RIP XylotTheme.com

[Shaun2J]

Yeah big thanks for taking your time on making this project the greatest thing on the web!

[Niccotte]

I guess we can say goodbye to getting new themes. This is a sad sad day.

[Hans Moleman]

Meh. These things can easily be fixed.

It was a stupid idea to allow any moron to download every theme on this site.

All you have to do is take off all of the production music and put them in a hidden location and restrict access to it. Say, make people register and be an active member of these boards or even donate some money.

This isn't like this is the first ever themes site that has had problems with a shitty ass production company or WWE.

If you tuck your tail in and run away not only does that make you look like a pussy, it also negates all of your hardwork you put into the site

[Niccotte]

Meh. These things can easily be fixed.

It was a stupid idea to allow any moron to download every theme on this site.

All you have to do is take off all of the production music and put them in a hidden location and restrict access to it. Say, make people register and be an active member of these boards or even donate some money.

This isn't like this is the first ever themes site that has had problems with a shitty ass production company or WWE.

If you tuck your tail in and run away not only does that make you look like a pussy, it also negates all of your hardwork you put into the site

I think members like myself who contribute should be able to stay

[HybridCinSnake]

Heh, I just wonder why it would happen just now? Someone must of ratted the dude out. I dont know, I just hope these guys or guy that are in charge of this site come out on top in the end. But ya. I think some restrictions should be put up. But XylotThemes is about sharing themes right? lol but heh, what do I know? xD I'm just a stupid gal. Xylot, hope ya pull through this man.

[StarBank]

I will admit that I sympathize with XT as far losing the main site. He worked so hard, put so much effort into it, only for it all to come crashing down because of some fat cat execs at some company.

[Arkham Inmate]

since the theme contributions are down the xylot themes group on imeem now has theme contributions where you can post new themes. i set it up to publicise xt but since it may be down forever it now has theme contributions just register and go to this link to contribute themes. (you must first create a new thread)
http://www.imeem.com/groups/8xqzEHCi/forums/a8t6wNNC/

[TerranRich]

New plan: both the main site and the forums have changed locations. I haven't set up the new location for the main site yet, and the themes are still off-limits (as is the FTP, obviously), but I will probably set up a new location for the MP3 files without publicizing it at all.

[summerslammed111]

This is quite terrible ... and like HybridCinSnake said, for a second i thought that someone had a bone to pick with XT and reported him as revenge or something, but either way, this site is a cool place and the members are friendly and willing to share what they have obtained without asking for anything in return ... so, thanks to all that ever posted a theme or contributed to the forum, and XT for having made the site in the first place.

[InverseNight]

Well.... I have to say that I, personally, tend to look at this situation realistically.

XT Admin, and everyone here really should have known in the back of their minds or at least hopefully in the front of their minds, that this was bound to happen sooner or later.

I mean there's not anyone in the scene as I can personally think of that didn't know exactly what they were doing when they were in fact doing this, or that it is in fact, illegal.

That's not to say, of course, that this was any less of a great service to people that want and love wrestling themes enough, not to just rely on WWE's "abridged" version of entrance theme song history, or to be content with WWE only "officially" making as little as 30% of their entire catalog of both licensed or inhouse theme songs available to their public of fans.

Of course it was fun and great while it lasted, and of course, Xylot took a lot of hard work to maintain and it was, at least appreciated by many during it's time and history of being around.

That having been said and being true as it is, I think it also bears repeating, and echoing XT's above statements and general feelings himself, that he and everyone else pretty much knew what they were getting into by doing this.

Fact of the matter is, when it comes to "theming" and everything that it entails and all that comes with it, it is techinally illegal, even if it is providing over 70% of their catalog of music used that WWE doesn't intend to release to the public.

We REALLY have to be honest about it, not just try to self-justify it or claim that XT or us are somehow having our "rights" denied, simply because we can't always get away with getting what we want or what we like for free, because this stuff really belongs to other people, not ours.

Even if they don't "officially" release all of it, it's still theirs to release or not release. But it just so happens that "theming" gets us the rare stuff that WWE deciceds NOT to give us.

XT is honest about it. He knew it and he stuck his neck out and gave us these themes anyway. There's something very selfless and very respectable about that in a big way.

And so, because of this, not in spite of it, I, and I think many others owe him a big "thank you", not just for providing this service, but for sticking his neck out, taking the risks and taking the chances as he has to provide it.


