Creative now says it will allow modded drivers

Creative's initial response was to pull all of his work from the official forums and to send him a cease-and-desist message, but Kawakami now says, "I've been told they will allow me to continue with my mods, except the 'forbidden' ones. . . . I'm also allowed to receive donations."

Indeed, Creative posted a message on its forums in order to re-assert its position. The company starts off by saying it has read the "strong feedback" about its move, and that it failed to make it clear in its initial cease-and-desist note that it does in fact support "independent driver development by independent third parties." The firm adds that Windows Vista's new audio architecture and Microsoft's certification process for audio drivers make it "very difficult for Creative to develop updates for all past products" and that "outside developers have been very helpful." However, Creative says it frowns on "unauthorized distribution of other companies' property."

This somewhat ambiguous message ends with the promise, "We hope to work out a mutually agreeable method for working with Daniel_k in supporting his efforts in driver development. Going forward, we are committed to doing a better job of working more closely with third parties to support their development for our products and our customers."