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Description

... or why I explode in a big (and SAD) laugh when you say that I would have ruined the MMDC

Hi again, friends and haters
I've had 2 or 3 days to study this matter deeper, after my so largely condamned and commented post about "how to unlock" PMX file that have been "locked" using PMX Model Locker (or manually changing a character in the file header definition)
Read it here as reference: fav.me/dbl8r2i
Really when I did it I hadn't forecasted what kind of reactions it would have caused. It has been, at the beginnig, just the consequence of a very banal comparison between a PMX file "locked" with PMX Model Locker and a standard working PMX file.
I've immediately realized the only difference was that "dirty character" in the header definition. But it seems that I've given away the Coca Cola secret recipe, causing an economic and ethical disaster to the MMD community. Even if there were tutorials yet about how to restore a "locked" model to its working version.
I've used past few days to go on studying the matter. And I'd like to share what I've understood.
About the file format: "locked" or simply "invalid"?
I've found a good scheme of the file structure here:
gist.github.com/felixjones/f8a…
A trouble with PMX file format is that is not really and officially documented. The only documentation (at least in english) is the one I've mentioned, and as far as I see, it's resulting by empirical experiences of modellers and editors, and by reverse engineering. Regardless of the origins of the documentation, it's almost complete, and surely at least complete to allow programmers developing any kind of plugins or stand-alone programs to manage this file format.
What I'm focus on is the header definition of the file. As specified, a valid PMX file must have "PMX " in the first 4 characters, including the space after "PMX".
I.e. the 4th character must be a space, for a PMX file to be considered valid and editable by PMX Editor or useable in MMM (Miku Miku Moving, alternate animation program similar to MMD).
The reason why MMD open "locked" PMX file is a still discussed matter. Some people have suggested it's because both PMX editor and MMM use .Net framework. I'm not persuaded about this suggestion. It's not a matter of what framework you use, when you open a file anche check for its format. The confirm is in some tests I've done yesterday.
You can download, here on the right, a simple, stupid model done for fun and just to explain this matter so you can make a test by yourself.
It's a square shape with just a texture on it. (DON'T STEAL PARTS! ... fun)
It comes in different version: the standard one, the one I've "locked" using PMX Model Locker, the one I've "unlocked" editing the "locked" one with an hexadecimal editor, and finally what I really find interesting: two versions where the 4th character (blank space in a working PMX file) has been replaced not by the "locker" character (ꁘ, hex code A0, ASCII value 160) but by other characters, precisely the "@" and the "©" characters. I've intentionally used two standard ASCII character just to exclude any interferences by a non standard charset. Simply try to open them if you wish to make a test.
You'll see that in both cases PMX Editor will refuse to edit them. MMD, instead, will still correctly load and use them, regardless they contains an unexpected character in 4th position instead of the "suppesed to be a locking character" (ꁘ).
Well, let's say this confirms my persuasion that "supposed-to-be-locked" PMX files are not really to be considered "locked" but just invalid/corrupted files. The only reason MMD loads and use them is that evidently MMD just checks the first 3 character, only to control if the file is a PMD or PMX one, simply ignoring what follows, then it proceeds checking other fields to load shapes, textures, weights and skeleton structure, morphs and so on.
So what? Locked or ivalidated it's the same thing!
Nevermind. I find this point very important. Any editing program supporting security locking to prevent further unauthorized edits, has behaviors that "supposed-to-be-locked" PMX files don't have at all.
First, no "edit locked" file would have just a character to mark it as "read only". They all use any kind of inner encryption to prevent unauthorized people editing it.
And most important, programs within they are used can recognize the encryption/locking and simply prevent the edit, but all of them allow you to open and use, preventing you only to edit and save any change. Absolutely they don't show any malfunction, when they open a licitly locked/encrypted file.
PMX Editor and MMM, instead, simply doesn't show the file or does't load it correctly. This is malfunction, not a safety control. Let's see a protected Adobe PDF document, for example, if you cannot figure out what I'm talking about.
Now I cannot help you if you cannot see the difference between:
a) distributing "read only" or protected files, protected from editing with tools explicitly developed to allow the distribution of edit-protected BUT WORKING documents
b) distributing files deliberately made "invalid" to cause malfunctions in the programs they work with
You are a cracker pirate, you've given out the way anyone can crack my models!
See what I've just explained. No way you can consider "cracking" the operation to restore a PMX File in its valid and standard format. This won't be important from a "how to protect your works" point of view, but it's VERY important if you stupidly defame me, accusing me to be a cracker or distributor of "how to crack" anything.
