Here's are the details on us (Curse.com) disabling the bandwidth leaching from WowMatrix last night. This is a mix of various posts I've made on Curse.com (I am Curse's CTO).
The moment we disabled the ability for WowMatrix to download directly from our file servers, we experienced a 30% drop in our outgoing bandwidth. We pays tens of thousands of dollars each month in bandwidth bills. I know, because I have to approve them each month... A 30% drop is significant.
Our only means of paying for these bills is via advertising. This is a simple matter of economics. We can no longer afford to foot the bill for the bandwidth WowMatrix consumes from us. Think about it this way: We have been paying for WowMatrix's bandwidth consumption for years, while they have been earning money from their in-client advertising. We're not going to pay for their service anymore.
More than 6 months ago, our CEO contacted WowMatrix in an attempt to work with them in some fashion. They were completely unwilling to work with us.
They blatantly ignore copyright law, steal bandwidth, modify addon files without permission - and make money from doing so. This is simply "not cool", and we'll take every measure we can to block them from our addon database.
Details on version 3.0 of the Curse Client
The latest version of the Curse Client (3.0) has been in development for roughly two months, by three people. I developed the backend web service (which provides the Curse Client all the data it needs to identify and download addons updates) and led work on the PC-version re-write. We've reengineered nearly every single code module and redesigned every single user interface. It is our hope that users switching from WowMatrix to the Curse Client will discover an addon manager with an improved user experience, and a more robust feature set.
Here's a short list of features that only the Curse Client can offer:
1. A flexible multi-game (and multi-game-instance) management system. Need to manage addons for your WoW PTR install? No problem. Also play WAR or Runes of Magic? We've got you covered.
2. Release preference support. With the Curse Client, you can choose whether to be notified only when a new "Release" is available, or install the latest "Beta" or "Alpha". Unlike WowMatrix, we never assume anything with the Curse Client - we let you decide.
3. Change Logs. Ever wondered what the author changed or fixed in the latest release? No problem. Just click the "Open Change Log" link in the addon info panel, or right click on the addon and select "View Change Log".
4. Modern User Interface. The Curse Client has been built to support modern UI standards, offering list sorting, column resizing and descriptive icons.
These are just some of the features we've worked very hard to bring to the new Curse Client.
You can check out the Curse Client at
Curse Client Download