You see... if it's one thing I have always respected in matters like these, it's being responsible, blatant honesty, and doing it, nonetheless by sticking to their convictions.

I have seen piracy websites and likewise websites that have housed links to every episode of certain television shows and movies come and go. And most of them try to have on to ludicrously deluded bullshit self-justifications for essentially infringing on copyrights, even if it IS for the reasons of sharing.

I've seen idiocy like certain torrent websites pretend they are lawyers by typing up a bunch of arrogant legal sounding gibberish, acting big and bad against companies that send cease and decist letters and how simply just don't follow up on it because either they are small companies that can't afford or deal lawsuits or bigger companies who don't have the time to deal with nickel-and-dime lawsuits would be more of a bother to them.

And likewise, I've seen cowards try to bail out by saying they "weren't doing anything wrong" or at least try to play innocent and act like poor innocent victims when the FBI kicks down the door, or rom sites saying "It's legal if you only keep it for 24 hours" (huge bullshit lie), or saying stupid things like "we're giving them free advertisement" or "We only rip off hollywood movies because they produce crap!" (If that was the case, why would anyone even want them online so much to download even one?)

but Xylot Themes had it's run and it was no doubt a good one, but there was always a known and willing risk to do it and to carry on with it.

And the best thing about Xylot, was that there was no bullshit involved. XT made it very well known what he was doing, why he was doing it, and what would happen if he was ever contacted by WWE legal. XT has always been a pretty honest man, giving US illegal themes, because we wanted them and he gave them to us while he could.

XT chose to keep this site running, he did it so that WWE's true theme counts and WWE-used music achives would remain knowledge not lost to us. He did this site for the benefit of everyone here, he did it for me, and he did it for you. And he did it knowing the risks and what would eventually would happen if he was to "get caught".

There's always a risk to this kind of thing, but there's something even more fulfilling, I believe when the eventual demise came, that he would be willing to "man up".

Sure, the copyright was being infringed. Either brought to the attention of WWE, or Non-Stop Music.. or whatever. Maybe some asshole out there, ratted him out. I really don't know. And that's really not the issues, anyway, is it?

That really can't be denied. There shouldn't be copyrighted music like this on a site like this.

THere SHOULDN'T be.... But he did. He did it for reasons we all love and got us all stuff we wanted. So owe him thanks. We probably owe him a lot more actually.

He did it for reasons of making available a comprehensive catalog mostly made up of themes WWE will probably never release (Mostly production), along with tons of great quality themes that have either been lost, or at least ripped (by many many fans) from NON-CD sources to make them more easily available to all.

Because while there may be two SIDES to anything, there's only one universal TRUTH to anything, and it's pretty much always somewhere straight down the middle.

That's why, I really can't demonize the WWE, Non-Stop Music or anyone, or whoever might have been involved with else for this, either. Quite honestly, they have every legal right to completly defend their own copyrights in any way they see fit. Non-Stop Music, especially.

Best that anyone can ever do in situations like this is "man up", admit that it was great while it lasted, have some balls and some convictions, but maintain some responsibility and honesty as well.

XT stuck his neck out on the line with the site. He took the risks so people would have a place to download a catalog of theme from. Through 6 versions of the site, everyone had to know that this day was eventually coming on the hosizon sometime. SOmeone whose copyrights that were being infringed was bound to get wind of this sometime.

XT took it on the chin for us, and he deserves some thanks for that.

I thank him very much, even though he is pretty accountable for having to pay Non-Stop for this. But still... thanks man, anyway. You took it on the chin for everyone and we won't forget that.

He provided these themes out of charity even while it was in every way illegal to do so, because he chose to do it. We make recordings and edits because we choose to. We right click and select save-as because we choose to.

Yeah, it was fun, yeah it was awesome while it lasted. Yeah, he got caught, yeah the site is donw, so yeah... he and us, kinda have no other responsible choice but to throw our hands in the air and say "Well, they got us."

And I thank XT for being charitable, honest, and doing this for me and you, and all of us alike. But most of all, I really respect him for being honest enough to say "Well, we got caught infringing on WWE's copyright. It was good while it lasted."

Because yeah, it was.

I just feel the need to look at it realistically. I feel the same in all similar manners, too.

When I see a site that deals in torrents, movies, music, mp3s, videos, anime, scanned comics, ect, ect... there's no self-justification for it. Just the honest truth. "We share and download it, because.... we felt like it."

