Freeware developers, this ain't cool.

[rightseat 277]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8198985546&rd=1If you will cut and paste this link into your address line of your browser you can see what I am looking at--and it ain't cool.I'm sure this guy hasn't authored all these planes, and he is selling freeware a/c from a lot of you that I know from the forums with EULAs in them forbidding this type of thing. I don't know if this has been beaten to death or not, but I wanted you, the authors to know what was up on Ebay.

[Guest Stainless]

It seems a thread about people selling CD's on ebay full of freeware add-ons appears every few months, still gets me wound up no end though. I always wonder whether these people (who buy the CDs) know if its even possible to get them all for free...:-hmmmBut yeah, definatley not cool IMO

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I don't have an ebay account, which appears to be the only way to notify ebay of this abuse. If you do, I urge you (or anyone here) to report it directly to ebay. They are very good about removing such offerings, but only can do so if they are aware of the problem.-JohnEdit: I just tried to send an email to "abuse@ebay.com", and received a reply that abuse must be reported through their online form. Reporting abuse that way requires becoming a member, which requires providing address, phone number, dob, etc.... It doesn't make it easy to report abuse if you're not an ebay member, does it? IMHO they help these abuses by making it a challenge for infringed authors to report issues without having to provide personal data :(

[JP_Visser 3]

surely the guy knows how to read readme's?i'm feeling sorry for the sad folks that buy that without knowing it's available for free here....tataJP.

[Guest Divergent Phugoid]

This I do not condone. But I would be interested in buy a pukka CD that the authors endorse, if only for the convenience of having everything in one go. I hate faffing around downloading and installing stuff by trail and error.AVSIM, should do a "Best of Freeware" CD. I'd pay

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

We have kicked that idea around more than a couple of times. The logistics of doing a CD would be a nightmare. At a minimum, we would have to hire someone to do all the work necessary to master, produce, lable, package and ship those CD's. We would have to pay that person. We would then have to pay taxes on that person's salary and that would open up all kinds of issues with accounting and record keepingf (not to mention taxes on the actual sales of the product). How much could we charge? We would have to cover the expenses of the person and the shipping plus material cost, plus taxes and god knows what else. So, how much could we charge? Don't know, but I can assure you that a simple "just charge enough to cover the cost or reproduction and shipping" would not be enough. But before all that, we would have to work out permissions with authors and we can predict that there would be contentious issues to deal with in that regard and other areas. The first accusation we would hear is "AVSIM is making money off the labor of freeware authors". It is bad enough being a free system with all the complaints and accusations that get thrown our way. I would certainly oppose any other endeavor that opens up AVSIM to further consipiracy theories or opens us up for those that have axes to grind with AVSIM. No thanks.Now isn't that a sad indictment of our hobby?

[Guest]

I wonder if I could get away with selling a CD "full of great airplanes" and have just a hyperlink to www.avsim.com?

[rightseat 277]

JohnCi is right, I'll just start reporting these guys to Ebay since I have an active account. I didn't realize that people had already reported things like this a lot.:>

[Guest WJABen]

They have just been reported!Ben-5150

[Bruce Nicholson KMFR 20]

I guess Ferdy isn't the only one that repackages freeware and sells it. At least people on eBay and other auction sites can be shutdown... Bruce

[mcwdainow 0]

Thanks for the heads up and reporting guys :)The shot he uses is of the AirHead Decathlon which I worked closely with AirHead on.. I hope he gets stopped.Clicking to view his other items it seems he has an array of other addons which are all freeware. Its sad to think that he must be involved in our hobby to be selling these discs, but does not respect the people contributing to it.

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

Good point, Tom, but maybe you could take that idea and turn it into a fund raiser somehow?Sorry to get off topic here.

[Guest av84fun]

I am in the music publishing business and I HATE piracy with a vengence BUT one must be cautious about accusing someone of copyright infringement unless one KNOWS that a copyrighted work is being sold without permission.To KNOW that, one would have to buy a CD and SEE what models are on it.I don't know what Ebay's rules are but it could well be that they would require either/both a complaint from the author(s) or PROOF that the material is being infringed upon.I would imagine that at a minimum, the seller would have renamed all the freeware zip files so I guess someone would have to go into each of the various folders and compare the data in them.I am not a lawyer and DO NOT suggest that anyone follow ANY comments I offer here but from EXPERIENCE on a very LARGE SCALE, I can tell you the following:1. If the infringement can be shown to be intentional, then not only are statutory damages available but also the infringer can be made to disgorge all his PROFITS as well.2. Plaintiff's legal costs and attorney fees are fairly routinely awarded so even if damage awards are not large, the defendant's costs can become so...in a hurry. For example, there is one often cited case where a single song that had never been made famous by anyone was infringed upon. The court awarded $1,500.00 in statutory damages and $25,000.00 in legal fees!!!!!!!!!If any of you freeware developers wish to invest 20 bucks to see if your work has been infringed upon and want to contact me for specific guidance, please feel free to e-mail me at av84fun@aol.com.Put "Freeware Infringement" in the subject so you won't get automatically deleted!!But PLEASE...PLEASE don't contact me unless you have come to KNOW that your work is being infringed upon!!!!!!!If it is being infringed...I will tell you how to "Hold 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the A$$" as my favorite WWII General was fond of saying!(:Regards,Jim

[Guest av84fun]

FYI and without wishing to reveal sources, I can report that the Ebay seller in question IS knowingly marketing "freeware" acquired from any number of internet sites.

[Manny 1,293]

More than a CD.an annual Oscar like Freeware list can be published right here at AVSIM.A Top 10 in each category would be nice... An Initial nomination phase and then...drum roll... the AVSIM OSCAR for best Airport scenary in the Freeware category goes to.... An then you see a naked man..(wish it was naked gal) run across the stage.. sorry..Getting carried away here.:)