Media Portal being sold on ebay!! ?? (4 Viewers)

[v_lestat]

ok what gives, this is an open source free program

how and why are people being allowed to sell it on ebay.

they are NOT charging just for the cd either.

take a look.

EBAY Link

 

[SiLenTYL]

this is illegal

if any1 finds MediaPortal for sale on eBay, please report them to eBAY ASAP!!!!!

 

[v_lestat]

i was going to but by the time they get the email and do anything about it... well...

it wont do any good,, i emailed the guy and basically told him he had alot of balls selling that software and that he had 24hrs to remove it before i reported him to ebay, paypal, and the Gnu Licensing Board (the last was a bluff but what the heck lol)

will he listen no...


send an email to ebay but theauctions will be over before anything can be done

 

[raf]

Also check this site out:

http://www.cd-domain.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3

 

[CCMCornell]

According to the Sourceforge page, Media Portal is licensed under GPL. This allows anyone to repackage the software for resale at any price, as long as they comply with the terms of the GPL, which, among other things, requires them to provide source at request.

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html

This is quite common. Consider all the Linux distros that are available in stores or via mail on CD to save the customer from downloading one or more CD's (great for 56k modem users). Also, consider companies who sell the Linux as enterprise solutions that include top-notch support as part of the package.

I agree, that in this case, purchasing Media Portal doesn't seem worth it. It's not very large (26 MB.) And, I doubt the sellers are offerring any considerable tech support - certainly not any better than could be found for free right here.

 

[donmega]

Yes you see heres the catch.
Your not actually paying for the software, your paying for the cd that it is recorded on and usally the included help documents and packaging.

At least this is what I remember reading about why redhat is sold @ best buy or wherever

 

[CCMCornell]

There's no "catch" in buying or selling GPL software. You're no more or less buying "software" with GPL and non-GPL software. Yes, obviously the distributor is going to take into account the cost of media, documentation, support, bandwidth, and whatever else his expenses are - just like any business. But, there's no semantical game that says, "Oh, you're paying for a CD which just so happens to have some GPL code on it." like those ebay ads that sell innocuous items with illicit "free gift" items (e.g. a $10 #2 pencil with "free gift" bootleg mix CD).

With any software package, you're paying for the software to be used with certain restrictions - with proprietary software, it's usually an EULA; with GPL software, it's the GPL.

 

[pieroxy]

As CCMCornell says, there is nothing wrong with selling GPL software. Apart from being a very bad deal, I don't really see the problem here.

 

[Khris]

My reply to the idiots selling Media Portal on Ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7198888568&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

 

[pieroxy]

My reply to the idiots selling Media Portal on Ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7198888568&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

The link doesn't work anymore...