3) Clarification of schilling and recasting so there's no confusion.
This is a grey area. Always has been and always will be. Everyone wants it to be black and white (including me), but that is simply impossible.
From our Community Guidelines:
3B. Selling/trading of recast items. Deliberately recasting another member’s creation without consent is not supported by our communities.
Deliberately recasting an active licensee’s product is not supported by our communities.
Before we get into it, let me acknowledge up front that some people will not agree with my interpretation of our rules. Some will see it as self-serving. Some, whose ears are bent by others, may even see it as duplicitous. There is nothing I can do about that, and I don't expect to change your mind. However, the responsibility of governing this community largely falls on my shoulders, and I want to be clear as possible about how I interpret our rules.
We have always allowed recasts that derive from original pieces. It does not mean they are not recasts. They are. They are simply recasts that have been allowed. Historically, if the history is not known, but there is obvious lineage recasts have been allowed. This includes countless variants of the PP2 helmet, the MR helmet, etc. This is sticky at best. Because something could start out with an unknown history and we allow it, then the history becomes known and we realize it breaks one of the two tenants above and we have to take action. That happened recently with both Wasted Fett and Minute Fett.
Some have asked why we allowed the MC-ESB and feel like that breaks the above rules, especially in light of Gino's posting. Again, you may not agree, but here is our take. The Gen1 castings are original lineage castings. They aren't owned by Gino, weren't made by Gino and despite his belief to the contrary Gino has no say over them. They simply passed through his hands to a number of people. How many is unclear. He has not been fully transparent on this point. ANYONE who has a legitimate Gen1 casting could recast it and it would be allowed. However, if you recast someone else's cast of a Gen1, then you fall under the "deliberately recasting another member's creation." This is what happened with the MC-ESB. It was deliberately recast and those molds were sold to Wasted Fett and Minute Fett who did not know the source. When we found out we told them those helmets could not be sold here. Both were disappointed, but both understood. Wasted Fett then went to MC and worked out a deal. This is not the first time we have seen this happen. There have been other instances where a member was unknowingly selling recasts and when they found out, they brokered a deal with the person whom they recast. That is why Wasted Fett's helmet is being allowed to be sold.
I know this probably doesn't bring perfect clarify to the position. As I said, this will always be a grey area and there will always be some level of judgment in our calls. Inevitably some will not agree with those calls. However, we do our very best to be as consistent as possible, despite how it may appear.
With regard to shilling; from our community guidelines:
3A(iii) Members may not shill within any part of our Communities. This includes posting items for sale or coordinating sales for other people or promoting sites, services or products for banned members or known recasters.
While this largely applies to promoting products on behalf of others, it also applies to posting anything on behalf of banned members. We ban members when they break the rules and become a danger to the community. Posting on their behalf allows them to speak from beyond the grave and negates the purpose of the ban. This is pretty straight forward.
If you need further clarification, ask.