Talk:The '17 ValveArchive takedown
Will you remove everything in the folder https://valvearchive.btr.pm/archive/Game%20Files%20and%20Builds from any mirror sites or other archives?
The Request
Following the Ep2/Ep1_WC_Mappack leak, without a day in between, Jackathan (the owner of ValveArchive) received this:
We noticed that you have posted a bunch of stolen Valve code on https://valvearchive.btr.pm/, and them promoted it to the Valve Archive group on Steam community.
(Editor's note: A screenshot of the announcement's below.)
Generally we appreciate your support for fans of Valve games. But we need you to take down the game code. This has been stolen from (or by) Valve licensees over the years, and we cannot stand by while you distribute it.
Will you remove everything in the folder https://valvearchive.btr.pm/archive/Game%20Files%20and%20Builds/? And from any mirror sites or other archives?
- Announcement issue.png
The announcement in question.
- Takedown pt1.png
The original takedown request.
The "Game Files & Builds" is the heart of the archive, containing everything from the 2003 leaks, the 2007 Particle benchmark leaks, the recent 2016-2017 leaks, including the recent Ep2/Ep1 Mappack leak. They were the most important of the files present. Effectively, a lawyer from Valve had just asked Jackathan to gut his own archive.
Initial Impact
It was met with varying reactions, from heavy skepticism of the legitimacy of the sender (the sender was proven real, via uncertain means), to outright fear that the VCC Discord server would soon be shut down.