Xylot Themes... thanks for the memories. It was quite the racket, but let's be honest. It's a good one, and we're all in it.

So yeah... much thanks and much respect to Xylot. Even if this was realistically bound to happen.

[stumpymcgoat]

Things could be a lot worse.
The WWE doesn't know that we have their themes.
This is just a fine.
If we remove Non-Stop Music's songs then there may be a small fine.
I for one think that everyone who uses this site should hold some responsibility.
I am willing to donate in case of a fine.
I just need to set up paypal.
I highly suggest that everyone donate so that we can save the site.
I also suggest that Xylot remove production songs from the main site and instead only include the information and host the files on mediafire.

[chokeslamcena]

What a load of bollocks.


And i don't mean the site being taken down. I mean all the posts in here so far (with the exception of one or two).


Its not the end of the world, and its an easy-to-fix problem.


XT: This is what (i personally think) you should do:


Catalogue the email addresses of everyone who has joined the site (irrelevant of post count, theme contributions, amount of theme downloads, etc) but only take the email addresses of everyone who joined here before the 15th of October (2008). (My reason being that i reckon the site was reported by someone. I doubt Non-Stop Music crawl the net looking for their stuff).

You then make a fancy, official looking email and send it to us.


Example of email:


-----------------------------------------------------------------


Dear former XT user;

Xylotthemes has a new URL and a new site name. We have all of the content that was available on the previous site, and we are still growing. However, due to legal issues, the site is now password-protected and can only be accessed by people with a set password.

In order to regain access to the new Xylotthemes you will need to have an account. To register for an account, simply paypal $__ (whatever price you decide upon) and include your desired username in the "additional notes" box. You will receive an email back within 48 hours with the new URL, your username and a random Password (which can be changed at a later date).


Thank you for your support,


XT



-----------------------------------------------------------------



It's that easy. You provide people with a fantastic site. Its easily one of the best sites i've ever come across. I reckon by password protecting it, and being extra strict about who you allow to join and Xylotthemes should be going fine again (and you'll have a little extra cash in your pocket, to pay for hosting, etc. or if you are on the receiving end of any kind of fine).




Everyone else has thanked you for the site and for having it here for us, i think that goes without saying.

So instead, i'd like to thank you for;


1. Getting so much theme music information and organising it in a professional, formal manner.

2. Being so positive, honest and friendly to all of the members.

3. Being consistent with the site and always working on it to make it more up to date, or faster, or whatever you deemed necessary.



Its a great site, and its not quite gone yet. The only problem with this site is that its just TOO easy to access.



XT, I hope it works out for the better, and i'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

[peteroshea90]

Unfortunately I can't really agree on the donation part as XT knew what he got into. Sometimes this "theming" stuff is quite thankless and you should only do it if thick skinned. And as I told pspsdvr about his forum (he wants donations), if you can't afford it, don't do it. Real simple.

At first I was really skeptical about this site late last year. (Basically there wan't credit given to people like dlomyhero at the start) But you know this place has been extremely useful to me and I would like to thank XT TerranRich for all his hard work.

[chokeslamcena]

Unfortunately I can't really agree on the donation part as XT knew what he got into. Sometimes this "theming" stuff is quite thankless and you should only do it if thick skinned. And as I told pspsdvr about his forum (he wants donations), if you can't afford it, don't do it. Real simple.

See, my mentality on it is this; If you put up the option of people giving donations, don't expect them. I know i've never donated here. I imagine the vast majority of users haven't donated anything. Its not because I'm a cheap skate (although i will admit, i could never donate anything in the next few months anyway, as im after losing my job and christmas is now going to be a struggle) but because its called a "donation", and its optional, most people wont bother.


However;

If you just go plain out and up-front and charge people to have an account (be it an annual charge or a one-off, whatever he prefers) then you're more than likely going to get more people to pay it. Why? because they can no longer avail of the service/site for free.


Example:

I go out to buy WWE Anthology. It costs $20. I go up to the counter, and the guy/girl takes my money and i leave.

Thats fine. however..


I go out to buy WWE Anthology. I go up to the counter, and the guy/girl explains that i don't actually have to pay for the CD, but if i want to, i can.



... How many people do you expect will pay for the CD?


Not a lot, thats for sure. If you can get something for free, you won't pay for it. If XT puts a reasonable price on his site, and charges people that price, then he'll be much better off because he will have some cash, and we will be better off because we can play, download and discuss themes again, like we used to.

