Just because one has to pay for the skin should not deter the ability to change an image in it for ones own personal use.

Sorry Bubbabyte, there's a lot of truth to what your saying, and I agree with most of it. My previous statement was rude, unnecessary, and inconsiderate. With that said, I wouldn't say this site is "one of many which will come and go." When I read that, I threw a fit like a little girl and cried and ran into my room and locked the door.

In all seriousness though, the mods and community at this site support one another, and in that way I believe wincustomize is unique. Maybe we can't completely resolve this problem, but we can certainly attempt to reduce it's damages/effects.

As someone whose skins do NOT sell well I can say that any lost sales do hurt.But Bubbabyte makes a good point,most of those people would NEVER buy a skin so I havnt lost much there.

I know why  my skins dont sell well...they are odd and only appeal to a select group of people.(people with superior taste)

The risk of alienating the good people to stop the fun of the bad people in my opinion has rarely paid off for any copy protection scheme.

I dont know how the image encryption scheme works but I am extremely leary of image degradation for the end user.I had a similar problem with SKS degrading images with its frame builder.

I dont want this to sound like I'm Neil-bashing because Neil has been listening to all my emails and has been slowly squashing any bugs that come up.I just think making WB even more complicated might not be the best idea.I dont want real customers afraid to buy a masterskin.That would hurt sales more than pirating I think.

If the end user isnt going to suffer and it will protect sales then do it...I need the money...really...badly.

As far as skinmodifying goes...we all rely to some degree being able to tell a user with a problem how to open SKS and fix it.No skin is EVER perfect for all users.

Any supplementary skin makers we should always provide whatever they need...psd's,free WB,etc..

Handing someone a 5$ blind is cheap compared to the completeness they add to a skin.They always thank me for the free blind when its me that should be thanking them...and if I have ever Not thanked one of them...they should cuss me.

I need the end user to be able to

substitute an image if he needs to

substitute a text file if needed

Its about customization...the end user should have the right to make it work how they want...if the protection scheme dosnt bugger that up then maybe it can work.

You read it wrong, when i said the site is one of many which will come and go i was referring to the pirating site in question, not this site.  If you manage to shut down that ONE pirating site, another will pop up within days if not sooner, that's the way of the internet, just research any bittorrent site that was taken down.  I never questioned the reputation of this site.

I understand what you're saying  Brainiac, and i hope you didn't take offense to what i was saying.  I'm in no way saying people that don't sell skins aren't talented.  I just simply meant that if you are making skins for a "specific" audience such as yourself, and they don't sell as much as you thought, it's not the fault of piracy, so in turn you have a choice to either continue to please your audience and the people that have supported you or to go "mainstream" and try to please a wider audience.  I was never implying that you, vampothika or anyone else didn't have talent, so i hope you understand that.

And i completely agree with your comments about skin modifying, the end user needs to have that option because no skin is perfect for every user, so blocking the ability to modify existing skins would be a huge problem for paying customers imo.

I knew exactly what you meant Bubba...part of the problem also is...skins just dont sell terrifically well under the best of circumstances.

Its a luxury...with a limited audience.

So protection is a two edged sword.Its important because EVERY sale is important...and its dangerous because your customer base isnt large enough afford irritating your good folks.

My solution in the meantime is to make my next skin so cool that people drool.

I'm not saying she shouldn't be upset or emotional about it.  If she or any other skinner feels the need to try and do something about it, by all means go for it.  But it reality, it's not going to make a difference.  I'm not saying don't do it, i'm saying if you do it, the end result will be the same, it's inevitable and can't really be stopped.  So i don't really understand the point of getting all bent out of shape about something that you really can't change.  You can try and try again, but the fight is futile no matter how you look at it.

Ah, makes sense. Thanks for specifying.

Here, here!  Well said Karen!

In this case it isnt so much whether or not the fight is worth fighting,its can you go the distance and NOT get a bloody nose.

And an added thought...if you have ever bought a skin..Thank you!If you havnt ever bought one...I have only made 34$ this month in skin sales...just sayin' you know...hint hint.

You got me beat I.R.!  I have made even less than that at my site, a whole $9.90.

ouch

until it happens to them some people will never understand the need to fight back.