If one has cracked anything, or "exploited" the PMX format, is the program you used to make invalid the PMX file you are distributing. Not me. This, of course, just under a technical point of view. So, please, learn to use proper words instead of defaming people with foolish accuses of being "suppoerter of crackers/thieves/terrorists/etc".
The right to lock and/or deny edits
This is in my opinion the most interesting point, while the most violent and raging injures I've received for my post have come not from "modellers from scratch" but from editors, whose work is to search around for useful parts, taking them, putting them together (with or withour recolors, retexturing, shape tuning...) and then redistribute their models, so called "edits".
Here, on this point happens one of the most terrific misunderstandings about "who's owner of what". I'd suggest most of you who have injured me to re-read what's well explained on learnmmd.com, but also here on deviantart, about what rights belong to an editor, i.e. a people who uses parts made by other people.
I'm mostly an editor too. So I don't need at all your explainations and raging rants, to understand how hard is, sometimes, our work as editors. Nor I need any moral lesson by you about the right to be credited. If you had took the time to look at my gallery, before starting accusing me to kill & eat children, you'd have found a lot of posts and tutorials about the need to always respect author's rules and the need to (properly) credit the work you are using (example: fav.me/da76xcl ).
What many of you seem to ignore is that the need to credit and respect author's rules, is not a matter for final users only, but also (I'd say: above all) for you all editors, who use third party models and parts to make yours.
This matter is very simple.
The operation of editing, using third parts models, absolutely doesn't make you owner of anything.
All times you say "This model is of my own property because I've edited it and spent a lot of time to do, so I can put any rules I want on it" you're wrong.
Completely wrong, no chance to mince words about this matter.
You can (and should) be credited for your creative work as editor, of course.
But don't forget you are just an editor, not the owner of the used parts.
Don't forget you are using works made by other people who freely shared them, allowing you to use them to make new edits. You absolutely have NO (moral or legal) RIGHT to put restrictive conditions (yes I mean that ridiculous "don't edit/don't take parts/etc" rules) upon the edits you have made using free to use parts.
That's just to focus your attention on the use that most of PMX Locker fans do of this program: to illegally, illicitly "lock" what no way is of their own property, going on and going on with the terrific misunderstanding about "who's owner of what", that is really one of the most dangerous and severe matter of controversy between the japanese MMDCs and ours ones.
Japanese MMDC will now watch at us as bullshit, thanks to you!
Let's speak seriously. First of all, "JMMDC" is not a single people, it's not a borg collective mind.
There are a lot of japanese MMD modellers who never tried to raise barrirs between them and us, who never tried to prevent us modifying or editing or using their models, who never felt in that stpid password games just to deny non japanese speaking people using their models. So, please, stop wielding this ridicolous accuse as a warhammer anytime one does something not of your tastes.
One of the reasons why many japanese modellers are angry with "us" it's exactly the redistribution of edits. YOUR edits. It this sufficiently clear in your mind?
All of you crying because PMX Locker won't be so "useful" anymore "protecting" you edits, should consider how often yourselves are forcing those jap modellers to grow angry, not because I've "ruined" the magic wand of PMX Model Locker, but just because you all often make unauthorized edits, redistribute them and (also) you claim any kind of right and/or ownership upon the models you have made editing the original ones.
And then, after that, do you ALSO put an illicit "lock" on them?
Mayhaps you should take some minutes to think about what are the real reasons so many japanese modellers consider "us" as bullshit and dishonest thieves of their work.
Note: I disagree some of japanese arguments about this matter, but in final point if you first take parts from them and redistribute your edits claiming ANY KIND of "ownership" upon them, adding your own restrictive rules having no right to do it, and finally you also put a "lock" on them to say "this is mine!", well mayhaps those japanese modellers are someway right, being angry with "us".
Last but not least, the other reason why you should stop using this stupid accuse (the "right wrath" from JMMDC) anytime you see something not of your taste, is that SOME of the restrictions SOME jap users put on their models have absolutely NO relationship with what we do, but with where we were born.
That's a very frustrating and sad matter, but yes: there are racist people over the world. In Japan, in USA, in Europe, everywhere. So please stop thinking that all that japanese boys do is rightful and worth to be respected or imitated. Stupidity should never be imitated nor respected, and that's all, it doesn't matter if not respecting (or imitating) stupidity you can make SOME (please, note it! SOME, not "all") japanese modeller grow angry and so they threaten to stop distributing models.
In this scenery, the fact PMX Model Locker looses its value (if it ever had one...) has no relationship with what SOME japanese modeller thinks about "us".

