[sword-devel] CDEarth GPL violation

[Chris Little]

Manfred Bergmann wrote:
> Actually I really don't undersatand why these people do not come here  
> and tell us what they want to do. To package our software and  
> distrubute it for some money. There would be no problem and we could  
> support that if done in the right way.
> 
> Maybe they are not aware of what needs to be done according to GPL.  
> Some people hear "Open Source" and think they can do whatever they  
> want with it.

The company's intent is to draw people in with promises of $3 for 4 CDs 
of software. Of the initial 4, you only get to keep 2. The other 2 have 
to be sent back or you will be billed $15 per disc. Then every couple 
months, then send you another 4 discs and bill you $15 per disc if you 
don't return them.

The previous incarnation, ThinkAll (the one shut down by the FTC), was 
shut down because they weren't even waiting the promised period before 
charging people's cards for the $15/disc. They were also making it 
inordinately difficult to cancel the subscription, so they just kept 
sending you these junk CDs.

The company's intent is not to be an internet software store. The intent 
is to get credit card numbers and start charging $60 per subscriber 
every 1-2 months for freeware that would take 20 minutes to download on 
a 56k modem, in most cases, in the hopes that people don't read licenses 
or their credit card statements.

It's unquestionably a scam, though I'm betting they're trying much 
harder to avoid consumer fraud this time so that the FTC doesn't shut 
them down again.

--Chris