Realizing that I may get caught in the cross-fire of this whole thing, I thought it may be beneficial to share a few thoughts regardless. Many community members have been asking DAZs opinion regarding this issue. First let me admit that we have certainly made a blunder or two. :) But overall those of you who know us know that our heart in the right place and that we realize we are nothing without "you" the community. From my experience with Curious Labs, I believe that they are extremely interested in serving the Poser community. Just a side note: We have had a business relationship with Curious Labs/ Metacreations for many years now, with its inherent ups and downs. Currently the DAZ/Curious relationship is somewhat strained, due to unrelated issues. I mention this simply to avoid the misperception that this message is motivated by some good ol boys network.

Judging from the response of the community, Curious Labs new Amnesty program has struck a nerve with many people. I can empathize with those of you who feel frustrated with price-drops in products. (I have a laptop computer, need I say more?) I also recognize the vigilance of those of you who have fought so hard against warez activities and feel that this is condoning piracy. DAZ would not have made it through our first year of business without you, the honest customers who legitimately purchase our products and support our business, and those who have helped us to fight software piracy. I am sure that Curious Labs feels the same. With this being said, I would like to point out some of the potential benefits that I see in this new program and a few related ideas.

In my opinion, the Poser community is the best 3D community on the web. It is very strong and is a lot of fun to be a part of. This is especially impressive since the installed Poser base is relatively small compared to Photo Shop and other graphics programs. It is this strength of the community that supports the continual growth of products (available commercially and for free), techniques, education and friendships. If we can grow our existing community by getting more established users of Poser we will all benefit. By the same token, if Curious Labs can sell more product, they will have more resources to put into Poser development. More specifically, if we can get a lot of people to buy Poser 4 through this special offer (or in other ways) it may encourage Curious Labs to permanently change their prices for Poser 4 and future versions of Poser. A recent special promotion encouraged us at DAZ to cut the prices of Michael and Victoria 1 in half.

With the current situation as it is, lets all use this opportunity to help get others to purchase Poser. Even though DAZ currently has thousands of dollars-worth of Poser in our inventory that we may not be able to sell due to this promotion, we are still going to do our best to help promote this new opportunity. We are going to change our website Poser product page to link over to Curious Labs. We will also be mentioning the offer in our weekly email messages. While DAZ neither condemns nor endorses the implementation of the Amnesty promotion, we do feel that our collective reaction to it will have a real impact on the success of this community as a whole. If we redirect the focus of this promotion to the potential non-warez users that can take advantage of this offer (family, friends, multiple copies, etc.) then it could be turned into something very beneficial for all of us. Likewise, if we react negatively, we risk damaging our community.

Although the packaging of this promotion by Curious Labs may not have been the best approach, I hope it will turn out to be a good thing for every one. I believe that this is possible and that we can all work together to help grow the community.

Sincerely,

Dan Farr
President, DAZ Productions

P.S. We sincerely thank all of you who have worked to fight against warez. It is not only appreciated but effective. (We have seen a tremendous drop in piracy, due in large part to the communitys efforts.) Naturally this is an ongoing battle, so please dont give up the fight.