Abuses, white flies & black sheeps
Coming to the point, yes. I'm a little tired to hear moral lesson and raging rants from people accusing me to have helped "thieves" because I've explained how to restore the standard file format of a supposed-to-be-locked model. Above all when this accuse comes by editors who they first don't respect any property right, who first abuses of the parts they have used to make their edits, or also who first distribute materials of "questionable" ownership and pretends to deny people to further edit them as they were owners of what they have REdistributed.

Look at HOW most of edits are redistributed. Maybe the umpteenth TDA edit.
First look at credits section. Where is it? Opppssssss. I forgot it, damn!
Do you see any proper credit section? yeeaaah. No.
It's still a miracle if some of original authors are at least mentioned, but do you understand from "credits" who the hell made what, or where to find the used parts you you wanted to reuse them without editing this model? No, again.
Now take a look at "rules" section: of couse here it's full of colored ballons, the usual "don't edit/don't take parts/don't steal/etc" formulas, put here with no right to do. Finally, try to download them and open in PMX just to fix something to your need.
Yes, you guessed it. Models are "locked".
You try to contact the author. Sorry he/she lost interest in MMD and now lives on a Himalaya peak as a monk.
Note: this is not "the only bad exception over a billions of good cases". This is the standard way editors redistribute their edited models, self-taking the right to put illicit limitations on the distributed works, self-rising theirselves at "owner level", self estabilishing theirselves that you all cannot edit what they have edited first using parts, textures or ripped model that they absolutely do not own.

Should I continue and talk about game ripped models, converted to MMD format and then redistributed? The way not only the ripped models have been "locked", not only restrictive rules have been illicitly added as the converter had any right upon it, but also that often users are forced, to download and use the model, to pass through "url shrinkers" with invasive AD campaigns to let the editor gain something?

Yes I often distribute this kind of models, taking XNA models extracted from games by other people, converting them and then tuning them for use in MMD animation software.
Take a look at my downloads and how I set the credits section of my downloadabel contents or the terms of use I specify.
You won't find ANY try to act myself as owner of ANY right upon those models. The only thing I ask users is just to be credited for the conversion and tuning work. Stop, no more.
As editor I have no right to deny anything about "ripped" models.
Certainly I have no right to gain anything, directly or not, not to "lock" what I'm distributing.
Please don't overwhelm my ears with cries about "the single black sheep over billions of white flies".
These are the standard and most common ways edits are distributed. And this is the standard way editors use PMX Model Locker trying to "lock" something they have absolutely no right to lock or deny further editing.

