers or the community. We have seen their shady practices with the Chameleon, and we are starting to see them again now.

It is even questionable if Coleco actually owns the ColecoVision logo because all the trademark sites show that specific logo as abandoned. Take a look here: http://www.trademarkia.com/colecovision-78314246.html and you can also search the US trademark office site: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4810:1geop1.1.1

So in summary, I ask of you - Support the homebrewers, the fans, and the community that are responsible for promoting the ColecoVision.

What are some courses of action you can take to help show your support?

If you like the official Coleco page on Facebook or other social media, unlike their page. Do not support their products like their announced Rainbow Brite game or the Expo. Instead, follow and support homebrewers such as: Opcode Games, CollectorVision, AtariAge, those are the organizations who have kept ColecoVision alive all these years. Join and support fansites like ColecoVision Podcast, ColecoVision North, etc. Join Facebook groups like ColecoVision Lunatics and be active in discussions.

Please stand with us and let Coleco know that you will not tolerate their shady practices and strong-arming the members of the community who have helped build it. Thank you for your time.

Images that were flagged for Trademark Infringement:
1a.png
2a.png
(Note the above image was from a video of the 35 available SGM Games)

3a.png
4a.png
5a.png
6a.png
7a.png

and now that you have read this post, I also suggest for your continued reading to check out another recent trademark post HERE so you can see that it is not just me who is having issues. Who will be the next person that Coleco sends a DMCA take-down to? Again, please support the homebrewers and fansites! Let Coleco know you will not tolerate this sort of activity!

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Suggests you should contact the real right owners, which should be Hasbro and i believe Atari as they may still have State Trademarks to the marks and should have the US Copyrights and other associated rights to the brand even with a expired federal trademark

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I want at least most of those games eventually (although I'll be using some kind of nerdy controller other than a Colecovision (why did I just get scared to say Colecovision?) controller). I actually LOVE that Flora art and those adult games look excellent!

 

The idea that video games are for kids is retardulous! I regulate screen time for my kids to around two hours (or slightly more) a day, divided into two chunks. That's under the complete understanding that if they don't want to play games or watch shows or other media they are free to PLAY WITH A STICK IN A HOLE IN THE FRONT YARD, OKAY!

 

Are we afraid of the demographic that actually has the wallet?

 

Did someone buy a weightless name and is now pointing it around yelling "SUE!"?

 

Could you just not say the 'worlds-first-beany-baby-nintedo-deflector-actually-kinda-neat-8-bitter-"C"-word' anywhere and still sell all this, ahem, kid toy stuff?

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I actually LOVE that Flora art and those adult games look excellent!

 

The idea that video games are for kids is retardulous! I regulate screen time for my kids to around two hours (or slightly more) a day, divided into two chunks.

 

Let's also point out the obvious there that it's not "kids" who are playing a 35-year old ColecoVision it's adults in their 40s. And isn't it up to the adults and parents to allow what games their kids play? If their issue was "adult games" then they should also realize they aren't the only system out there which had "adult games" created for it, I mean, hello... "Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em!" And besides, if they didn't want those games made, why are they flagging them on a "fan page" and not contacting the homebrewers who made them? Which, oddly enough, are still for sale right now on their web page! Go put in your order before some prudes get them pulled: http://collectorvision.com/shop/colecovision/pre-order-now-and-save/

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When a bandwagon gets rolling, expect someone more powerful and smarter to come along and take control. Why didn't anyone here in the community snatch up the abandoned trademark anyways? Well.. Either way, if they want to put the brakes on the community - their loss. They're as dumb as that brochure is ugly. Or are they? I wonder when a crackdown will happen to AtariAge? Or are the Atari holders more benign and gracious? Maybe there is a secret deal we don't know about. A question that's been brewing for a long time, but no one seemed to ask.

