In Defense of the Innovators: Paintball's Lack of Ethics, and why it Matters For you
Just a warning---this might be an article that makes you mad, one way or another. I can think of a couple of companies that are going to flat-out hate it, if they read it. Or maybe it won't bug them at all, considering the apparent lack of a conscious or ability to give a damn that they've shown so far. Anyway, language warning now.
Imagine spending months on a project or work---one that you have a lot of passion for and really care a ton about. The kind that you talk about with your friends and spouse. You had an idea in your head that you NEEDED to come out, and knew other people would rock the hell out of. You prototyped it. You tested it. You adjusted it. You finalized it. You got it ready for launch. You put blood, sweat, time, effort, and money into developing, and were damn proud of in the end because you KNEW it was something people would love. So you launch it.
And a couple months later (many times less), some dickhead is selling a half-ass copy and undercutting what you had spent all that time doing.
As a friend in the industry put it, "When you come out with something new, you really have 6 months before someone else steals it."
Imagine spending months on a project or work---one that you have a lot of passion for and really care a ton about. The kind that you talk about with your friends and spouse. You had an idea in your head that you NEEDED to come out, and knew other people would rock the hell out of. You prototyped it. You tested it. You adjusted it. You finalized it. You got it ready for launch. You put blood, sweat, time, effort, and money into developing, and were damn proud of in the end because you KNEW it was something people would love. So you launch it.
And a couple months later (many times less), some dickhead is selling a half-ass copy and undercutting what you had spent all that time doing.
As a friend in the industry put it, "When you come out with something new, you really have 6 months before someone else steals it."
Paintball has had an issue with theft and cannibalizing itself for decades, and it seems to be back and on the rise---again. And it's hurting the entire industry. I've recently seen some incredibly blatant copies and, in multiple cases, flat-out thefts of products, and spoken with the people who actually made them to start with, and the effects have been very real and damaging---and the common player likely has absolutely no idea. A couple of people I willing be talking about have stopped doing paintball work. Another big one is very much considering walking, and yet another just feels like it's wearing him down. Those people all have bigger names than I do, and work for companies that are very hesitant to say how they feel for the blowback that they could get to their very livelihoods just for telling the truth in what's actually happened to them. Well, that's not something that really affects me, so I'll say it.
This bullshit is killing innovation, driving good people out, and discouraging the development of gear that we all want so that thieves with no imagination can make a quick buck.
And this is how you end up with gaps in paintball's history where custom gear disappears, with virtually no aftermarket improvements, and choices getting cut down to just A, B, or C.
This bullshit is killing innovation, driving good people out, and discouraging the development of gear that we all want so that thieves with no imagination can make a quick buck.
And this is how you end up with gaps in paintball's history where custom gear disappears, with virtually no aftermarket improvements, and choices getting cut down to just A, B, or C.
So what am I talking about?
If you don't know what I'm talking about or who I'm referring to with this, strap the hell in and I'll give you some examples of some of the things that I'm talking about, with several things that I'm talking about having happened very recently. I have to leave out names here, by request of those who can still get hurt by this shit---as if they weren't screwed over enough already.
A friend of mine in the industry was doing a joint project, and they had reached the final stage for production. They sent the barrel out to a machine shop overseas who had experience in creating paintball products. That machine shop reached out to a rival paintball company that they had worked with in the past, and told them that they had a competitor's prototype. They then offered them the prototype to reverse engineer, despite have a contract to produce them for that first company.
A company with even a shred of ethical decency wouldn't say yes to taking a stolen property. That, however, wasn't a problem here. This company lost that, likely in a cloud of powder. They took the stolen barrel, reverse engineered it, and sent it back to the company overseas.
The next time my friend saw his own barrel, it was on the public product announcement on social media from the rival company. The rival company stole his product, the one that he and his partners spent months developing---and released it. And basically threw themselves a damn party in doing it.
I asked my buddy what he could even do---and that's the rub. What can he do? The property was stolen overseas, and it's not worth the money in lawsuits to sue. So the company that's parading around stolen goods gets away with it.
If you don't know what I'm talking about or who I'm referring to with this, strap the hell in and I'll give you some examples of some of the things that I'm talking about, with several things that I'm talking about having happened very recently. I have to leave out names here, by request of those who can still get hurt by this shit---as if they weren't screwed over enough already.
