[amsat-bb] Re: Selling "free" software.

[Greg D.]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the clarification.  I took a look at their eBay site, and the big clue to their scam-ness is how much space they take up explaining that they are legit.  A sure sign of trouble...

Greg  KO6TH 
(a big fan of gpredict, by the way.  Thanks for the excellent work!)


> Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2008 00:59:18 +0100
> From: alexc at phys.au.dk
> To: nigel at ngunn.net
> CC: AMSAT-BB at amsat.org; kq6ea at pacbell.net
> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Selling "free" software.
> 
> On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:53:09 +0000
> Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF <nigel at ngunn.net> wrote:
> > I realise the legal aspect but have been to several times by
> > software  authors not to charge more than, say, $5 to cover media
> > costs. I guess anyone who pays $20+ for something he can get free is
> > a bit of a fool.
> 
> Hi guys,
> 
> Just a clarification... these ebay sellers are NOT the software
> authors. I am the author of several GPL software that has ended in
> the claws of these ebay scammers. I have never charged for my
> ham radio software and I will never do. It has always been available for
> free download.
> 
> While what these ebay scammers do is not illegal I strongly question
> their motives and business moral. The "product description" is a
> complete ripoff from my websites. This includes the screen shots. The
> only difference is that they have been altered to remove any traces of
> the original software name and authors. These scammers don't contribute
> anything back to the software development. They don't even provide
> proper customer support as they promise on ebay; people end up sending
> me emails requesting my help since they paid for the software... Very
> encouraging...
> 
> The reason that people are willing to pay $20+ is because they don't
> know what they are buying and they don't know that they can download it
> for free. What makes it even more pathetic is that it would take much
> less time to download the software than to to complete an ebay
> transaction.
> 
> What's puzzling me is all these 99.9% AAAAA++++++ feedback the
> ebay scammers receive. Surely something is not right on ebay.
> 
> 73
> Alex OZ9AEC
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