Why are These Sites allowed to exist

[cyclwestks]

I was searching for a certain software program, & noticed the manufacturer actually was selling on ebay. I then went to check yahoo auctions. One seller was listing probably about $200 worth of software for $15.00 shipped. Right on his auction page it say something to the effect of "to bring you this software at these prices it is delivered with electronic documentation & on a CDR".

I contacted the mfg, & they said he is in no way an authorized seller, & anyone buying from him wouldn't get upgrades. He's already selling their latest version, duh.

My question, is how is he getting away with this? I've never purchased anything off yahoo auctions, but don't they realize this is entirely illegal.

The other thing that irks me, is I can't find an official channel to report this activity. If we really want to curb software piracy, shouldn't we make it simple to report?

[Kati Compton]

You can report it to Ebay pretty easily, and they'll take down the auction, and probably disable his/her account.

[Jason Dunn]

The other thing that irks me, is I can't find an official channel to report this activity. If we really want to curb software piracy, shouldn't we make it simple to report?

Yeah, that's the worst thing about eBay in particular - their "help" system is so confusing that I usually give up... :roll:

[cyclwestks]

I was actually confusing, but it was on Yahoo auctions, & I finally did find through their site how to report illegal activity. We'll see how fast the ball rolls now. He even has his own web site advertising this.

[dean_shan]

I don't even see why those people try to do that. How stupid is that. They are going to get caught.

[JohnnyFlash]

No, I don't think they are going to get caught. And even if they did, and the auction was shut down, they'd just crop up under another name. This stuff has been going on for as long as I can remember.

I mean, jeez you can go to [URL REMOVED] and type in any PPC app and get a listing of keys, key generators, registration names and numbers and download sites. It's far too prevalent and widespread. There's just no way to stop it. Plus, to make matters even more complicated, almost all of these sites and operators are off-shore.

And the one site I mentioned above is only one of at least twenty of which I'm aware.

We've definitely lost this battle.

*****

Posted edited by JD. It's one thing to talk about warez, another to link to it.

[cyclwestks]

What's even worse, is the guy has 43 comments. Some of the comments blast him for selling illegal software. Some people don't know enough ( I guess) to realize the software isn't legal until they get ready to register it.

I've heard about pirated software, but I had never actually seen someone trying to sell it. If they'd make him pay the developer full price for every copy he sold maybe there would be less of this going on.

[cyclwestks]

Here's the answer I get from Yahoo Auctions, keep in mind the developer has already said it's not authorized.

"Yahoo! asks anyone who detects what appears to be a copyright violation
on Yahoo! Auctions, to please report the violation to those persons who
can claim rights to the work -- rather than to Yahoo!. In this way, the
rightful persons can evaluate the use and determine whether to assert a
claim against the webmaster and alert Yahoo! of the infringement."

[Kati Compton]

If you want to report it to eBay, here's the contact form: http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_inline/index.html

[Kati Compton]

Here's the answer I get from Yahoo Auctions, keep in mind the developer has already said it's not authorized.
I think they want the developer to contact *them directly* and say it's not authorized.

[cyclwestks]

Ok, so maybe it's only a "small victory", but I seen a banner on the home page of PPC Thoughts shortly after I mentioned this here. Clicked on the banner, reported the site, & it's no longer there. No ebay auctions, no web site.

Maybe he's just changing it, maybe he's good & scared, I don't know.

Guess I should watch those banner's better, might give me the winning numbers to the lottery or something.