A friend of mine in the industry was doing a joint project, and they had reached the final stage for production. They sent the barrel out to a machine shop overseas who had experience in creating paintball products. That machine shop reached out to a rival paintball company that they had worked with in the past, and told them that they had a competitor's prototype. They then offered them the prototype to reverse engineer, despite have a contract to produce them for that first company.
A company with even a shred of ethical decency wouldn't say yes to taking a stolen property. That, however, wasn't a problem here. This company lost that, likely in a cloud of powder. They took the stolen barrel, reverse engineered it, and sent it back to the company overseas.
The next time my friend saw his own barrel, it was on the public product announcement on social media from the rival company. The rival company stole his product, the one that he and his partners spent months developing---and released it. And basically threw themselves a damn party in doing it.
I asked my buddy what he could even do---and that's the rub. What can he do? The property was stolen overseas, and it's not worth the money in lawsuits to sue. So the company that's parading around stolen goods gets away with it.
It's not like that story happened in a vacuum. The same company that stole from him is also known to have seen a competitor's marker with very specific milling, and magically their next marker had that exact same specific milling on their next private label. Again, hopping on social media, they had the balls to sit there and claim that they 'were the first to do this,' when they knew damn well that they flat-out stole that milling from a competitor. It's one thing to claim inspiration---it's entirely different to have to just ripped someone else off. And there are several examples of them pulling this shit.
Fun fact---yet again, same thieving company---has literally commissioned overseas companies to reverse engineer parts that were made by better people than they are in paintball so that they could make cheap knock offs of them and sell them at cut rates. They then sit back and undercut the very people who have spent time, money, blood, and sweat developing the gear that we all enjoy. While I know those kids in China have families to support too, it's reprehensible that this has happened over and over again with a couple of the major players in paintball. And they've been doing it for years.
Fun fact---yet again, same thieving company---has literally commissioned overseas companies to reverse engineer parts that were made by better people than they are in paintball so that they could make cheap knock offs of them and sell them at cut rates. They then sit back and undercut the very people who have spent time, money, blood, and sweat developing the gear that we all enjoy. While I know those kids in China have families to support too, it's reprehensible that this has happened over and over again with a couple of the major players in paintball. And they've been doing it for years.
And they aren't alone. Lately, there's been creep into smaller shops.
There's a machinist I am friends with that's creative as hell. He's made high-quality, well-machined small runs of mechanical markers, all of which are very recognizably his design. In the last 6 months, another machinist came out with 'his' design that looks basically identical, including some cuts that are fully distinguishable as my buddy's. They're some of his trademark cuts and parts. It was to the point that I and multiple other people asked him if he licensed it within hours of the copycat's post. And no, he sure as hell didn't. It was just a straight rip job.
Same exact, and I mean exact, thing happened with a company that had been doing quality 3D prints for mechanical marker bodies. They didn't cut corners, and made really strong bodies for people in literally dozens of designs. After around 6 months, he started getting pings from people who thought that they were his customers. Their feednecks were snapping off left and right. The only problem? They didn't buy from him. People were coming out of the woodwork stealing his designs, printing with much cheaper and weaker material, and undercutting him drastically. And when people started pointing the finger, it was pointed at him---even though he did exactly nothing wrong. He was getting stolen from and then his reputation beat up because some unoriginal hacks decided to make cheap copies of his work, and people fell for it.
There's a machinist I am friends with that's creative as hell. He's made high-quality, well-machined small runs of mechanical markers, all of which are very recognizably his design. In the last 6 months, another machinist came out with 'his' design that looks basically identical, including some cuts that are fully distinguishable as my buddy's. They're some of his trademark cuts and parts. It was to the point that I and multiple other people asked him if he licensed it within hours of the copycat's post. And no, he sure as hell didn't. It was just a straight rip job.
Same exact, and I mean exact, thing happened with a company that had been doing quality 3D prints for mechanical marker bodies. They didn't cut corners, and made really strong bodies for people in literally dozens of designs. After around 6 months, he started getting pings from people who thought that they were his customers. Their feednecks were snapping off left and right. The only problem? They didn't buy from him. People were coming out of the woodwork stealing his designs, printing with much cheaper and weaker material, and undercutting him drastically. And when people started pointing the finger, it was pointed at him---even though he did exactly nothing wrong. He was getting stolen from and then his reputation beat up because some unoriginal hacks decided to make cheap copies of his work, and people fell for it.
And we can't leave out the superstore that screws companies left and right.
Let's walk through this scenario. You're a company that they wanted to sell gear from. They place a big order! Awesome!
