Someone trying to sell MediaPortal on Ebay again !! (1 Viewer)

[80sman]

The quality of Microsofts vista will probably be terrible, but they are calling it final release software and they will charge for it. It will no doubt state in they're licence that it is release software.

Mediaportal is still in Beta....... what these guy's are doing is equivilent to getting a copy of of 'longhorn test beta edition' and selling it as the full windows vista final release.

I suspect in the future we'll get a whole load of people coming on here complaining that this that and the other doesn't work, we can say umm yeah thats cos it's beta software........ and they can legitimatly claim to have have bought "full version" mediaportal. Don't reckon they'll be too impressed.

The morality of it is wrong and whether there is a legal case to be made or not. Selling free stuff on ebay is a con and is still wrong. How anybody can say 'It's ok' is beyond me.

Before anyone starts going on about linux, I know already, but they do offer gigs and gigs of stuff and do offer LEGITAMATE support. I have no problem with that.

 

[pieroxy]

Mediaportal is still in Beta....... what these guy's are doing is equivilent to getting a copy of of 'longhorn test beta edition' and selling it as the full windows vista final release.

The difference is that the license Vista will be released under does not allow such a thing. The License MP is using does.

Selling free stuff on ebay is a con and is still wrong. How anybody can say 'It's ok' is beyond me.

I am not saying "it's ok", when it's clearly not. The problem at hand here is that Mp is released under a license called GPL and that this license allow such a thing. If people are mad enough at what is happening on eBay, then just change the license. It really is that easy (or that hard, depends on how you want to look at it).

What is beyond me is people releasing a software under a license that says "You can do whatever you want with this provided you join the source code" and then complain because people are doing stuff they did not foresee.

Once you've granted the whole world the permission to do anything with your software, you just cannot complain if people are doing stuff you don't like with it.

But of course, it's not the people releasing the software that complains, it's others that think they understand what the GPL is all about, when they clearly not. GPL is about allowing anyone to do anything, even stuff you might not morally agree with.

 

[80sman]

Hi Pieroxy, I'm totally in favour of GPL software and all it stands for and I would hate to see the day when mediaportal became anything else.

I see now what you are saying about repackaging, I would of thought that within that licence agreement there would be a clause that would say "you must modify or change slightly this product before selling it on in what I believe to be a misleading manner. But I guess theres not. I've not looked into it that thouroughly. I find it irksome that someone can sell something as something it's not and then waive all responsibilty for it.

I still maintain that trading standards have a case against the seller for misrepresnting what he's selling but it's only a very small detail and I don't really beleive for a second that you could make a case out of it.

What narks me is not that he's making money out of somebody else's hard work, that happens all over the world and is the nature of business. What annoy's me is that here is somebody who is taking advantage of the less well informed and the people who aren't really that computer literate. It's taking advantage of the innocent (and also I agree the stupid/lazy people, but they'll lose they're money whatever happens), I wish there was some form of protecting them.

Nuff said I guess.........