So what about the real owners who want to protect their works?
This is the very one matter I cannot answer. Basically I think there isn't a completely acceptable and satisfatory answer.
Ending this topic what we have got is both that PMX Model Locker had not ever been a protection for our models, and that most of MMD editors simply abuses of this program trying to "lock" models upon that they have no ownership, nor right to deny further edits.
That's not a self-assolving assertion when I say that I've "ruined" absolutely nothing (but eventually some dishonest MMD users offering their "help" in privately "unlocking" models): A single character added to make a file invalid had never been a protection for your artworks. And if you are in that vaste group of editors who should have never locked anything because they simply did't have the right to do, it should be irrelevant that PMX Locker has been revealed for being useless for you.
How to protect your original work? Don't ask me. I have no answer but that "PMX Locker" wasn't at all your safe (nor minimally safe) solution. Consider that also professional 3d modellers (architects, engineers, and so on) have a lot of difficulties to protect their rights every time they release any models of their. Even if they use professional vendors to distribute their professional models, soon or late they often see their original models illegally distributed, parts reused without authorization and so on. And please, consider that they use 3d softwares BY FAR more advanced and safe than our beloved PMX Editor.
Am I suggesting to give up? Not really. But I strongly suggest you accept the risk, when distributing your models. If you're not ready to accept this risk you probably shouldn't release anything in public. But please, also consider that there are a lot of MMD modellers who accept this risk, don't put absurdely restrictive rules and give all of you the opportunity to reuse their creations, doesn't matter if anyone recolors their models or any idiot use them for questionable videos.

Yes but some day in the future... WHAT IF a real locking would come?
This is an interesting question. What if any day in the future, a real working locking/protection will be implemented? Not a false one as in this case. An effective, licit and hardcoded system of locking PMX files preventing other people to edit PMX files and still allowing them to open in read only mode into PMX Editor, MMM and MMD?
It's not, in my opinion, a matter of technology. Coding techniques are yet available by now. Just think about how Adobe PDF documents can be protected to deny editing, selection and copy & paste features, while they still can be opened, read and printed.

As someone has said, this would open a new bright era in the MMD communities.
What I wonder is what kind of era this one would be.

What most of the editors crying today on the PMX Model Locker's grave basically don't accept and don'f face off, is that all "do not edit / do not take parts" rules, and the claim to lock models, will affect not only the final MMD user, but will affect themselves as editors.

I can imagine a MMD world where z7def had locked his models, so Nerudrum/Drumaster/Nerudora would have had not the chance to edit them and create his own wonderful models and vocaloid versions derived by z7def's ones.

I can imagine a MMD world where TDA's origina author locked his model so NONE of the thousands of derived TDA edits had existed, because editors who worked on them simply had nothing to work on, as original TDA model had been locked by the author.

I can imagine this wonderful and supposed-to-be-bright era when editors will be extincted as a category of MMD users. And when authors-from-scratch and final MMD users will be the only two categories of users in the MMD communities.

Editors who are crying, barking and raging because PMX Model Locker won't protect their works anymore (if it had ever protected them) seem to be persuaded that things would be the same for them. That they will continue searching for useable models, taking parts from other models, recoloring and putting them together, then locking their edits and distributing them now really protected.

Forget of it. The very first victims of a "some day coming" real and working lock system will be all of you editors.

Mayhaps this would mean a nice stop on the "billions of TDA recolors" passed as original edits and wonderful masterpieces of MMD art. Yes, maybe.
But this also will be the end of any reason to edit and enhance previous models. Simply because in the world and in this bright era you are invoking, where any model can be really locked and effectively protected by further edits, all of you editors will have no more work to do, as you simply will have nothing of editable to work on.