Once that big order is placed, they get your gear. You notice that, all of sudden, gear on your own site isn't moving. They're outselling you on your own stuff, and you sold your gear to them at dealer pricing as opposed to retail, but that's working with resellers. Well, that ain't good, but at least you got a big sale and your salesperson is happy that he landed a big commission. Still, not great for you on the whole.
As time passes, word gets out that you're about to release a new product. All of a sudden, you can't reach that superstore when you check in. And when you bring up the website, you see your own gear selling well below MAP in a huge sale that sure didn't come down from you. They're undercutting you on your own gear to move their stock before you launch the next generation, and you can't sell your own gear to blow out your inventory. Hell, they're even taking orders on gear that they don't have during the sale. Meanwhile, you're now stuck with a warehouse full of gear that isn't moving anytime soon.
Now you've learned not to sell to them, as the first sale isn't worth them owning your ass down the road. And you watch them do it to others, continually biting the hands that feed them.
You then see them use their sister 'private label' company rip off your designs, have cheaply made knockoffs come in from overseas, slap on their own logos, and then they themselves exclusively sell a copy of your gear, just as one final insult. And the clowns have enough money and power with their purse that you can't say a damn thing for fear of a reprisal.
Let's walk through this scenario. You're a company that they wanted to sell gear from. They place a big order! Awesome!
Once that big order is placed, they get your gear. You notice that, all of sudden, gear on your own site isn't moving. They're outselling you on your own stuff, and you sold your gear to them at dealer pricing as opposed to retail, but that's working with resellers. Well, that ain't good, but at least you got a big sale and your salesperson is happy that he landed a big commission. Still, not great for you on the whole.
As time passes, word gets out that you're about to release a new product. All of a sudden, you can't reach that superstore when you check in. And when you bring up the website, you see your own gear selling well below MAP in a huge sale that sure didn't come down from you. They're undercutting you on your own gear to move their stock before you launch the next generation, and you can't sell your own gear to blow out your inventory. Hell, they're even taking orders on gear that they don't have during the sale. Meanwhile, you're now stuck with a warehouse full of gear that isn't moving anytime soon.
Now you've learned not to sell to them, as the first sale isn't worth them owning your ass down the road. And you watch them do it to others, continually biting the hands that feed them.
You then see them use their sister 'private label' company rip off your designs, have cheaply made knockoffs come in from overseas, slap on their own logos, and then they themselves exclusively sell a copy of your gear, just as one final insult. And the clowns have enough money and power with their purse that you can't say a damn thing for fear of a reprisal.
And I can hear some of you out there now.
'Welcome to the real world,' or 'This is just business.' If you actually work in the corporate world, you'll know that there are usually consequences for this kind of behavior. Patents and lawsuits. Massive fines and actual repercussions. Cancelling contracts and getting blacklisted by business partners.
But it doesn't happen in paintball, because there isn't the kind of money in an industry this small to actually punish the people who pull this shit, at least legally.
But there are real consequences that hit the rest of us. That machinist I was talking about? Yeah, doesn't mill new stuff anymore because of that experience. The guy doing high quality 3D prints? Yeah, he walked. The guy that had a barrel stolen, as well as his milling getting copied? Very well might be walking soon, which would be a giant blow to the industry. The other guy I mentioned that has been stolen from? A legitimate paintball titan who seems disgusted by half the industry right now.
And that's a goddamn shame because none of them need paintball, but paintball sure as hell needs them. They're some of the very people who innovate for our game, year in and year out. Some of the people I've talked to and I'm talking about, you cannot go to a field on any given weekend and throw a rock without hitting someone using their gear. And these are the very people who are getting stolen from and attacked by the very industry that they're helping push forward.
'Welcome to the real world,' or 'This is just business.' If you actually work in the corporate world, you'll know that there are usually consequences for this kind of behavior. Patents and lawsuits. Massive fines and actual repercussions. Cancelling contracts and getting blacklisted by business partners.
But it doesn't happen in paintball, because there isn't the kind of money in an industry this small to actually punish the people who pull this shit, at least legally.
But there are real consequences that hit the rest of us. That machinist I was talking about? Yeah, doesn't mill new stuff anymore because of that experience. The guy doing high quality 3D prints? Yeah, he walked. The guy that had a barrel stolen, as well as his milling getting copied? Very well might be walking soon, which would be a giant blow to the industry. The other guy I mentioned that has been stolen from? A legitimate paintball titan who seems disgusted by half the industry right now.
