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131 Comments
- bookishboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Unless I'm mistaken about the license that Firefox is released under, isn't the whole idea of Open Source that ANYONE may redistribute, share, give away or *sell* the resulting software, as long as they also provide access (perhaps something as simple as a hotlink) to the source code?
- inotocracy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sadly this isn't illegal. Its completely legal to sell GPL'd software as long as you provide the license and a copy of the source on the media you sell it on (or downloadable source). It seems as though they don't actually host the software but links to it. In essence you would be paying for a large list of download URLs.
- LeegleechN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5On the contrary GimmeSomeTruth, this is totally legal and ethical, and if the moz devs didn't want it to happen they could have used a different license.
- dss311, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Easy way to stop this. Click on the google "advertised" link. If we all do this, it will either cost the scammer tons of money, or he will hit his daily threshold and be taken out of circulation.
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3mastertech -
That FirefoxMyths site has nothing about any "free = myth." It's a pretty whiny little article, for that matter. I knew there had to be FF haters out there somewhere, but this guy's running on half a battery, for sure... - beandog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You can find stuff like that on ebay, too.
- sonicworx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What's more stupid? The company selling it or the person actually paying for it?
- beandog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"No, that is so not the point of open source. Selling something that's free is totally contrary to the spirt of open source and probably illegal. And if it's not, it should be."
Just because it's free as in freedom doesn't mean it has to be free as in beer, too. - mentor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3IIRC Mozilla stuff is Triple-Licensed, including the GPL. This means that as long as they adhere to the conditions contained they may distribute as they wish. Under the GPL it is permissible to sell software, for a fee that is related to the physical means of transportation (this is probably for a court/judge to decide), as long as you also include the source.
Moreover, please don't retaliate against this with stupid DDoS attacks, and defacement attempts. The only person who has the privilege and moral imperative to set terms of the license if the author of said work; not you or the community, despite any feelings you may have. The only correct way to deal with this is informing the authors and reasoned debate. - mohrr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Please read the GPL FAQ before claiming you know what is and is not allowed under the GPL.
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html - znxster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I will agree that some vetting should be done by the search engines / etc that are providing click revenue (if nothing else) to these obvious scammers.
I remember having to convince my Dad that we were not "stealing" from Mozilla... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's not against the license to charge for the software, but it's rather immoral to do so.
- siouxmoux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So the same folks that gave us kazaaGold, here comes FirefoxGold.
- GimmeSomeTruth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Check out these guys. http://www.1000downloads.com
They sell you links to emule. now that's just not right. - utnow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"No, that is so not the point of open source. Selling something that's free is totally contrary to the spirt of open source and probably illegal. And if it's not, it should be."
I laugh... tell it to RedHat.. xandros.. SuSe... and any of the other packages that you see sitting on the shelf at your local software store for $99 and up.
"You're paying for support" pssh. lol
It's open source... you can sell it if you provide the source-code. Let it go.
This isn't even news. - MITpianoman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that's crazy. Someone ought to shut them down.
- mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1im going to go ahead and blame this on the Average Consumer.. also known as: a Dumbass.
if you are too incompetent to differentiate between an advertisement and actual search results, they deserve to be scammed. seriously. it might actually be an effective way to rid the internet of the Average Consumer.
once they get scammed they probably will be too afraid to use the internet anymore and the WWW will be a better place. SIGH why is the world littered to the brim with morons?? - villimacintoch, on 01/19/2009, -0/+1Timex Unisex Black/Silver Ironman Sleek iControl Watch at http://astore.amazon.com/buy.timex.ironman.watch-c ...
Timex Men's Ironman Data Link USB Watch at http://astore.amazon.com/buy.timex.ironman.watch-c ...
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Timex Watches at http://astore.amazon.com/buy.timex.ironman.watch-c ... - Jord4n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's crazy. Selling a free product. I bet those people feel really dumb after they see that firefox is free. That's my pet peeve, website owners who lie and sell false products.
Earlier today I asked a website's customer support for a partial refund. I luckily got to talk to the boss. I was told by a Chinese webmaster that I had been reported to my police station for "cheating" and they were coming to my house to send me to jail for "100 years in china". I told him I was going to write a review of his horrible customer service and he said he was going to post my personal credit card number, phone number, name and address on his site. That made me a little angry...
Ok, I've had my rant. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Finally a good blog link on Digg. SiteAdvisor is amazing btw.
- bieber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Keep in mind, y'all, that one of the four freedoms of Free Software is the right to redistribute verbatim copies, gratis or for a fee.
- DriversPlaza, on 01/23/2009, -0/+1google might get rid of them soon .. i had seen a news about it over here - http://www.techb.net/
- absurdist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1To attempt to clarify the difference...
What these individuals are doing is not illegal. However, it could certainly be considered unethical in some quarters..
Just as mass clicking on theit ads is not illegal. However, it could certainly be considered unethical in some quarters..
I suppose it would have something to do with whose ox is being gored... - felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Notice that all the paid results on Google say things like "FoxFire" or "Firef@x"?
