Just a quick note on this topic...
The designs have been "stolen" since day one. Even HobbyKing had taken the Old Fogey design and was selling it for a while. All of the other China Direct sites did too.
Trouble was, bad copies being sold AS Flite Test designs started showing up. There were customer service emails wanting warranty replacements for products that were not from Flite Test. That's when they finally had to take a look at where the problems were coming from, and what steps they needed to take to curb it.
It wasn't the loss of revenue to people cutting their own kits, or "stealing" designs, but the damage it was doing to the relationship with customers who thought that they were getting genuine FT items, and were upset with the poor quality of the fakes.
The designs have been "stolen" since day one. Even HobbyKing had taken the Old Fogey design and was selling it for a while. All of the other China Direct sites did too.
Trouble was, bad copies being sold AS Flite Test designs started showing up. There were customer service emails wanting warranty replacements for products that were not from Flite Test. That's when they finally had to take a look at where the problems were coming from, and what steps they needed to take to curb it.
It wasn't the loss of revenue to people cutting their own kits, or "stealing" designs, but the damage it was doing to the relationship with customers who thought that they were getting genuine FT items, and were upset with the poor quality of the fakes.