Unauthorized Sierra adventure games portal Sarien.net ceases upon Activision order

Sarien.net, "the portal that once stood for reliving classic Sierra On-Line adventure games" (for free), has been shut down following a cease-and-desist order issued by IP owner Activision. The site's creator, Mr. Kool (real name!), has posted the letter from Activision's legal counsel on the Sarien homepage.

"While we appreciate your dedication to the Sierra classic library and understand that you are a fan of these games, Activision has not authorized the development or distribution of these games via your Website," the order reads. "Accordingly, we must demand that you immediately cease any further distribution or exploitation of the Sierra Games on your Website."

Kool launched Sarien way back in April 2009, but it seemingly took this month's implementation of iPhone and iPad browser support (for all of the site's AGI-powered games) for Activision to take notice. "Wait till you see my new World of Warcraft in javascript," Kool quipped in a tweet. "Oh wait, that's Activision too..."

[Thanks, Ryan; image source: MobyGames]

Reader Comments (13)

prediction: all positive comments in support of Blizzard.

All those sales of Leisure Suit Larry 3 they've missed out on... wait...

It's not Sarien's fault you guys bought up all of Sierra and sat on all their games.

@wcarnation You mean all of the games available on Good Old Games? It's not all of them but you can be sure more are coming.

First off, that is an amazing name and im glad he's had fun with this. He seems like a Kool guy. *crickets*

=|

@NukeAssault looks like Blizzard really Kooled this guy down.

If Mr.Kools first name is Fonzie, Im having his babies.

I used to get creeped out by that game when I played it as a kid...

Really? They really give a shit about these prehistoric games? Shit should be freeware by now. Pricks.

@Coldbrand

Exactly. A lot of digitally distributed versions of older games bump them up to the price of premium downloadable games. I guess with some of this stuff that might not quite happen, but you can bet Activision would be the company to try and fetch a high price for it.

@Haggard 'Cause $9.99 for three classic games is just too much to pay.

Distribution and exploitation by being web-based and free? I guess a web page could be considered "distribution"... And not benefitting from it _could_ be exploitation of a sort. Egoxploitation?

I agree Activision is acting within its rights. I even agree that Sarien had it coming. I just think Activision should call it like it is. Sarien didn't seem to be exploiting the property.

@sigma8
Just read the letter (had it bookmarked on my iPad). It's not that bad. But it's still a little crazy to say he was exploiting them, IMO. They could have left it at "We haven't granted you permission" and "We are legally obligated to protect our copyright"..

Unauthorized Sierra adventure games portal Sarien.net ceases upon Activision order

Reader Comments (13)

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 8:13AM Jack Kevorkian said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 8:13AM wcarnation said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 8:28AM Agies said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 8:18AM NukeAssault said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 8:25AM Jack Kevorkian said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 8:39AM Cavall said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 9:11AM Premature ejaculation man said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 9:26AM Coldbrand said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 9:39AM Haggard said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 10:36AM Agies said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 11:51AM sigma8 said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 2:29PM sigma8 said

Posted: Jan 27th 2011 5:09PM sigma8 said

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