It's a questionable matter if this will be a nice era and a gain for MMD users in general. But for you editors in particular, this will be surely the end of your work. So I'd pay attention before crying and raging and barking about PMX Locker, or invoking a "safe way to protect your works from edits".
As always, constructive criticism is welcome

Description

... or why I explode in a big (and SAD) laugh when you say that I would have ruined the MMDC

Hi again, friends and haters
I've had 2 or 3 days to study this matter deeper, after my so largely condamned and commented post about "how to unlock" PMX file that have been "locked" using PMX Model Locker (or manually changing a character in the file header definition)
Read it here as reference: fav.me/dbl8r2i
Really when I did it I hadn't forecasted what kind of reactions it would have caused. It has been, at the beginnig, just the consequence of a very banal comparison between a PMX file "locked" with PMX Model Locker and a standard working PMX file.
I've immediately realized the only difference was that "dirty character" in the header definition. But it seems that I've given away the Coca Cola secret recipe, causing an economic and ethical disaster to the MMD community. Even if there were tutorials yet about how to restore a "locked" model to its working version.
I've used past few days to go on studying the matter. And I'd like to share what I've understood.
About the file format: "locked" or simply "invalid"?
I've found a good scheme of the file structure here:
gist.github.com/felixjones/f8a…
A trouble with PMX file format is that is not really and officially documented. The only documentation (at least in english) is the one I've mentioned, and as far as I see, it's resulting by empirical experiences of modellers and editors, and by reverse engineering. Regardless of the origins of the documentation, it's almost complete, and surely at least complete to allow programmers developing any kind of plugins or stand-alone programs to manage this file format.
What I'm focus on is the header definition of the file. As specified, a valid PMX file must have "PMX " in the first 4 characters, including the space after "PMX".
I.e. the 4th character must be a space, for a PMX file to be considered valid and editable by PMX Editor or useable in MMM (Miku Miku Moving, alternate animation program similar to MMD).
The reason why MMD open "locked" PMX file is a still discussed matter. Some people have suggested it's because both PMX editor and MMM use .Net framework. I'm not persuaded about this suggestion. It's not a matter of what framework you use, when you open a file anche check for its format. The confirm is in some tests I've done yesterday.
You can download, here on the right, a simple, stupid model done for fun and just to explain this matter so you can make a test by yourself.
It's a square shape with just a texture on it. (DON'T STEAL PARTS! ... fun)
It comes in different version: the standard one, the one I've "locked" using PMX Model Locker, the one I've "unlocked" editing the "locked" one with an hexadecimal editor, and finally what I really find interesting: two versions where the 4th character (blank space in a working PMX file) has been replaced not by the "locker" character (ꁘ, hex code A0, ASCII value 160) but by other characters, precisely the "@" and the "©" characters. I've intentionally used two standard ASCII character just to exclude any interferences by a non standard charset. Simply try to open them if you wish to make a test.
You'll see that in both cases PMX Editor will refuse to edit them. MMD, instead, will still correctly load and use them, regardless they contains an unexpected character in 4th position instead of the "suppesed to be a locking character" (ꁘ).
Well, let's say this confirms my persuasion that "supposed-to-be-locked" PMX files are not really to be considered "locked" but just invalid/corrupted files. The only reason MMD loads and use them is that evidently MMD just checks the first 3 character, only to control if the file is a PMD or PMX one, simply ignoring what follows, then it proceeds checking other fields to load shapes, textures, weights and skeleton structure, morphs and so on.
So what? Locked or ivalidated it's the same thing!
Nevermind. I find this point very important. Any editing program supporting security locking to prevent further unauthorized edits, has behaviors that "supposed-to-be-locked" PMX files don't have at all.
First, no "edit locked" file would have just a character to mark it as "read only". They all use any kind of inner encryption to prevent unauthorized people editing it.
And most important, programs within they are used can recognize the encryption/locking and simply prevent the edit, but all of them allow you to open and use, preventing you only to edit and save any change. Absolutely they don't show any malfunction, when they open a licitly locked/encrypted file.
PMX Editor and MMM, instead, simply doesn't show the file or does't load it correctly. This is malfunction, not a safety control. Let's see a protected Adobe PDF document, for example, if you cannot figure out what I'm talking about.
Now I cannot help you if you cannot see the difference between:
a) distributing "read only" or protected files, protected from editing with tools explicitly developed to allow the distribution of edit-protected BUT WORKING documents
b) distributing files deliberately made "invalid" to cause malfunctions in the programs they work with
You are a cracker pirate, you've given out the way anyone can crack my models!
See what I've just explained. No way you can consider "cracking" the operation to restore a PMX File in its valid and standard format. This won't be important from a "how to protect your works" point of view, but it's VERY important if you stupidly defame me, accusing me to be a cracker or distributor of "how to crack" anything.