And that's a goddamn shame because none of them need paintball, but paintball sure as hell needs them. They're some of the very people who innovate for our game, year in and year out. Some of the people I've talked to and I'm talking about, you cannot go to a field on any given weekend and throw a rock without hitting someone using their gear. And these are the very people who are getting stolen from and attacked by the very industry that they're helping push forward.
So what do we do about it?
Stop buying from companies that you know have zero ethical standards. They steal other people's stuff, create knock offs of it, and go for the quick buck. If they have an original idea in their heads', they'll be able to come up with their own goddamn products and make them themselves instead of ripping off actual talent. Stop buying from companies you damn well know are stealing other people's work.
If you're looking at people creating tributes (and there are people who do this), ask them if they got permission from the people who made the original design. If they have their permission, then by all means, buy away. Support those people. Inception did this with the Ripper---he got Jim Eaton's blessing, and did right by him. Simon was the first and only person in decades that didn't screw Jim Eaton over (another example of someone paintball took and took and took from, chewed up, and spit out) on his iconic milling designs. Jason Antle makes beautiful Peckerwoods based on Westwood Autocockers, and got Dan's permission to make them. He's another awesome example of a guy who does it right---and is creative as hell in his own designs. Hell, even with my extremely small run of R/T Autococker kits, I waited until the patent expired, changed the design up, AND asked the originators for permission prior to making them---and they bought one from me. That's operating in an ethical manner.
For those that are flat-out thieves---stop buying their shit. And that's what a lot of it is. They don't give a damn about the industry. They don't give a damn about the game. They just want to push the cheapest shit with the highest margin out the door, and don't think long-term at all. They just want your money, now. Nothing else matters.
And when they're pushing their cheap shit out the door---they're really shoving the very people who the game needs out with full force. You're fooling yourself if you're ignoring that. Vote with your wallet. Stop supporting that kind of unethical, destructive behavior. It's not okay. And it's bad for the game.
If you're accepting it, understand that ultimately it's bad for you as a player if you actually care about seeing new innovative products. Because this garbage absolutely makes people want to stop dealing with paintball and go to another industry that their talents are actually appreciated. Some are already gone. Some are halfway out the door. And others are sitting there wondering why the hell they should stay.
This shit has to stop. Stop buying cheap knock-offs and accepting this behavior from garbage people. Make sure that you're buying from people who actually give a damn about the sport. Support the innovators. Give them reasons to stick around.
Stop buying from companies that you know have zero ethical standards. They steal other people's stuff, create knock offs of it, and go for the quick buck. If they have an original idea in their heads', they'll be able to come up with their own goddamn products and make them themselves instead of ripping off actual talent. Stop buying from companies you damn well know are stealing other people's work.
If you're looking at people creating tributes (and there are people who do this), ask them if they got permission from the people who made the original design. If they have their permission, then by all means, buy away. Support those people. Inception did this with the Ripper---he got Jim Eaton's blessing, and did right by him. Simon was the first and only person in decades that didn't screw Jim Eaton over (another example of someone paintball took and took and took from, chewed up, and spit out) on his iconic milling designs. Jason Antle makes beautiful Peckerwoods based on Westwood Autocockers, and got Dan's permission to make them. He's another awesome example of a guy who does it right---and is creative as hell in his own designs. Hell, even with my extremely small run of R/T Autococker kits, I waited until the patent expired, changed the design up, AND asked the originators for permission prior to making them---and they bought one from me. That's operating in an ethical manner.
For those that are flat-out thieves---stop buying their shit. And that's what a lot of it is. They don't give a damn about the industry. They don't give a damn about the game. They just want to push the cheapest shit with the highest margin out the door, and don't think long-term at all. They just want your money, now. Nothing else matters.
And when they're pushing their cheap shit out the door---they're really shoving the very people who the game needs out with full force. You're fooling yourself if you're ignoring that. Vote with your wallet. Stop supporting that kind of unethical, destructive behavior. It's not okay. And it's bad for the game.
If you're accepting it, understand that ultimately it's bad for you as a player if you actually care about seeing new innovative products. Because this garbage absolutely makes people want to stop dealing with paintball and go to another industry that their talents are actually appreciated. Some are already gone. Some are halfway out the door. And others are sitting there wondering why the hell they should stay.
This shit has to stop. Stop buying cheap knock-offs and accepting this behavior from garbage people. Make sure that you're buying from people who actually give a damn about the sport. Support the innovators. Give them reasons to stick around.
