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Old 14-07-2010, 02:39   #1
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OpenCPN on eBay

there is a guy making a killing selling your plotter on ebay he has flooded ebay with them (well 11 anyway),is this guy actually making a donation to you with all the money he is making???? if not cant you at least claim copyright on it and get him shut down here is the link

CHANNEL ISLAND VAT FREE PC'S items - Get great deals on LAPTOPS, CHARTPLOTTERS items on eBay.co.uk Shops!
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Old 14-07-2010, 12:07   #2
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hammyloz,
this happened before and will happen again. Nobody has power, time and resources to actually prevent it from happening and it will be happening to all the successful open source projects as long as there will be people lazy enough not to find them before wasting their money. I'm afraid all we can actually do is wait for people like this one to bake in hell

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Old 14-07-2010, 12:37   #3
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another perspective...

Hi...

Firstly, it's not me selling OpenCPN on Ebay!

However, there is an argument that the seller isn't really doing anything wrong. From the OpenCPN GPL via their site:

"When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.

To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.

For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights."

Whether or not the ebay seller is being upfront & honest about this, or is being entirely fair, is another question.

Food for thought anyway.

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Old 14-07-2010, 12:52   #4
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Much better explanation than mine
The problem with these guys is actually that there is no way to stop them if they are not totally stupid to violate the GPL and charge for the program itself. GPL allows to charge for the "added value", be it services, media or bundled stuff. This guy for example is not selling OpenCPN, but the notebook on which it's installed. In this case trying to even tell him not to is a total waste of time...

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Old 14-07-2010, 13:05   #5
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maybe someone should go on ebay and advertise it for free???/ would that be allowed????
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Old 14-07-2010, 16:17   #6
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Hi guys...

Selling opencpn is just fine by me. Remember the GPL slogan:

"Think Free speech, not Free beer".

One thing to remember: In the US at least, taking money for a product or service creates an implied contract between buyer and seller. All the liabilities arguably go with it, even in the presence of a disclaimer such as we have.

So, caveat venditor.

Check this out
Selling Free Software - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

Dave
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