 

At least MK did one good thing with all the noise he was making, he got the brand some recognition. As they say, bad press is better than no press. At least the name gets out there. How many tech and gaming sites spewed forth the Coleco name in conjunction with "videogames" last year? A lot. A lot more than the previous year. Maybe we've been had from the very beginning?

 

And one more thing. Do you think RWB will thank the community for re-igniting the passion for "Coleco" and "Colecovision"? For building something that they will now take control of? Not likely. I would infer, observe, and assume that there is no loyalty toward the existing fan base. The company (if you can call it that) is significantly different from that of 1982, as is Apple, and Atari and many many others. And it is those original companies I would show some loyalty to. Not the shadows and shells that exist today. I don't even preach iTunes anymore like I used to. It's become a less-functional mess compared to the innovative and simple program it started out as. So yeh..

 

The best and most honorable "solution" I can immediately come up with is/was that RWB contact the homebrewers and make an agreement with them. I'd rather the current homebrewers continue their work because it is born out of love for the hobby. And we all know that's a philosophy which results in great games. Once you get into corporate & profit driven programming with deadlines, the quality diminishes. Glitches happen. Games are uninspiring, repetitive, "safe", less groundbreaking. Sounds like the complete opposite of what the 1st Atari was like in the 1970's and early 1980's. The programmers there had unique and extraordinary freedom to create. That's missing from these holding companies. And I don't think they can buy that. They can buy some of it and re-market it in such a way that it appears to bring back the original times and consoles of the halcyon days, but it's still flawed and not quite the exciting dynamic experience we had years back.

 

There are a few projects here on AA that vibrate with the spirit of the pioneering days. Projects that have been years in the making. Projects where every detail has been vetted. Their developers went all out and got the formula, the atmosphere, the essence right. And it shows when guests come over, they'll ask what was it we were messing around with last time. Let's see it again. That's a high compliment.

 

Can a retrogame holding company create material with the same appeal? Or is it stuck to mimicking its namesake?

 

---

Edit to fix technical typo.

Edited by Keatah
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When a bandwagon gets rolling, expect someone more powerful and smarter to come along and take control. Why didn't anyone here in the community snatch up the abandoned trademark anyways? Well.. Either way, if they want to put the brakes on the community - their loss. They're as dumb as that brochure is ugly. Or are they? I wonder when a crackdown will happen to AtariAge? Or are the Atari holders more benign and gracious? Maybe there is a secret deal we don't know about. A question that's been brewing for a long time, but no one seemed to ask.

 

At least MK did one good thing with all the noise he was making, he got the brand some recognition. As they say, bad press is better than no press. At least the name gets out there. How many tech and gaming sites spewed forth the Coleco name in conjunction with "videogames" last year? A lot. A lot more than the previous year. Maybe we've been had very beginning?

 

And one more thing. Do you think RWB will thank the community for re-igniting the passion for "Coleco" and "Colecovision"? For building something that they will now take control of? Not likely. I would infer, observe, and assume that there is no loyalty toward the existing fan base. The company (if you can call it that) is significantly different from that of 1982, as is Apple, and Atari and many many others. And it is those original companies I would show some loyalty to. Not the shadows and shells that exist today. I don't even preach iTunes anymore like I used to. It's become a less-functional mess compared to the innovative and simple program it started out as. So yeh..

 

The best and most honorable "solution" I can immediately come up with is/was that RWB contact the homebrewers and make an agreement with them. I'd rather the current homebrewers continue their work because it is born out of love for the hobby. And we all know that's a philosophy which results in great games. Once you get into corporate & profit driven programming with deadlines, the quality diminishes. Glitches happen. Games are uninspiring, repetitive, "safe", less groundbreaking. Sounds like the complete opposite of what the 1st Atari was like in the 1970's and early 1980's. The programmers there had unique and extraordinary freedom to create. That's missing from these holding companies. And I don't think they can buy that. They can buy some of it and re-market it in such a way that it appears to bring back the original times and consoles of the halcyon days, but it's still flawed and not quite the exciting dynamic experience we had years back.

