Kotaku
Earlier today, we posted about the plight of "tiny Brazilian blog" Blogeek, who, as you may remember, posted a pair of screen shots of Street Fighter IV yesterday. Amazingly, the site scooped 1UP to its own exclusive, claiming it had received the screens and details on the Capcom fighter from an "anonymous source." The site's owner, Douglas Pereira, wrote us this morning, crying out for help. "Ziff Davis is going after me. They're chasing me," he lamented. It was very heart-wrenching.
Sounds like EGM and 1UP were quite justified in their legal "picking on" of Pereira and Blogeek. He's an EGM Brazil freelancer and has now admitted to swiping the pics from Ziff-Davis' own media servers. EGM editor-in-chief Dan Hsu, who says ZD has the IP logs of the transgression to back it up, explains.
Guys, maybe a little journalistic investigating before you blast us? How about talking to Ziff Davis to get the "full story"? This guy did not get the information from an "anonymous source." He's a freelancer for EGM Brazil who finally admitted to them that he did not have a source, but rather, stole the information from our servers (we have IP logs for this). He used his working relationship with EGM Brazil, stole a password, and took information from our story and posted it up before we could.If one of Kotaku's freelancers stole a password to steal a scoop, would that be cool? I'd be OK with it if, indeed, he had a source that leaked the information (I stood up for Kotaku for that very act in last year's Sony debacle). But that's not what's happened. What he did was just outright illegal, irresponsible, and is not what journalists are supposed to do.
Please, next time, before blasting us...maybe get the other side of the story?
Thanks to Hsu for clearing up the matter. I'm off to wince!
When contacted over the weekend Pereira denied the allegations and said that he never admitted to anything.
They don't know what they're saying!!! That's right, I in fact write some things for the brazilian mag. Though, I'm a freelancer, and therefore I don't have access to their FTP. I never wrote a story that used the FTP. And I NEVER admitted that I stole the pictures from their FTP, because I didn't. I know it sounds suspicious, but you must believe me, I don't have their FTP login and did not stole any pics form there. They were given to me, and I published them.
Comments
I was never on this guys side. How would someone get exclusive screens unless they pulled exactly something like this? Was too hard to believe.
So Kotaku got pwned?
nice
what a turd. trying to cover up his own misdeeds like that. whatever happened to journalistic integrity?
So, he's an idiot.
I can't believe he thought he'd get away with that.
Wince indeed.
Guilty until proven innocent. Guess this settles it then.
What was he expecting exactly? What an idiot.
Will Capcom give Z-D new exclusive screens to replace their leaked ones? Because that would be win-win. Well, except for the thief. He probably loses.
obviously this jack off is out of a job for corporate theft....? Right?
@KaneTaker: Simple, someone inside EGM (like himeself) could have leaked the pics. So if he had of leaked these pics to Kotaku or something, then it would have been a-okay.
Kotaku jumping to conclusions!? UNHEARD OF! Also, lul at all the kids in that previous thread who went all fucking crazy on EGM and 1up. Same ones still crying about Gerstmann, I'd wager.
Yeah, cmon. People blasting 1UP all over the other post, at the end of the day its all about professional integrity. *Cough* *Looks around here*
Yeah I can't believe this guy stole those ugly pics of the stupid new ugly Street Fighter EX4. I was about to buy a subscription to be allowed into 1up.com before this guy leaked it so I didn't have to.
If 1up had it they should have posted them. Is it normal nowadays to just sit on shit till releasing it becomes most economical for you? What happened to real journalism and breaking news? Does kotaku ever sit on stories and details that will interest it's readership? I don't think they would.
How quickly opinions change around here...
I hope we call proceed with cooler heads on issues such as this from now on. The whole Gamespot thing I think had people on edge, sensitive, and developing an anti-establishment way of approaching issues pertaining to commercial interests. This was a much-needed reset... so lets move on.
I actually think something of an apology from Kotaku may be in order. Which is rare.
@Heihachi.vs.Kazuya: Yes it is normal. It's called business.
@Heihachi.vs.Kazuya: It's called trying to build up hype for your publication. They wanted to dangle this carrot so they could sell their magazine to the eager SF fans. It's a company, that's what companies do.
nowadays in exchange for "exclusive" details game publications won't say a bad thing about a game or developer. It's a symbiotic relationship that benifits them more than the reader. This is why I think 1up and their kind suck and a reason why I read kotaku. If kotaku ever crosses to the dark side then I'll move on I guess.
Just thought I'd ramble on there for a sec. sorry for the double post.
Why would anyone go against EGM? EGM is the only good gaming mag left. I've appreciated them for a long time due to their willingness to call out "the other guys" who are taking bribes for reviews.
I like the pic, very fitting. I've always wondered if there were Blankas chumming around Brazil.
@Striderhayasa: More than that, he could be sued for violating an NDA, at which ZD could try to recoup a monetary sum they feel matches their lost magazine sales. And yes, I know I previously claimed he never signed an NDA. Clearly I was wrong.
Rule #1 - Never trust a Brazilian.
Ah well, the truth will out. Hopefully you can smooth things over with ZD and you and the 1UP crew will be better for it.
@Heihachi.vs.Kazuya:
Embargoes are part of the way media works, especially print media that has a long lead time to publish. Extremely common practice which every major site participates in.