[peteroshea90]

That's a fair argument. But most themes (excluding production ones) did not cost anyone anything, so to me it's just like selling them on EBay, its even more illegal than what he is doing now. And if it's simply to pay his legal fees than I may not do it, no matter how good this site is. He got into a contract with a production music provider and he broke it. As far as I'm concerned he has to deal with it.

[chokeslamcena]

That's a fair argument. But most themes (excluding production ones) did not cost anyone anything, so to me it's just like selling them on EBay, its even more illegal than what he is doing now. And if it's simply to pay his legal fees than I may not do it, no matter how good this site is. He got into a contract with a production music provider and he broke it. As far as I'm concerned he has to deal with it.

Thats a good point, and i do agree to an extent.

However, XT will not be selling us the themes. He will be charging us for using his website.


He is charging us to enter a site that, although it allows us to listen to, and download music, he is 'officially' charging us for his hours of work organising theme listings, giving us access to theme names, lyrics and general information.


If i want to buy a car, it will cost me at least €25 (euro) to find out the details of the car online (if it is stole, was ever crashed, has any notable legal issues). The website charging me that didn't make the information. However, it is charging me to gain access to it, because the people over the website spent the time finding this information, and putting it all together in one handy place.

http://www.aaireland.ie/car%2Ddata%2Dch ... 1Qod0gpBOQ


(Thats not the actual website i was talking about, but i can't remember the name of the one i was talking about).


Anyway, there really isn't any point in us arguing over this amongst ourselves. It rests in the hands of XT himself.

[StarBank]

Well, no matter what, in the end, it'll be up to XT to decide what happens. And, besides that, chokeslamcena, your plan would basically end up meaning punishing everyone because of the actions of someone jealous of Xylot Themes.

[Craig-UK]

I know I for one will not pay a membership fee. Like it has been said fair statements, but in the end whats gonna be here? Music off CD's, Games, Videos, Trons, Production Libraries...
I can understand the few that dont have access to the libraries would pay, but in order for them to get the CDQ's you need the people with the access, the people with the access will not pay as its not much gain for them. Other free forums/sites out there for them.

Good idea, but I think it would be wiser to keep this as a proper theme count site, where members can listen to samples (by law only short snippets), keep the forum for downloads. This way Xylot will not get into much more trouble.
Only a suggestion.

[Niccotte]

For those who missed it the owner said that the main site MIGHT only be accessible to those who signed up for the shout box.
This is a sad day.

[TerranRich]

I may bring back the main site and have it so that you must be logged into the forums to gain access. Otherwise, you'll still see the "down for good" message that's up right now.

I will never require money for usage of this site. I did that once before (around 2006/2007) and while it was very successful and I made some money off of it, it was largely abused and mostly people hated it.

I have always offered people the option of donating, if they wanted. If they don't, no big deal. I work from home doing web design and make pretty good money off of it, so I have no financial need of requiring donations to gain access to this site.

I've locked registration much like AntDogs does, but I've decided to keep whoever registered on board. If they registered a day before I locked registration, so be it, they're in.

I understand my mass email about the new URL has leaked out to people I'd rather not have see it. I can't help that, but I'm going to have to keep a close eye on activity for the time being.

Thank you for the kind words, everybody, as well as the suggestions. I do not expect anybody to help out with any fees I incur from Non-Stop Music, as that was my own foolish mistake, and my own doing. If you really, really want to help out, that's your prerogative, but please remember that I don't expect anything, nor am I asking for anything. It's my own fault.

I will definitely bring back the themes... they were deleted from the xylot.net server, which is fine and dandy. I've been working on an upload site (like MediaFire or RapidShare) and plan on using that to host the themes. Since it's an upload site, I'm sure the worst that could happen is that I will be asked for search for copyrighted material and delete it. It's an upload site after all; anybody could have uploaded the material. This new site will be called ShutUpload and will work much like MediaFire does now; free to upload and download, no waiting periods, and with the option of having a premium account. If you want to contribute something to the site and get something out of it, you can get a premium account with ShutUpload (really cheap) when it is finished.

Either way, ShutUpload will be the new hosting location for the themes. It will take some time for the upload script to be finished, as well as a week or so for uploading nearly 5 GB of themes.

As a final note, I will soon be offering a titantrons DVD (that you can view in your DVD player and watch on TV) will full-length themes as a reward for donating a certain amount of money or more.