Help Stop Freeware Flightsim Piracy On EBay?

[Icelandair Pilot]

[quote]Yes ofcourse i will!!

unless my wallet says something else

[Jimbo]

IM not whether this is serious or not, but i said $10 for the sake of it, and freeware designers need help to combat this,

I'm not getting my self into anything big though.

J

Like you said, this is only a GENERAL idea.

[wealthysoup]

This is just an idea I thought of a minute ago so it still has some serious flaws in it.
But if all the major flightsim sites were to force people to make an account and agree to terms and conditions such as  

"As these addons are freeware they MAY NOT be sold for any profit, and if being given away on CD must have the owners permission and must CHARGE NO MONEY be this the price of the cd or to gain profit from others work. Any addons from this site may NOT be sold on EBAY for any price and if these are spotted LEGAL ACTION WILL BE TAKEN against the seller and legal fees WILL BE PAID by any violator of this contract , as designers have put a lot of effort into these designs and contribute them for FREE to the flight simulator community."

If all the major fs sites did something like this and could get peoples personal details from ebay of people who pirate  and their ip address they could be banned from all flight sim sites so would have difficulty getting more freeware to sell and also to take them to court. Since the person that pirates this stuff would pay the costs and hopefully more it should not cost the website anything except a bit of time and effort. As for the money that could go to the designers whos products got sold or to the website for more bandwidth at no cost to people that download from them legally.

As I said its just a thought but it might work if you could get ebay to help cut down on piracy. (sorry for such a long post if you have even read this far  ;) )

[Theis]

i think that is a good idea!

[Katahu]

You're right, it does have flaws. But it's a good idea none the less.

The flaw is this:

Ebay has a policy that prevents the seller's personal information from being given away without permission from the seller unless proper authorities have a warrent or just cause [as far as I'm concerned] against the seller.

Seeing that the FS community is not the proper authority, the seller could sue the community for invasion of privacy. From there it gets real sticky.

As I said before, one of the ways to stop people like this thief is to simply limit his options by forcing Ebay to ban the sale of such addons on its site.

Besides, baning the seller might not do any good since the seller might be using bogus addresses and/or a computer in a public library while possibly using bogus or stolen ID. Remember, ID Theft is the number one crime in the states and the seller might not even be from England.

But as I said before, your idea is still a good one.

[congo]

Methinks the money would be better spent hiring a goon to have a "chat" with the offender, perhaps enlightening him/her as to our reservations about their behaviour. At least then I'd know the money was well spent, lawyers make enough already.

Do you think that is barbaric? It's no more barbaric than a legal system where you must hire legal professionals in order to persue a blatant breach of the law, it's simply a police matter. If the police can't be bothered, what then? You of course pay through the nose to get them to take notice of your complaint through a lawyer.

I like my way better.

[Saitek]

As much as I voted yes I would help, I think as already pointed out some lawyer would merrily pocket it all. Seems rather hard.

[afi0yz]

im broke

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

I would...it makes my blood boil >:(

[ashaman]

im broke

I can't help but envy you, my financial state is in even worse shape than that.

Being broke would be a step forward, for me.

[flyboy 28]

eBay or not, people would still do it. But I think eBay is the contributing factor. So yes.

[Zaphod]

Perhaps I'm missing the point, but if a shop in my nearest town was selling "pirated software" as blatantly as e-bay appears to be, it would be stopped by local trading standards authorities. And lets not kid ourselves, this problem is not only confined to the flight-sim world.
I'm not unsympathetic to the idea of a fighting fund to combat this "scum bag" but at the end of the day E-bay needs to regulate itself, and if it can't, then the problem needs legislation to bring them in line. It can't be one law for the shop keeper and another for on-line merchants.
Rant over

Zaphod

[JBaymore]

...... then the problem needs legislation to bring them in line. It can't be one law for the shop keeper and another for on-line merchants.

The whole "Internet thing" is so new..... that it has caught the legislators off guard.  The sales tax thing is JUST starting to come up.  

Then there is the whole "jurisdiction" business...... if I'm in New Hampshire buying from a person in Nigeria, using eBay in the UK........ who has jurisdiction on legal issues or disputes?  

Unfortunately, eBay is "the fences" dream.  Worldwide anonymous selling of just about anything with few questions asked.  And few to no cops "walking the beat".

All of these legalities need to be tested.  Much of law is based on precedents.  One way it is tested is through lawsuits.  If there are no suits........ there is no chance for anyone to make a ruling on the subject.

best,

..............john

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

Sounds good. But firstly. Is the copyright on freeware planes just asserted, or is it actually registered? This could determine whether or not we actually have a case. Copyright cannot just be asserted, like "I shotty that seat", but rather you need approval. Seeing that its freeware, isnt there a viable argument that this selling, while be morally reprehensible, is legal? I beleive that if we are to do this, we need to do this properly, and not just say "Oh, this is against our morals, therefore it must be illegal." While I am strongly and totally opposed to this practice of selling, we must get our facts straight first. Do we have any barristers here, aside from me, the would be?



A.

[JBaymore]

But firstly. Is the copyright on freeware planes just asserted, or is it actually registered? This could determine whether or not we actually have a case. Copyright cannot just be asserted, like "I shotty that seat", but rather you need approval.

A.,

In the USA, it does not have to actually be registered.  The registration helps stregnthen the case....but it is not required.  I don;t know about other countries laws.

Freeware may be distributed freely according to the authors wishes.... but it is not "worthless".  The pirates prove that as they make money off of it.

The way to test the stregnth of the legal disclaimers and restrictions placed on most freeware is through the courts.  To get there....... someone has to press a case to completion.

best,

................john