On 01/14/2008 06:48 AM, Frank Haynes wrote: > Below you will find the message from a company who sold me a download > of Open Office 2.3. I sent my concerns to your email address and > received a message from a James Knott who stated: " If someone is > distributing OpenOffice, they are supposed to advise users that > OpenOffice binaries and source are available from www.openoffice.org, > as per the instructions on: > http://www.openoffice.org/about_us/OEM_and_CD.html"; > > He indicated that an outside vendor selling Open Office should have > provided me with additional information, which they did not. I have > included the email message I received when I purchased the software > from this company and there was no mention of OpenOffice binaries and > source locations. Therefore I plan to proceed with stopping payment > for this software from this company. > > My issue does not concern you however I am advising you of this > tranaction in case you need to do something to protect your company. > > > Frank Haynes Albany, MN >
> ----- Original Message ----- > From: Opal Office > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 9:03 PM > Subject: OPAL OFFICE: Download Link. > > > > Dear Frank, > > Please click the link below to complete your purchase of OPAL OFFICE - > Instant Download. > > https://www.e-junkie.com/d/?[order info snipped] > > Please note, this link is temporary and will expire once you use it. If > clicking on this link does not work, please copy paste it in your browser's > address bar and press enter. > > Please leave your comment in our guestbook as soon as you receive your item: > http://users3.smartgb.com/g/g.php?a=s&i=g34-02241-55 > > > Thank you very much, > OfficeBestDeal.com > > > Frank, Thanks for posting the info. Please be aware that this is a public mailing list (see: http://www.openoffice.org/mail_list.html), so any information posted is open and available for anyone on the internet to see. Also, any replies that you receive regarding this will be from other OpenOffice.org users. Therefore, your order link is also available; meaning that anyone that reads the message can click on the link and download, *and* officebestdeal.com may even charge you for multiple downloads. So please check your credit card statement to ensure that you are not charged for these. This guy (officebestdeal.com) doesn't seem to mind charging for a download link, using the resources of the various mirrors that store and offer OpenOffice.org for free from their servers, and then referring his "customers" to www.support.openoffice.org (see: http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.openoffice.questions/171142 for reference) as aftermarket support. In this case he is using the Oregon State University's opensource server, your purchase link from e-junkie.com leads to: http://www.officebestdeal.com/ac9811.htm?txn_id=gc-[snippedbyNoOp]&item_number=[snipped by NoOp]_email=Frank-[snippedbyNoOp]checkout.l.google.com&first_name=Frank&last_name=F.+Haynes+Jr.&payment_status=Completed Which then leads you to download OpenOffice.org from: http://openoffice.bouncer.osuosl.org/?product=OpenOffice.org&os=winwjre&lang=en-US&version=2.3.1 Domain Name:OSUOSL.ORG Registrant Organization:Oregon State University to sell OpenOffice.org commercially. Partial of weblink site: <quote> Hello, Thank you very much for your purchase! Please click on the following link to download your item: http://openoffice.bouncer.osuosl.org/?product=OpenOffice.org&os=winwjre&lang=en-US&version=2.3.1 </quote> So, not only does he rip you (and others) off by charging for a download link that is free to any and all, but he then uses the computer resources of the of a state government University OSUOSL.ORG server for his commercial gain. It would be one thing if he were serving the data from his own server and using his own computing resources, or even charging only for providing a CD of OpenOffice.org; but, in my opinion, what he is doing is theft of service on a US government computer. http://oregonstate.edu/aup.htm <quote> This policy applies to all users of university computing resources, whether affiliated with the University or not, and to all use of those resources, whether on campus or from remote locations. Additional policies may apply to computing resources provided or operated by individual units of the University or to uses within specific units. . . . Refrain from using University computing resources for commercial purposes, except as specifically authorized by the University in written approval of a request for approval of outside employment. Any such approval shall include full detail of the employee's financial obligation and the charge for such use, if any. . . . Enforcement Users who violate this policy may be denied access to University computing resources and may be subject to disciplinary actions and/or criminal and civil penalties. Violations will normally be handled through the University disciplinary procedures applicable to the relevant user and may include referring suspected violations of applicable law to appropriate law enforcement agencies. However, the University may immediately suspend or block access to an account, prior to the initiation or completion of such procedures, when it appears necessary to do so in order to protect the integrity, security or functionality of University or other computing resources or to protect the University from liability. </quote> If I recall, Oregon have some pretty stiff laws regarding commercial use of government computers. Be advised that it is not illegal to resell OpenOffice.org providing that you abide by the terms listed in the link that James Knott provided you. In fact, providing OOo on CD is a good thing, particularly for folks that are on slow dialup connections. Charging for links to state government computers that have mirrored OOo on their servers, and referring customers to OOo for support is not, and (again in my opinion) is unethical, and in this case, illegal. cc'd to unsubscribed: Frank Please only reply to the mailing list: [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
