>If you (or any distributors) have similar problems, simply refer eBay directly
>to either Louis or myself, making reference in your communications to the
>eBay VeRO program. Not a bad idea to send a copy of the emails directly to us
>as well, so we can contact them directly
How would we do this exactly? It seems ebay don't respond to any of the emails or appeals i have sent.
it also seems that this is recorded as an offense (or a strike), are they likely to undo this if they should agree or will they over time eventually shut the account down?
I'm anxious to get on with this, I have 10 thousand CD's to get on sale and untill ebay gives me permission to list Ooo i cant list it.
kindest regards
Steve
-------Original Message-------
Date: 05/09/06 08:00:22
Subject: Re: [cd-rom] Re: I have been stopped from distributing?
On Tuesday 09 May 2006 0:38, OpenOfficeCd.org wrote:
> 1. Ebay can't and will not stop you from selling Openoffice.org.
Not actually correct.eBay can indeed stop an auction. However, they normally
only do so if someone points out a breach of their terms. In the case of
OO.o, that is usually based on the fact that software distributed on
"recordable media" is prohibited on eBay.
Louis and I have at times talked with eBay to clarify things, and normally
that is not a problem. Both Louis and I are registered with eBay under the
VeRO program, either of us are entitled to send a form to eBay stating that
"Seller xyz is infringing our intellectual property". This has only been done
on two (or three) occasions, the most recent occasion about a year ago for a
listing which was bought to our attention by a member of the community. The
listing in question had modified certain screen shots and worded the advert
in such a way as to imply that they were the owners of the software.
If you (or any distributors) have similar problems, simply refer eBay directly
to either Louis or myself, making reference in your communications to the
eBay VeRO program. Not a bad idea to send a copy of the emails directly to us
as well, so we can contact them directly.
> The only
> thing they prohibit is the comparison with Microsoft's products. For
> example you are not allowed to say "Openoffice.org is better than Microsoft
> Office".
And why not? I'd personally add the rider that it is my opinion, and I have
regularly stated that OO.o can do everything MSO can do, and some things it
does better. I've never had a complaint.
> Also in every listing you have to underline that Microsoft Office
> is a trademark registered by Microsoft Co.
Simply add the registered trademark symbol after each mention of Microsoft (r)
and Microsoft Office (r) (IIRC, the HTML tag is <®>). That is the bare
minimum. You can also add a note at the end of the description (in a smaller
font) the the effect "Microsoft and Microsoft Office are registered
trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation." That satisfies propriety.
With Marketing currently running the "Get Legal - Get OpenOffice.org"
campaign, I'd be inclined to use that in my listings, probably as a
headline...
>
> This happened to me as well. I had 10 Openoffice.org listings (identical)
> and only one was banned. I contacted live support and they said they were
> sorry, however the official Ebay support answered 2 days later with a vague
> email stating some rules for illegal copies...
>
> In my opinion, what happened is that an ebay member, also selling
> Openoffice.org used other accounts to ruin you reputation. People like
> that, buy 100% feedback accounts for $100-$200 and use them to raise their
> feedback and lower their competitors'.
>
> I 've seen listings on Ebay about Openoffice.org which seem aggressive at
> least. I would not be surprised if someone, tried to kill the competition.
>
> The Openoffice.org community as far as I know is not into such things.
>
> 2. You also mentioned that you are waiting for a license. You have your GNU
> license, what are you waiting for ?
:) That is something which appears to confuse eBay admin. But remember, the
license is included in the installer.
>
> 3. Ebay is the place to be anymore.... especially if you sell products like
> Openoffice.org. This suite and all the other open-source programs need the
> kind of marketing which will teach people the advantages of their use. Any
> profits will arrive from there but surely not from Ebay. The precentage you
> pay to Ebay for an Openoffice.org listing is huge and people aren't
> interested.
eBay is simply one distribution channel. IMO, it is not a suitable base for a
viable distribution business.
> ----- Original Message -----
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