If one has cracked anything, or "exploited" the PMX format, is the program you used to make invalid the PMX file you are distributing. Not me. This, of course, just under a technical point of view. So, please, learn to use proper words instead of defaming people with foolish accuses of being "suppoerter of crackers/thieves/terrorists/etc".
The right to lock and/or deny edits
This is in my opinion the most interesting point, while the most violent and raging injures I've received for my post have come not from "modellers from scratch" but from editors, whose work is to search around for useful parts, taking them, putting them together (with or withour recolors, retexturing, shape tuning...) and then redistribute their models, so called "edits".
Here, on this point happens one of the most terrific misunderstandings about "who's owner of what". I'd suggest most of you who have injured me to re-read what's well explained on learnmmd.com, but also here on deviantart, about what rights belong to an editor, i.e. a people who uses parts made by other people.
I'm mostly an editor too. So I don't need at all your explainations and raging rants, to understand how hard is, sometimes, our work as editors. Nor I need any moral lesson by you about the right to be credited. If you had took the time to look at my gallery, before starting accusing me to kill & eat children, you'd have found a lot of posts and tutorials about the need to always respect author's rules and the need to (properly) credit the work you are using (example: fav.me/da76xcl ).
What many of you seem to ignore is that the need to credit and respect author's rules, is not a matter for final users only, but also (I'd say: above all) for you all editors, who use third party models and parts to make yours.
This matter is very simple.
The operation of editing, using third parts models, absolutely doesn't make you owner of anything.
All times you say "This model is of my own property because I've edited it and spent a lot of time to do, so I can put any rules I want on it" you're wrong.
Completely wrong, no chance to mince words about this matter.
You can (and should) be credited for your creative work as editor, of course.
But don't forget you are just an editor, not the owner of the used parts.
Don't forget you are using works made by other people who freely shared them, allowing you to use them to make new edits. You absolutely have NO (moral or legal) RIGHT to put restrictive conditions (yes I mean that ridiculous "don't edit/don't take parts/etc" rules) upon the edits you have made using free to use parts.
That's just to focus your attention on the use that most of PMX Locker fans do of this program: to illegally, illicitly "lock" what no way is of their own property, going on and going on with the terrific misunderstanding about "who's owner of what", that is really one of the most dangerous and severe matter of controversy between the japanese MMDCs and ours ones.
Japanese MMDC will now watch at us as bullshit, thanks to you!
Let's speak seriously. First of all, "JMMDC" is not a single people, it's not a borg collective mind.
There are a lot of japanese MMD modellers who never tried to raise barrirs between them and us, who never tried to prevent us modifying or editing or using their models, who never felt in that stpid password games just to deny non japanese speaking people using their models. So, please, stop wielding this ridicolous accuse as a warhammer anytime one does something not of your tastes.
One of the reasons why many japanese modellers are angry with "us" it's exactly the redistribution of edits. YOUR edits. It this sufficiently clear in your mind?
All of you crying because PMX Locker won't be so "useful" anymore "protecting" you edits, should consider how often yourselves are forcing those jap modellers to grow angry, not because I've "ruined" the magic wand of PMX Model Locker, but just because you all often make unauthorized edits, redistribute them and (also) you claim any kind of right and/or ownership upon the models you have made editing the original ones.
And then, after that, do you ALSO put an illicit "lock" on them?
Mayhaps you should take some minutes to think about what are the real reasons so many japanese modellers consider "us" as bullshit and dishonest thieves of their work.
Note: I disagree some of japanese arguments about this matter, but in final point if you first take parts from them and redistribute your edits claiming ANY KIND of "ownership" upon them, adding your own restrictive rules having no right to do it, and finally you also put a "lock" on them to say "this is mine!", well mayhaps those japanese modellers are someway right, being angry with "us".
Last but not least, the other reason why you should stop using this stupid accuse (the "right wrath" from JMMDC) anytime you see something not of your taste, is that SOME of the restrictions SOME jap users put on their models have absolutely NO relationship with what we do, but with where we were born.
That's a very frustrating and sad matter, but yes: there are racist people over the world. In Japan, in USA, in Europe, everywhere. So please stop thinking that all that japanese boys do is rightful and worth to be respected or imitated. Stupidity should never be imitated nor respected, and that's all, it doesn't matter if not respecting (or imitating) stupidity you can make SOME (please, note it! SOME, not "all") japanese modeller grow angry and so they threaten to stop distributing models.
In this scenery, the fact PMX Model Locker looses its value (if it ever had one...) has no relationship with what SOME japanese modeller thinks about "us".