 

There are a few projects here on AA that vibrate with the spirit of the pioneering days. Projects that have been years in the making. Projects where every detail has been vetted. Their developers went all out and got the formula, the atmosphere, the essence right. And it shows when guests come over, they'll ask what was it we were messing around with last time. Let's see it again. That's a high compliment.

 

Can a retrogame holding company create material with the same appeal? Or is it stuck to mimicking its namesake?

 

There is something else, another possible option. Please check my post later today. You won't be disappointed

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Well now this is interesting. The official Coleco page have just updated their cover photo from this:

Screen Shot 2017-05-19 at 14.02.51.png

 

To this...

Screen Shot 2017-05-19 at 14.02.56.png

 

Huh...why would that do that?

 

Seriously if you currently like their page on Facebook, please go UNLIKE it!

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It seems to me that asking you to take down photos of games is ridiculous and unenforceable. It would be like the New York Yankees demanding that facebook remove every picture of someone wearing a Yankees cap.

 

This is exactly right. But somehow Facebook removed those photos and they told me that they would not restore them without Coleco retracting their claims. When I asked Coleco to please retract their claims, they refused. WTF??!?!

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It seems to me that asking you to take down photos of games is ridiculous and unenforceable. It would be like the New York Yankees demanding that facebook remove every picture of someone wearing a Yankees cap.

 

In that particular instance, it's all but unenforceable. Fair use rights for using media content are pretty liberal these days.

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DO NOT BE FOOLED
As always the are two side to each argument. Concerns of this nature are typically petty in nature, so we don't wish to harp on the issues here.
The genesis of our complaints are the promotion of pornographic related games by an individual attempting to assert some type of authority over the Coleco Brand. Additionally, the use of other third party rights to games bearing our name. As you can imagine this may cause some concern for folks unrelated to either side.
This individual had been warred on a number of occasions that these actions were improper.
Over the years Coleco has embraced the home brewer, and more specifically in a number of interviews invited home brewers to submit their content in order to receive an official license to use the name. In some cases no actual dollars were requested.
This is unheard of in the industry and something that we do in order. We wish to continue this approach.
Additionally, Coleco typically offers game development projects first to members of communities such as Atari age as was the case with Rainbow Brite
Although this individual wishes to attempt to align this battle between
HIM + the Homebrew Community vs Coleco
This is NOT an accurate depiction of what is going on here. The accurate equation is
Coleco Vs. A man who promotes pornographic materials on a site that he uses for profit.
PLEASE DO NOT BE FOOLED.
Please do not be manipulated in a 'side' that is arbitrarily created by one individual whose Internet reputation is repulsive. We have not mentioned any names, but feel free to do your own research.
PLEASE NOTE that this character began making demands this morning based on this post. Either do as i say, or i will post disparaging info about you.
The individual was contacted and told that we would look into the concern. The concerns culminated into the following email that was send to this individual.
SIMPLY PUT we offered for the individual to continue their site so long as they agreed to post nothing PORNOGRAPHIC in nature.
The individual requested an 'unconditional' reprieve - nothing short.
Not only was this not handled in a professional manner, but the emails were borderline black mail in nature.
Coleco, a FAMILY focused company will not tolerate ANY products that share pornographic content.
Below is an email from the head of Coleco Mr. Thomann to the individual.
ONLY ONE DEMAND was made to this individual. ONE! And that was to stop posting lewd material.
Please note that COLECO's Stance has NOT and WILL NOT change when it comes to protecting families from suspect content.
5/19/2017 10:38:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
R****,
I am simply trying to make sure there is no nudity on the site. I am fine with you publishing whatever you would like to publish as long as it is truthful. If you pledge to me that there will be no adult content associated with the Coleco and Coleco Vision trademarks, then we are aligned and no approvals are necessary. This is not an unreasonable request nor a "strong arming" tactic. I have always supported this community and will continue to do so. When you publish your statement, please include the following: "The owner of the Coleco brand, Mark Thomann, offered his full support of any and all Coleco/Coleco Vision fan sites provided that the content does not Include nudity as we continue to position the Coleco brand as the Family Friendly gaming brand that a parent can trust".
Mark
We are confident in our choice to stand up for our beliefs and feel as though we made a positive stance against someone with a reputation for being a bully.
Simply put, the bully finally picked on someone who is willing to stand up for others.
YOU CAN DECIDE FOR YOURSELVES.

