Open Letter to Free Sites

This letter—or some version of it—will be sent to as many free sites as we can find. We’re starting a letter writing campaign to reach as many people as we can. Meanwhile, here is the original version of the text that I wrote:

 
First, I want to thank you for your wonderful site - and thank you for remaining free! Whether you get donations or pay out of pocket or use free resources, I'm so pleased that you found a way to stay open and provide such great content!
Second, unfortunately, is uncomfortable news. I don't know how active you are in the community as a whole, but it's likely you've run across debates about free versus pay sites. Many of us believe that EA's End User License Agreement allows for only the FREE exchange of custom content on 'non commercial sites'; subsequent emails, phone, and face-to-face conversations with EA's legal department confirm that in their minds, "Free is good, pay is bad, and filesharing is wonderful."

Unfortunately, there is a group of paysite owners who are growing more and more upset by the pressure those of us who believe in "free sims for all" are putting on paysites. We want them to set their items free, for all to use. But they think we're "stealing" (we're not) or we're, to use the words of Chairman Greg, "stealing food out of the mouths of children".  This group has since collected at a forum called "Save the Sims Community" unfortunately, they are doing everything BUT.

Recently, this community began a malicious campaign aimed at closing free sites; we suspect they have a list of sites that they thing are 'pirate' sites or are sharing files that may or may not be pay content. There have been threats of legal action, and in at least two cases, the host pulled the site.

WE DO NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU

Instead, I want to offer you moral support, help in finding free resources if you need them, and of course the legal and ethical arguments that seem to be standing the test of not only EA but also independent legal counsel.

The best place to start is here at MoneyBetterSpent - you will find some discourse as well as a list of resources to keep your site free. I can also point you to forums where these issues are being discussed, where you can meet many of your fellow free sims creators (including Nouk, Digital Perversion, Moune, Sherrie Sims, Tarox, and more).

Again, thanks for being free and staying free! And I'm happy to talk to you further about this. Please feel free to contact me.