this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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Looks like the Ghostrunner developers also have an issue with paid mods running off their IP.

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[–] brooke592@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 days ago (3 children)

When will people learn to do these kinds of things anonymously?

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

This seems like a good idea, but a related question I've been wondering about is, what is the best way to anonymously run a software project facing this type of threat model, when you also want that software to be accessible to people? Does anyone know about any tips or resources for this? Is there some kind of darknet github? How do you do social media or collect donations/payment? Also, are there any good examples of projects that did this right?

[–] Holytimes@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Realistically impossible. If you want to actually make any real amount of money, have any real reach or have an actually functional product.

Which end of the day is the entire point for the assholes pay walling mods. They arnt part of the community they are trying to profit off the community.

A donation jar, a side patreon, merch there are endless ways to monitize your work. But trying to do it in the shadows just because you know your being a shit stain, is never goanna work out well.

No one's forcing you to share your mod, if you think you deserve money or you won't release it. Then just don't release it.

Paid for mods have never, will never, and can never. Be a good idea or healthy for a modding community.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago

I feel like there are also other potential reasons to want to publish software anonymously though, even if monetization is not the goal. For instance, to keep it game related, there have been plenty of noncommercial fan projects that get shut down mainly just because the companies that own the IP are run by assholes.

[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

How comes paid mods work out fine in sim racing then?

Assetto Corsa has tons of paid mods, along with tons of free mods, and the game developer Kunos is one of very few profitable game devs in sim racing. Why haven't paid mods ruined the modding scene and bankrupted the company?

[–] oyenyaaow@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 days ago (4 children)

It's not about bankrupcy, it's about setting rules about their property. Some rights are enshrined in laws; derivative works are fair use. are mods fair use? nobody knows. but not if you charge for it, that requires licensing. no one wants to see precision laws being written about this, so everyone has to play by the developer's rules. realistically that guy wants money from CDPR assets and CDPR said no you can't do that.

Kunos giving modders the right to use their name freely does not mean CDPR has to. That's what holding an IP means, you set the rules. and CDPR says if you use our name it cannot be paywalled media.

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[–] brooke592@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 days ago

I'm not an expert, but I2P and Tor should allow people to host things anonymously.

Monero can be used as an anonymous payment method.

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[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 days ago (6 children)

I don't understand this at all.

rockstar did the same thing to the VR mods that were made for GTA games.

the guys are developing mods that are going to make me want to purchase and play the game. why is that a problem?

I don't understand intellectual property

[–] iamthetot@piefed.ca 6 points 4 days ago (9 children)

I don't understand intellectual property

I'm asking from a place of curiosity, not a place of judgement. Have you ever created anything? A piece of art, poem or prose, a film, a program, etc?

[–] verdi@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 5 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Copyright makes no sense. As long as there is a correct citation, it's kosher as far as I'm concerned. 

"This song was originally created by @turdnugget" should be the point of copyright and not the current rent seeking behaviour of the ruling class. 

[–] thymos@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 days ago (3 children)

So, what if I wrote a book and got it published, but it didn't sell well. Some big company copies it, puts a lot of effort in promoting it and it becomes a bestseller. I don't get any of the money for it, but they cite me as the original author. How is that fair?

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[–] DanceMomsSavedMe@piefed.social 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

So does anyone have a version of this we can download still?

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