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PojavLauncherTeam / pojavlauncherteam.github.io

The PojavLauncher wiki, written in VuePress
https://pojavlauncherteam.github.io/
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About "PojavLauncher is now legal in the eyes of Microsoft" #133

Closed Seblor closed 3 months ago

Seblor commented 5 months ago

Hello, I was browsing the website and saw this in the LEGAL page:

PojavLauncher is now legal in the eyes of Microsoft

Can you clarify what you mean by that? Some members of my community understand it as meaning that Microsoft endorses PojavLauncher.

AlessandroDelPriore commented 3 months ago

It means that "theoretically" to use the app you need to have a Microsoft account that bought minecraft. Remember, "theoretically."

Seblor commented 3 months ago

That only clears the authentication part, but nothing is said about the EULA & reverse engineering regulation (among other things).

artdeell commented 3 months ago

We didn't reverse engineer minecraft to make Pojav

Seblor commented 3 months ago

So can you clarify what "PojavLauncher is now legal in the eyes of Microsoft" means ? Did you communicate with Microsoft about the legality of the project ?

artdeell commented 3 months ago

No, we did not. Going to ask the one who made the page about the title of it.

Still, why are you so interested in this?

Seblor commented 3 months ago

Besides personal curiosity, I'm an admin in Minecraft-France which is the largest french-speaking Discord server and one of the largest news website about Minecraft, so I would like to be able to safely inform the members of the community about the stance Microsoft has towards Pojav.

As I said in my original message, some members have understood it as Microsoft endorsing Pojav, thinking it an "official" project made by people in contact with Microsoft, quoting the phrase I quoted earlier.

artdeell commented 3 months ago

Oh no it's not official. We had MS contact us to remove offline mode from the launcher, and this page was created after that.

Damn, we really need to return the "About" page.

crystall1nedev commented 3 months ago

Microsoft does not endorse PojavLauncher.

I am a team member (currently on a hiatus from development as I work out personal and team-related issues), and I was the one that was contacted by Microsoft in 2021 about the legality of PojavLauncher.

We made adjustments to ensure that PojavLauncher was compliant with their standards, and they began to ignore us from then on.

So, while they don't endorse the project, we're in good standing.

Seblor commented 3 months ago

Ah, thank you both for the information, I really appreciate it !

EngurRuzgar commented 3 months ago

Now I'm confused. You guys said offline mode was removed but isn't local accounts and offline mode the same?

crystall1nedev commented 3 months ago

Local mode was originally designed to act similar to PolyMC/Prism Launcher: the ability to create offline accounts stayed, but downloading the game from within the launcher would require a proper license (in today's terms, a Microsoft account that bought the game.) This is why we revamped offline as local - to make the distinction between the two and ease the transition on users.

This option gave everyone what they wanted - Microsoft wouldn't have the game pirated anymore, and PojavLauncher was still able to keep some offline functionality (since there are some ways of playing that require it).

Both the iOS and Android clients got this update, as it's a change we agreed on as a team in private channels. However, as of right now, the iOS port is the only one to still have it - the authentication was written by Duy and myself. However the Android side reverted to the old behavior after a refactor of the codebase.

The simple fact is that we're in good standing... for now. I only work on the iOS port, and have barely any Android development experience, so there isn't much I can do.