I have decided to post here so you are aware of what United Traffic Team is doing. I am making this post as an individual and this is in no way representative of the view of this group.
My involvement in the FS community begun when I became 'active' in freeware related work in 2001 (I started in the MSFS98 days). Throughout this period I have witnessed countless attempts by people breaching copyrights (stealing other's works), selling freeware as their own product on websites and so forth - these are nothing new but what I have seen recently, in my opinion, is extremely disturbing.
I was recently made aware of a team called UTT (United Traffic Team) who releases AI models as freeware, but also sell the sources of their models for hundreds of dollars. http://unitedtrafficteam.com/
I was then informed that they had reverse engineered freeware models, subsequently modified them and released as their own work (without permission or crediting the original authors). They are also selling these sources as their work for money.
The following links are dedicated in covering this matter: http://www.alpha-india.net/forums/index ... ic=17637.0
While I cannot personally vouch for the claims regarding the B737-200 and B747-800 models (the screenshots speak for themselves) - I know for certain that they have stolen Hiroshi Igami's CRJ900/1000 models. The fuselage wireframes are nearly an exact match besides some modification work (to reduce the polygons). Below is the evidence:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 6cb1801994
Here is their store where they say the model source - which essentially is a modification of Hiroshi's work without permission: http://unitedtrafficteam.com/index.php/ ... urce-model
They claimed they did not steal other people's work and were firm to say it was their own work.... and then this:
In a screenshot below it shows them on their facebook page admitting they have 'simply borrowed' *stolen* 5% of the model. This is again not correct. They have not stolen only 5%.. it turns out they've copied the bad parts of the model, the aft fuselage, the incorrect winglet, and incorrect inner flap to wingroot joint.
![Image](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16203683/UTTCRJ1000.jpg)
But who said they only stolen the model? - A thief does not steal only one thing.. a thief steals other things too!!
It turns out they've stolen textures
Here's the master textures for the CRJ700/900 done by me. CRJ700 was released in 2008. UTT CRJ900 model was released October 2013.
The bits circled in blue were stolen by UTT.
![Image](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16203683/poskyCRJ700900textures.jpg)
Here is their screenshot of their 'product' which they are selling.
![Image](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16203683/crj1000.jpg)
Some people say, why does this matter? if the file gets taken down we will loose a great AI model.
Here are the reasons:
- UTT didn't even ask original author - if they did there would not be this situation today.
- They claimed it was ALL their own work, when they just modified other people's work
- If this pattern of behaviour continues, what will happen to freeware?
- If freeware authors stop making models, who are they going to steal from?
- There is a good chance if this behaviour is not stopped they will also steal the Project Airbus A330/340, and other models
If you believe in what I say, please spread the word and tell others about what they are doing. They are destroying freeware