On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 22:02:22 -0600, Curtis wrote in message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> Someone just directed me to the following ebay vendor selling > FlightGear. > > http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Realistic-Professional-Aviation-Flight-Simulator_W0QQitemZ260053619883QQihZ016QQcategoryZ80336QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem > > At first glance I thought, no big deal, just another person selling a > distribution of FlightGear. But wait a second: this person is selling > it as a "digital download". So they are charging people money for the > right to download flightgear, when they could just as easily (well a > lot more easily) download it for free. > > The more I think about it, the more I have a problem with this. If > they were selling FlightGear on CD, or on floppies, or on reels of > tape, or punch cards, or even printed versions of the source code, I > would have absolutely no problem. That is specifically allowed for in > the GPL, and the vendor can set whatever price they want. > > But here they are not selling anything. Can we call what they are > selling a distribution? The rights to download something that is > already available for free download? > > So my questions: > > 1. Am I right to be concerned about this? ..Jon put it brilliantly. Also have Paypal, FBI etc seize whatever they can. > 2. Is there any outright GPL violation going on here? ..yup, and it's not only FG, chk his feedback page, has 52 "positive feedbacks" and is located in the US and sells "his varez" in Australia. _No_ mention of the GPL on his pages. Classic SW piracy. Since 1998. http://contact.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=redlinedit > 3. If there is a GPL violation, how should we go about addressing it > (and legitimate, legal methods only please.) ..http://gpl-violations.org/ and http://gnumonks.org/~laforge/weblog/linux/gpl-violations/ ..the timing today suggest's we chk with Harald Welte for advice, he _has_ got a few GPL court kills on his score board. ;o) ..and http://groklaw.net/ , _after_ we hear they got him. ;o) -- ..med vennlig hilsen = with Kind Regards from Arnt... ;o) ...with a number of polar bear hunters in his ancestry... Scenarios always come in sets of three: best case, worst case, and just in case. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel
