Following a takedown notice from the Walt Disney Company earlier this week, one of the major Club Penguin fan servers, Club Penguin Online, was shut down on Friday. BBC reports that a London man connected to the site has been arrested on suspicion of child pornography.
One of the most popular fan recreations of the game is Club Penguin Online, an unlicensed reincarnation of the popular Disney-owned children’s social network with more than 8 million players in the previous two years. Club Penguin Online stated in a now-removed blog post this week that the game would be shut down “after May 2020” due to a copyright lawsuit. According to the Lumen Database warning, the site “is an unauthorized clone of Club Penguin’s game and contains infringing copyrighted content,” which may be accessed in full.
“Frankly, it’s not worth the effort.”
Since this article’s publication, Club Penguin’s website has been taken offline.
Trying to bring the game back would be “very tough” because of Disney’s involvement, and “in all honesty, it isn’t worth it,” the admin concluded.
Club Penguin Online was discovered to be filled with racist and anti-semitic content by the BBC’s investigation. According to the BBC, the Metropolitan Police in London arrested a guy associated with the website on suspicion of possessing photos of child abuse. Bail was posted and he was free to leave. A child pornography arrest may or may not have been related to the project’s broader moderation difficulties.
A request for comment from The Verge was not immediately returned by Club Penguin Online or Disney. “Child safety is a primary priority for the Walt Disney Company and we are shocked by the allegations of criminal conduct and reprehensible behavior on this unauthorized website that is illegally utilizing the Club Penguin brand and characters for its purposes,” Disney said in a statement Friday.
Disney went on to say, “We will continue to protect our rights against this and other illegal uses of the Club Penguin game.
Club Penguin was purchased by Disney in 2007 and shut down in January 2017 after a sharp decline in users, according to TechCrunch.com. After the game’s shutdown, Disney created Club Penguin Island, which garnered a lot of negative feedback from the original game’s players because it lacked several of the game’s most popular elements. By the end of 2018, Disney closed Club Penguin Island as well.
Unlicensed versions of the game like Club Penguin Online and Club Penguin Rewritten have been launched by fans after the 2017 shutdown, so players can continue to enjoy the games in the future.
Old lovers of Club Penguin, Minecraft, and Webkinz have returned to their beloved games as social distancing orders have taken effect around the world. Soccer Mommy performed a live music concert at Club Penguin in the spring of this year. During the epidemic, a series of in-game performances were reworked.
Thank you for making this adventure memorable and fun, despite the rough finish,” Club Penguin Online’s blog post stated.
Read also:-
Leave a Reply