In some rather interesting news, Airsoft Xtreme magazine has reportedly been shut down by the UAA.

In short:

AX digitally altered posters to indicate they were a sponsor of the AFAD Defense and Gun Show. In fact, they are not - and organizers of the event, the UAA, did not appreciate it.  Rightly so.

In long:

Find the whole story at AirsoftNews.eu, or see the quote below:

Airsoft Xtreme Magazine gets ax from UAA for “poster fiasco”

Manila, Philippines — Hounded by internal upheavals, accusations of impropriety, advertiser pull-outs and delayed releases, Airsoft Xtreme Magazine (AX) faces lawsuits from the United Airsoft Alliance (UAA) and the Association of Fire Arms Dealers (AFAD) in the Philippines.

The threats of legal action stemmed from AX\’s alleged deliberate “digital manipulation” of promotional materials for the AFAD Defense and Gun Show to be held at SM Megamall, Philippines on July 17 to 22, 2008. AX misrepresented itself as co-sponsor of the event without the knowledge of the legitimate organizers. The beleaguered publication was said to have deliberately and maliciously altered the event\’s promotional banners and posters by deleting the UAA in the list of support organizations, and instead affixed its own logo in the sponsors’ list. It also announced that they are launching their upcoming issue at the said event but it was not a part of the official program as shown in the original poster.

This callousness of said magazine undermined the UAA’s efforts in bringing together airsoft and real-steel gun owners.

In the ACMairsoft.com forums, quoting Article 172 of the Philippine Revised Penal Code, Atty. Ernesto \”Ticky\” Tabujara, UAA president, says that AX’s actions constitute the crime of falsification by a private individual of a commercial or private document. Among the acts of falsification defined is: “x x x 6. Making any alteration or intercalation in a genuine document which changes its meaning.”

“That’s the problem with commercialism. Some people will simply go to great lengths just to earn a buck. The problem is, Airsoft Xtreme Magazine is trying to make a quick buck out of our good name and the good will that we established,” adds Atty. Tabujara.

“NO TO SCAM JOURNALISM!” echo the irate UAA members.

For its part, the organizers of the defense and gun show has already directed AX to pull-out their “doctored” posters and banners from local airsoft forums.

Started in 2006, Airsoft Xtreme claims itself to be the Philippine’s premier bi-monthly airsoft magazine, and has already released five issues in its almost two years of existence. Financial mismanagement led to the exodus of its original staff and the pull out of its original investors, threatening the demise of the publication. Their fifth issue took almost six months to be released.

Internal wrangling has also beleaguered the publication. It was said that the president/publisher was caught selling extra printed copies of the magazine for his own profit, without the knowledge of the magazine’s editorial management staff.

1. Original Poster as officially distributed by AFAD showing the UAA name on the right side of the poster (bottom highlighted in red) and no AX logo in the official sponsors logo area. Also there\’s no mention of the AX issue launch in the program on the right.

2. Digitally altered Poster as distributed by AX in Philippine airsoft forums but were already taken down as demanded by AFAD. The United Airsoft Alliance was stricken off the list and the AX logo added on top of the sponsors list on the right. The program list was also removed since it does not mention of the AX issue launch.

3. Screenshot of the digitally altered posted as posted by the admin of the ACMairsoft.org a local internet forum which is a rival to the ACMairsoft.com for ACM enthusiasts in the Philippines. This was already taken down after the discovery by UAA and AFAD.