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I am simply trying to make sure there is no nudity on the site.

 

I also want to make it VERY clear that we DID NOT POST ANY NUDITY on our page. The images you flagged can be found above. There is NO NUDITY in any of those pictures. And those "adult" games that you are questioning ARE STILL FOR SALE RIGHT NOW on the CollectorVision website: http://collectorvision.com/shop/colecovision/pre-order-now-and-save/

The fact that you are going after ME about these games and suggesting you want to control the content we post, that is what I will NOT tolerate.

We did not violate any trademark issues at all. You flagged several images, not just "adult" images and refused to retract them. So don't make this out to be some "family friendly" argument, because that is not what is going on here.
If you have an issue with "adult content" on the ColecoVision, then the people you should be taking this up with is the group that made those games, not me.
I am NOT RESPONSIBLE for these games and I will NOT TOLERATE being strong-armed and bullied about this. And that is my side of the story.

cardo1, on 19 May 2017 - 3:08 PM, said:

A man who promotes pornographic materials on a site that he uses for profit.

 

This could not be further from the truth. And the fact that you posted this gives your entire argument zero credibility. There wasn't anything pornographic posted and we make zero money from our site. You are flat out lying right here. Here's a tip Chris Cardillo, if you want people to take you seriously, don't lie to them.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgPY1adc0A

DO NOT BE FOOLED

As always the are two side to each argument. Concerns of this nature are typically petty in nature, so we don't wish to harp on the issues here.
The genesis of our complaints are the promotion of pornographic related games by an individual attempting to assert some type of authority over the Coleco Brand. Additionally, the use of other third party rights to games bearing our name. As you can imagine this may cause some concern for folks unrelated to either side.

This individual had been warred on a number of occasions that these actions were improper.

Over the years Coleco has embraced the home brewer, and more specifically in a number of interviews invited home brewers to submit their content in order to receive an official license to use the name. In some cases no actual dollars were requested.

This is unheard of in the industry and something that we do in order. We wish to continue this approach.

Additionally, Coleco typically offers game development projects first to members of communities such as Atari age as was the case with Rainbow Brite

Although this individual wishes to attempt to align this battle between

HIM + the Homebrew Community vs Coleco

This is NOT an accurate depiction of what is going on here. The accurate equation is

Coleco Vs. A man who promotes pornographic materials on a site that he uses for profit.

PLEASE DO NOT BE FOOLED.

Please do not be manipulated in a 'side' that is arbitrarily created by one individual whose Internet reputation is repulsive. We have not mentioned any names, but feel free to do your own research.

PLEASE NOTE that this character began making demands this morning based on this post. Either do as i say, or i will post disparaging info about you.
The individual was contacted and told that we would look into the concern. The concerns culminated into the following email that was send to this individual.

SIMPLY PUT we offered for the individual to continue their site so long as they agreed to post nothing PORNOGRAPHIC in nature.

The individual requested an 'unconditional' reprieve - nothing short.

Not only was this not handled in a professional manner, but the emails were borderline black mail in nature.

Coleco, a FAMILY focused company will not tolerate ANY products that share pornographic content.

Below is an email from the head of Coleco Mr. Thomann to the individual.

ONLY ONE DEMAND was made to this individual. ONE! And that was to stop posting lewd material.

Please note that COLECO's Stance has NOT and WILL NOT change when it comes to protecting families from suspect content.




