DuelingNetwork.com, launched in May 2011, was a non-profit website run entirely by volunteers that had millions of registered users. The site manually allowed anyone regardless of age or experience to play the game of Yugioh. In the 5 years that it existed, it has had no legal issues. However, on March 25th, 2016 a Cease and Desist Order was filed against DuelingNetwork.com by the anime and production company known as NAS (Nihon Ad Systems). Due to this, Dueling Network took down all the images off its site and allowed its players to host their own images instead. As a result, the number of active players on Dueling Network dropped drastically. It seems that this was not satisfactory and on July 5,  2016, this message appeared on Dueling Network: “For legal reasons, Dueling Network will be taken offline until further notice. I apologize for the inconvenience. Note that the third-party requesting this take down was not Konami, but another authorized party.“

Dueling Network allows younger and poorer players to enjoy the game and promotes it for free. Konami has had no issue with Dueling Network’s existence in the 5 years it has been up and nothing has happened that should change that. Dueling Network has brought thousands of people back to the game of Yugioh and doesn’t gain a cent from its operations in return. It's existence doesn’t harm NAS’s operations in any form and no longer even uses their artwork. Sign this petition to show that the Yugioh Community is not okay with this.

#FreeDuelingNetwork  #BringDuelingNetworkBack