Abuses, white flies & black sheeps
Coming to the point, yes. I'm a little tired to hear moral lesson and raging rants from people accusing me to have helped "thieves" because I've explained how to restore the standard file format of a supposed-to-be-locked model. Above all when this accuse comes by editors who they first don't respect any property right, who first abuses of the parts they have used to make their edits, or also who first distribute materials of "questionable" ownership and pretends to deny people to further edit them as they were owners of what they have REdistributed.

Look at HOW most of edits are redistributed. Maybe the umpteenth TDA edit.
First look at credits section. Where is it? Opppssssss. I forgot it, damn!
Do you see any proper credit section? yeeaaah. No.
It's still a miracle if some of original authors are at least mentioned, but do you understand from "credits" who the hell made what, or where to find the used parts you you wanted to reuse them without editing this model? No, again.
Now take a look at "rules" section: of couse here it's full of colored ballons, the usual "don't edit/don't take parts/don't steal/etc" formulas, put here with no right to do. Finally, try to download them and open in PMX just to fix something to your need.
Yes, you guessed it. Models are "locked".
You try to contact the author. Sorry he/she lost interest in MMD and now lives on a Himalaya peak as a monk.
Note: this is not "the only bad exception over a billions of good cases". This is the standard way editors redistribute their edited models, self-taking the right to put illicit limitations on the distributed works, self-rising theirselves at "owner level", self estabilishing theirselves that you all cannot edit what they have edited first using parts, textures or ripped model that they absolutely do not own.

Should I continue and talk about game ripped models, converted to MMD format and then redistributed? The way not only the ripped models have been "locked", not only restrictive rules have been illicitly added as the converter had any right upon it, but also that often users are forced, to download and use the model, to pass through "url shrinkers" with invasive AD campaigns to let the editor gain something?

Yes I often distribute this kind of models, taking XNA models extracted from games by other people, converting them and then tuning them for use in MMD animation software.
Take a look at my downloads and how I set the credits section of my downloadabel contents or the terms of use I specify.
You won't find ANY try to act myself as owner of ANY right upon those models. The only thing I ask users is just to be credited for the conversion and tuning work. Stop, no more.
As editor I have no right to deny anything about "ripped" models.
Certainly I have no right to gain anything, directly or not, not to "lock" what I'm distributing.
Please don't overwhelm my ears with cries about "the single black sheep over billions of white flies".
These are the standard and most common ways edits are distributed. And this is the standard way editors use PMX Model Locker trying to "lock" something they have absolutely no right to lock or deny further editing.

