New Website Design - Feedback Appreciated

I had a custom profile picture before the website makeover. However, I can't seem to upload the same one with the new format. The dimensions and size are fine, but it won't work. Any suggestions?

Not 100% sure what's going on with the profile pics. Will get back to you on it!

I think the new website design looks awesome. It's a lot more professional, and yet still very functional.

Just one question...what happened to the function to delete projects from my account?

I've read your privacy policy and terms of service and they both overlook two very important details.

First, you provide no assurance that any source code written by users not set public are safe. You should provide a clause stipulating that you nor your entities will steal/use our source code without prior permission.

Secondly, there are no provisions that detail what type of software we are permitted to build using Compilr. Its common sense that we're not permitted to make virii, but without a provision in your term of service, a malicious coder can just claim they didn't know. There's also nothing to say if users are allowed to create commercial software for sale using Compilr, or if we'd have to pay Ninja Otter any royalties for the sale of any software produced using Compilr.

Thanks for the feedback.

Not sure what happened to the ability to delete projects. I'll add this to our list.

In terms of your feedback for our ToS, some of the points are valid. I'll speak with our lawyer to see which points make sense to append, if any.

Any response on the TOS and Privacy agreement?

After speaking with our lawyer, we saw no point to revisit the ToS or Privacy Policy at this time. If it's not written in the ToS, it can just be interpreted and we do not wish to add a level of complexity to it at this time...

At this time I will not be using your service, as you provide no guarantees to the security of my code, nor do you provide any advisement on any limitations on the use of your services in regards to if compiled projects can be distributed or sold.

Any self respecting developer planning to sell their creations will want to see some provisions regarding these topics built into your TOS and Privacy Statement. What I'm talking about here is the protection of our intellectual copyrights and you are saying that it's up for interpretation. I'm sorry, but when it comes to whether or not I can sell something that I created, my rights to the source are not open for interpretation, and SHOULD be guaranteed or covered by your TOS and Privacy Agreement.

By not providing these stipulations, you are leaving us, the developers who use your service, open to lawsuits from your company should we choose to sell anything we create using your software. This is not acceptable.

Our team is always using up to date techniques and security to ensure the safety of all of our users and their source code. But, as with everything we cannot guarantee the security as every piece of software has flaws and vulnerabilities. This would be a huge liability to our company if we included a clause that guaranteed the safety of your source code. It's the same reason why Microsoft has no clause to keep your files on your computer from harm due to hardware malfunction, viruses, accidental deletion, etc...

In some cases when a user reports bug related to our service it is related to their project. For our team to properly identify the bug our team may need to view the source code of a non-public project to correct the issue.

In terms of your concerns regarding royalty. As aforementioned, we are not adding anything to our terms of service related to that because we do not wish to add to the complexity of our Terms of Service at this time.

What I'm referring to in regard to security is not whether others outside your company can view it, as we all understand that there is an inherent security risk with anything that's online. I'm asking for a provision that states that you, nor any employee of your company will steal our code, or disclose it to outside parties without our permission. I'm asking that you provide us a guarantee that if we use your service to build a commercial game, that no one in your company will try to sell the code or finished product as their own.

I realize, and understand that your staff may have to view our code to fix stuff. I just want to know that my code won't be stolen by your staff. I just want to be assured that my projects are as safe as they can possibly be, not just from hackers, but from you as well.

As for the royalty thing...that is very important. I want to know before I use this service if I'm going to have to pay royalties to you when I sell my program. What you're saying is that you're reserving that right for later. That tells me that if I do make a game using your service, and that game becomes a chart buster, that you can come after me for just about all the money I earn from it's sales. I'm hoping you can understand why I say that is unacceptable, and I encourage any users who feel the same way I do, to sign a petition by posting a reply to this. Without this provision already built in, you could easily add a clause later that says you are entitled to all profits made from any program made using this service. I can't accept that possibility, and therefor can not use your service until a protective clause is built in. Without a protective clause, the only real projects that can feasibly be built here are open source projects where no one earns a profit.

You may not want to "complicate" your TOS with such a protective clause, but by not including it, you are actually making it more complicated. This is like walking into a store to buy a suit, handing over your credit card, and never being told how much it costs. The store clerk can charge you as much as they want, and you have no defense.

If you really care about your users, and keeping them, I strongly encourage you to add such a clause to your TOS that outlines our rights in respect to what we can and can not do with programs we create using your service.

I can't understand how you don't think that these are very important issues that every programmer of any knowledge level should be concerned about. You have not provided us any assurances of protection, aside from the fact that you'll keep unauthorized users out of our accounts. That doesn't protect us from corporate theft, and doesn't give us any resolutions should such a theft occur. Without such clauses you really are leaving yourself wide open for litigation in the event that something bad does occur.

Think of how much one game can profit in the course of a year, then think of the fact that many games continue to sell for an average of 3 years from publication. We're talking a potential loss of millions to a user, should someone in your company steals their finished product. Such a potential loss enables every user the ability to sue your company for millions...lawsuits that would no doubt shut down your company for good. I would think that as a company, you would want to take every opportunity to avoid such lawsuits, and I'm pointing out two very easy ways to avoid quite a few. If your lawyer doesn't think you need these clauses, then I'd suggest you find another lawyer, preferably one who does have experience with copyright and business law, as every lawyer that I have spoken to in this regards seems to think that what I'm suggesting should have been done already.

After speaking with our lawyer, we have added in the following clause that should address most of your concerns. The following was added to our Terms of Service as of September 25th, 2010.

Your Rights to Your Content

25. You retain your ownership rights to any and all of your Content. Vendor claims no ownership of any Content you submit to Vendor. You or your third party licensor, as applicable, retain all intellectual property rights to any Content and you are responsible for protecting those rights, as appropriate.

Thank you for that. It protects our intellectual rights and provides some hint of internal protection from corporate theft. That's what I was going for. I appreciate your understanding in this matter.