5/19/2017 10:38:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time

R****,

I am simply trying to make sure there is no nudity on the site. I am fine with you publishing whatever you would like to publish as long as it is truthful. If you pledge to me that there will be no adult content associated with the Coleco and Coleco Vision trademarks, then we are aligned and no approvals are necessary. This is not an unreasonable request nor a "strong arming" tactic. I have always supported this community and will continue to do so. When you publish your statement, please include the following: "The owner of the Coleco brand, Mark Thomann, offered his full support of any and all Coleco/Coleco Vision fan sites provided that the content does not Include nudity as we continue to position the Coleco brand as the Family Friendly gaming brand that a parent can trust".

Mark

We are confident in our choice to stand up for our beliefs and feel as though we made a positive stance against someone with a reputation for being a bully.

Simply put, the bully finally picked on someone who is willing to stand up for others.

YOU CAN DECIDE FOR YOURSELVES.

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Guys I apologize. I just recently got re-interested in the Colecovision after seeing all the awesome new games available for it, and have pre-ordered the Super Game Module as well as started the process of purchasing homebrew games for it, so I'll have a nice collection to enjoy when I at last get my SGM. Coleco no doubt got wind of my plan and is doing whatever they can to screw me up.

 

I'm trying to obtain the name of the guy in this commercial. My plan is to befriend him on Facebook and tell them to back off. Any help would be appreciated.

 

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The reality of things here, getting straight to the point, is that you (Chris) have a tendency to harass people once you don't get what you want. We doing a new console for free? Great, we are awesome, no complains whatsoever. in fact you insisted we should put the Coleco logo back on the SGM box. I ask you one thing, a single very reasonable request, that had nothing to do with money or anything and you can't do that because sure, you don't take orders, right. And I should be happy and thankful for your incredible generosity for allowing us to publish CV games.

 

So we leave the projct and now you hate us. You were fucking harassing my wife with royalties bs! You accused me of stealing your great specs for the console. Show us the specs please, let's compare. Do you want to post here all you said about me just a few days ago, everything you accused me of?

 

So please don't pretend you are a very nice, professional and reasonable guy, because I am sorry, you are not.

 

You have no rights to attack fan pages until you get the collaboration you want, because i am pretty sure we start posting some of your emails here, this isn't going to look good.

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cardo1, on 19 May 2017 - 3:08 PM, said:

The owner of the Coleco brand, Mark Thomann, offered his full support of any and all Coleco/Coleco Vision fan sites provided that the content does not Include nudity

 

Dear Mark Thomann & Chris Cardillo - The content on our fan site does not contain any nudity. We have never posted any nudity to our page. Let me post the picture you flagged once again just so that we are clear about this:

6a.png

That image does not contain "nudity" and completely falls within the Facebook content guidelines. Let me post those guidelines for you now:

 

We remove photographs of people displaying genitals or focusing in on fully exposed buttocks. We also restrict some images of female breasts if they include the nipple, but we always allow photos of women actively engaged in breastfeeding or showing breasts with post-mastectomy scarring. We also allow photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures. Restrictions on the display of both nudity and sexual activity also apply to digitally created content unless the content is posted for educational, humorous, or satirical purposes. Explicit images of sexual intercourse are prohibited. Descriptions of sexual acts that go into vivid detail may also be removed.

 

So once again, why did you remove not only that image, but several other images that did NOT even include humans, and when I asked for the retraction of all the trademark claims, I was denied. Since you are posting emails, can I post the email here in which I not only requested you to retract them, but I also wrote the retraction email for you and the email address in which is should go to on Facebook and all you had to do is cut/paste and click send? I made it so easy for you to retract the claims, but you did not do it.

 

Please don't try to create a sub-story around this fact: Coleco removed images from our page for Trademark Infringement. Coleco did NOT remove images from our page due to "adult content." That was not the reason you gave Facebook. Once again, you removed them due to a violation of "Trademark Rights" as shown here:

Screen Shot 2017-05-19 at 15.27.38.png

7a.png

You can barely even make out the ColecoVision logo in that photo, yet you flagged it as a "Violation of Trademark Rights." Sorry, I'm not buying your story on the "adult content" nor am I buying anything else you or Coleco are selling.