I love EGM, been a subscriber for nearly a decade now. I knew they wouldn't go on a witch-hunt without justifiable cause.
Good to see EGM setting everything straight. It must be a bitch dealing with internet rumors that are taken as truth and spread like wildfire.
@Heihachi.vs.Kazuya: It's not like it was breaking news or even journalism at all.
EGM didn't happen to peek through Capcom's windows and take the pictures, nor did they corner a Capcom staffer and force them to spill the beans and images.
Capcom allowed them the story and gave them the screens and probably told them exactly when they could release them, which would be when the print EGM is released.
Exclusives like this are the only thing that print magazines have left anymore, with 1 to 2 month lead times required, most of the "news" they have is out of date by the time the magazine arrives in mailboxes.
@JonC: It was a rhetorical question :)
What happened to all the loud mouths?
1up:
Go home and be a family man, Kotaku!
Leave it to Shoe to set things straight.
I'm kinda a 1up fanboy so I'm glad this was resolved. 1up seems to be very upfront about their practices, I just chalked it up to an overeager legal department. Guess I was wrong too.
did he actually steal the site's password or was the anonymous source someone from EGM who give it to him?
I prefer the little guy getting stuck by the big guy story. It's more fun.
Now THAT changes everything.I would like to take back my comment on the previosu post, I was misslead into beleiving the guy was indeed a victim (and I assume everyone here tougth so to). I appologise for my remarks, its quite clear now that EGM didnt do a "Sony on Kotaku" thing. All is well when ends well, except for that guy, whos gonna have to pay for his "crime".
Well thats Shoe for you,setting everything right again.
And I take back what I said about them before =D
Glad to get the truth behind the situation. I feel very happy that I qualified my reply in the other thread:
"...while I completely understand where they're coming from, the site where the pictures originated, if its editor is to be believed, wasn't under an NDA and did what any web site would do if it got its hands on such juicy material. Now, obviously, we don't know where the pictures came from (although inside of Ziff-Davis seems like a fair bet), but the fault lies with whomever leaked the pictures (and broke an NDA) in the first place..."
Looks like I nailed the source of the leak, too! Guess I just didn't expect that it would be the editor of the site himself.
Still, as I said, it's great that we got the truth behind the matter quickly and professionally. If only another large gaming site, which shall not be named, had done the same regarding a recent scandal...
It has been scientifically proven that Kotaku cannot be pwned. It's immuned to all pwnage.
Shoe ftw.
Ah, so that means the book rights are gone...
Or it's another plot twist, I'm not sure which.
Well... That's a horse of a different color. A green one, I think.
God i wish there was some real game news...
Darn my gun-jumping to that man's side. *Sigh*
Alright. So he was in the wrong now. Damn him, and such.
Does this mean I have to put the pitchfork away?
just wondering:
Is the the guy that aquired the info located in brazil? If he is then I doubt he will be punished or would be "fearful" unless he is just trying to generate hype for his site/blog. Since unlike many of you I don't read or care for egm or know (or want to know) who this guy is but I just think it's off that he would be so "fearful" if infact he is located in south america...
How come there's no "sorry" from Kotaku in this text?...
Man the end of the year is bringing out all the soap opera drama like it's going out of style. I like it :)
@BlahDev:
Because that's later in the plot, duh.
I've been reading Kotaku for like three years now... but I've been reading Shoe since 1998! Those were my high school years! Therefore, I must say, you guys got pwnt!!!! hahaha jk
Wow, things have been so tense in the gaming world lately! I think we all just need a good frag fest.
Onto the topic at hand. 1Up has been under some heat lately for their review of orange box for PS3. Probably the worst time for this dushe bag to do something like this. It's like trying to fight a wounded animal. Never fun. Dan Hsu seems like an okay guy from the interactions I've had with him. Seems like he was just trying to nip this thing in the bud before it got too far. Nothing personal I'm sure. I love Kotaku and 1Up both. Keep up the good work.
The past 10 days have been rather sad for gaming "journalism."
The real story is nobody cares as much about the Street Fighter remake as the screenshot debacle. Can't wait for Capcom to reuse all the sprites again in 6 months for the turbo ultra edition! ^^
Nice non apology-apology on that blog's front page right now...
@Funkyphreakout:
Never trust a Brazilian? Isn't this a totally isolated fact to allow you to judge an entire nation?
At least we don't have to worry about airplanes crashing into our buildings and we don't need to attack small countries to steal some oil, so, as far as anyone with a little common sense can see, who can't be trusted? Thousands of people won't die because of a leaked info in Brazil as they do when you are stealing the Middle Orient. And as matter of fact, it is much easier to live in a country where young people rarely leak info than to live in a country where young people shoot their colleagues and teachers in high school or college.
How did Kotaku assume "these were legit" as mentioned in their previous post? What kind of investigation did you do? Obviously you didn't talk to EGM or ZD before running with the story or you would have gotten the real answer. Damn guys, I expect more than this from Kotaku. Crecente is going to be pissed....and rightly so.
@StupidDufus:
QFT
I can't believe a toilet-paper rag like EGM cares that a now-ex freelancer leaked some pictures from a story. Yes, it's illegal and VERY unethical and the guy's an idiot. EGM/1UP has gotten better over the years however. I just can't believe this is somehow a problem.
@BlahDev:
Yeah, I was wondering that, too. I'm surprised Kotaku didn't, you know, post an actual apology.