So what about the real owners who want to protect their works?
This is the very one matter I cannot answer. Basically I think there isn't a completely acceptable and satisfatory answer.
Ending this topic what we have got is both that PMX Model Locker had not ever been a protection for our models, and that most of MMD editors simply abuses of this program trying to "lock" models upon that they have no ownership, nor right to deny further edits.
That's not a self-assolving assertion when I say that I've "ruined" absolutely nothing (but eventually some dishonest MMD users offering their "help" in privately "unlocking" models): A single character added to make a file invalid had never been a protection for your artworks. And if you are in that vaste group of editors who should have never locked anything because they simply did't have the right to do, it should be irrelevant that PMX Locker has been revealed for being useless for you.
How to protect your original work? Don't ask me. I have no answer but that "PMX Locker" wasn't at all your safe (nor minimally safe) solution. Consider that also professional 3d modellers (architects, engineers, and so on) have a lot of difficulties to protect their rights every time they release any models of their. Even if they use professional vendors to distribute their professional models, soon or late they often see their original models illegally distributed, parts reused without authorization and so on. And please, consider that they use 3d softwares BY FAR more advanced and safe than our beloved PMX Editor.
Am I suggesting to give up? Not really. But I strongly suggest you accept the risk, when distributing your models. If you're not ready to accept this risk you probably shouldn't release anything in public. But please, also consider that there are a lot of MMD modellers who accept this risk, don't put absurdely restrictive rules and give all of you the opportunity to reuse their creations, doesn't matter if anyone recolors their models or any idiot use them for questionable videos.

Yes but some day in the future... WHAT IF a real locking would come?
This is an interesting question. What if any day in the future, a real working locking/protection will be implemented? Not a false one as in this case. An effective, licit and hardcoded system of locking PMX files preventing other people to edit PMX files and still allowing them to open in read only mode into PMX Editor, MMM and MMD?
It's not, in my opinion, a matter of technology. Coding techniques are yet available by now. Just think about how Adobe PDF documents can be protected to deny editing, selection and copy & paste features, while they still can be opened, read and printed.

As someone has said, this would open a new bright era in the MMD communities.
What I wonder is what kind of era this one would be.

What most of the editors crying today on the PMX Model Locker's grave basically don't accept and don'f face off, is that all "do not edit / do not take parts" rules, and the claim to lock models, will affect not only the final MMD user, but will affect themselves as editors.

I can imagine a MMD world where z7def had locked his models, so Nerudrum/Drumaster/Nerudora would have had not the chance to edit them and create his own wonderful models and vocaloid versions derived by z7def's ones.

I can imagine a MMD world where TDA's origina author locked his model so NONE of the thousands of derived TDA edits had existed, because editors who worked on them simply had nothing to work on, as original TDA model had been locked by the author.

I can imagine this wonderful and supposed-to-be-bright era when editors will be extincted as a category of MMD users. And when authors-from-scratch and final MMD users will be the only two categories of users in the MMD communities.

Editors who are crying, barking and raging because PMX Model Locker won't protect their works anymore (if it had ever protected them) seem to be persuaded that things would be the same for them. That they will continue searching for useable models, taking parts from other models, recoloring and putting them together, then locking their edits and distributing them now really protected.

Forget of it. The very first victims of a "some day coming" real and working lock system will be all of you editors.

Mayhaps this would mean a nice stop on the "billions of TDA recolors" passed as original edits and wonderful masterpieces of MMD art. Yes, maybe.
But this also will be the end of any reason to edit and enhance previous models. Simply because in the world and in this bright era you are invoking, where any model can be really locked and effectively protected by further edits, all of you editors will have no more work to do, as you simply will have nothing of editable to work on.

It's a questionable matter if this will be a nice era and a gain for MMD users in general. But for you editors in particular, this will be surely the end of your work. So I'd pay attention before crying and raging and barking about PMX Locker, or invoking a "safe way to protect your works from edits".
As always, constructive criticism is welcome