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DO NOT BE FOOLED
As always the are two side to each argument. Concerns of this nature are typically petty in nature, so we don't wish to harp on the issues here.
The genesis of our complaints are the promotion of pornographic related games by an individual attempting to assert some type of authority over the Coleco Brand. Additionally, the use of other third party rights to games bearing our name. As you can imagine this may cause some concern for folks unrelated to either side.
This individual had been warred on a number of occasions that these actions were improper.
Over the years Coleco has embraced the home brewer, and more specifically in a number of interviews invited home brewers to submit their content in order to receive an official license to use the name. In some cases no actual dollars were requested.
This is unheard of in the industry and something that we do in order. We wish to continue this approach.
Additionally, Coleco typically offers game development projects first to members of communities such as Atari age as was the case with Rainbow Brite
Although this individual wishes to attempt to align this battle between
HIM + the Homebrew Community vs Coleco
This is NOT an accurate depiction of what is going on here. The accurate equation is
Coleco Vs. A man who promotes pornographic materials on a site that he uses for profit.
PLEASE DO NOT BE FOOLED.
Please do not be manipulated in a 'side' that is arbitrarily created by one individual whose Internet reputation is repulsive. We have not mentioned any names, but feel free to do your own research.
PLEASE NOTE that this character began making demands this morning based on this post. Either do as i say, or i will post disparaging info about you.
The individual was contacted and told that we would look into the concern. The concerns culminated into the following email that was send to this individual.
SIMPLY PUT we offered for the individual to continue their site so long as they agreed to post nothing PORNOGRAPHIC in nature.
The individual requested an 'unconditional' reprieve - nothing short.
Not only was this not handled in a professional manner, but the emails were borderline black mail in nature.
Coleco, a FAMILY focused company will not tolerate ANY products that share pornographic content.
Below is an email from the head of Coleco Mr. Thomann to the individual.
ONLY ONE DEMAND was made to this individual. ONE! And that was to stop posting lewd material.
Please note that COLECO's Stance has NOT and WILL NOT change when it comes to protecting families from suspect content.
5/19/2017 10:38:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
R****,
I am simply trying to make sure there is no nudity on the site. I am fine with you publishing whatever you would like to publish as long as it is truthful. If you pledge to me that there will be no adult content associated with the Coleco and Coleco Vision trademarks, then we are aligned and no approvals are necessary. This is not an unreasonable request nor a "strong arming" tactic. I have always supported this community and will continue to do so. When you publish your statement, please include the following: "The owner of the Coleco brand, Mark Thomann, offered his full support of any and all Coleco/Coleco Vision fan sites provided that the content does not Include nudity as we continue to position the Coleco brand as the Family Friendly gaming brand that a parent can trust".
Mark
We are confident in our choice to stand up for our beliefs and feel as though we made a positive stance against someone with a reputation for being a bully.
Simply put, the bully finally picked on someone who is willing to stand up for others.
YOU CAN DECIDE FOR YOURSELVES.

 

 

Considering that River West brands been sued multiple times for fraud and I doubt most of these people posted any materials that are "pornographic materials"

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Considering that River West brands been sued multiple times for fraud and I doubt most of these people posted any materials that are "pornographic materials"

 

Didn't know that. Well, I have something to present here later today, maybe will add to that list...

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YOU CAN DECIDE FOR YOURSELVES.

 

I am sure many people already have decided not to support any cheap Chinese crap you people come up with. You sound like a man-child, which also doesn't help your cause.

 

1.) Alienate real fans.

2.) ???

3.) Profit!

 

I think the underpant gnomes would disagree with you.

 

I hope someone gets this on slashdot and other gaming sites, so you can watch your imaginary dollar counter decrease in real time. :lol:

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