I don't know much about Google ads, but it seems like they are blocked from using other people's product names. That ought to be enough to make it clear they're up to something shady raht thar. - ramsinks.com, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Lets rip them down.
t-miunus 24hr.
.... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1GPL is irrelevant. You are paying for a list of links to Download.com. The sites on Google ads that sell LimeWire, BearShare etc. give you the same list of links.
If you contact Google they will take them down, but then more will come up in their place. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Quite simple, you want to perform revenge on these people, click their ad on google's page. They have to pay for the mass of clicks.
- tonage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A fool and his money will soon part.
If you log into a site that has the word free in it and then you end up paying, you are a fool. - IanAction, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Uh, FIrefox isn't GPL.
All you guys squabbling over it and telling people what is allowed under the GPL, and what isn't might want try looking these things up before talking out your asses.
http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/EULA/firefox-en.txt
The Logo is also copyrighted, and the name is trademarked. Once again, not GPLed. The logo is also used on FreeDownloadHQ.com's page.
"This license does not grant you any right to use the trademarks,
service marks or logos of Mozilla or its licensors. "
And you can be damn sure IE logo is Copyrighted.
Wether or not this is ethical is strictly a matter of opinion, just like ethics. - bieber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Please read the GPL FAQ before claiming you know what is and is not allowed under the GPL."
Or better yet, why not just read the GPL? It's only about two and a half pages printed. - TKDWILSON, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"""""No, that is so not the point of open source. Selling something that's free is totally contrary to the spirt of open source and probably illegal. And if it's not, it should be.""""""
Wow, that is an ignorant statement. Tons of people make money off open source. If they didn't open source would, maybe not cease to exist, but would not be near as popular as it is. If you pay for open source, it is your own fault and you should be paying for it.
Eric Wilson - Koskun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I commented on this before when it came up on Digg that there was a site that was selling OpenOffice, and I will say it again, this may be a good thing for Firefox.
The mass market of people see something as free and either want to know what the catch is, or think that it is crap. The more expensive te better is a mindset in a lot of peoples minds. Go to the mass amount of people that get a computer and really only use it for email, browsing/shopping on the web, and maybe some photo stuff, they are the same people that will believe that more is better. I saw it all the time in retail from customers. The cheap cell phone is junk, the more expensive ones are better. sometimes true, sometimes not.
Now whether this is ethical or not, it could, if done in the right way, be a boost to Firefox. If done in just a way so that someone can make a quick buck, not give any support, or doing the sale in an illegal way (not giving the source), then it could be a boon.
Yes Firefox is being used on more and more computers, but honestly isn't that more a case of word of mouth rather than anything else? Next step perhaps, get a boxed retail version on a shelf for around 10-20 bucks. Then guess what, you get free upgrades, and the makers get some profit to keep working on it perhaps.
While most will see this as a scam, I see it, in this case, as a guy that is trying to get rich quick, but a miss on a bigger target. - rideaurocks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Idiots shouldn't have money. There. I said it.
Besides if it weren't this then it would be phone solicitation, spam, or Norton anti virus.
Oh that's right. I went there. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"There's nothing wrong with this. They aren't charging you for FireFox, they're charging you for a license to use their bandwidth."
No. They are charging you to send you to download.com to download it. - AdamCo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0There is a difference between this and what Red Hat and Suse do, so I'm not sure why they were even brought up.
- wirelessguru, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0One of my clients fell for the FreeDownloadHq.com scam.
- Flagg3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yup. Just do a search for firefox on Google, MSN, and Yahoo, and click the nice ad for them. Thousands of clicks from digg users with no sales to show for it should hel make this scam a bit less profitable. Simple, and effective.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0AdamCo, yeah, but it does get pointless after awhile. Don't open up email attachments, don't hand over your life savings to Nigerian scammers, don't pay for open source software... the list goes on and on. How is it even possible for someone to encounter something like Firefox for $37.95 and not even know about the free one?? What, there aren't enough links to Mozilla.com/org? Obtaining a legitimate copy of Firefox is clearly the "path of least resistance." What could it possibly be except the insistence on idiocy.
- AdamCo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think another way to prevent stuff like this, rather than attacking the sites, inform people of software that you enjoy and think they may enjoy and benefit from. In the case of Firefox, don't just tell less tech savvy users they should download firefox and then leave it up to them to find it. Write down the link to the firefox website where they can download it from. These people that get duped with such ads are people that don't know any better and were probably told by someone they should try firefox, but then were left on their own to find it. I never suggest software to someone that I don't inform them where they can download it from if it's free or purchase it from if it is not.
- eventualbuddha, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The person operating that site may be making money off of it, but that does not make him smarter than those of us who choose not to do it. I choose not to because it will not make me happy to feel that I am taking advantage of others' ignorance.
@mastertech: Capitalism works best when the participants work for their own benefit by making the best decisions they can. Keeping a portion of those participants in the dark intentionally by lying or misleading is, in the end, harmful to yourself. Personally I would not wish to live in a world where I was working to keep others ignorant and was succeeding.
As an aside, are most digg commenters as inflammatory as the 1-2 liners above? - ilikebike, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This package is currently selling at some electronics stores for $29.99
OpenOffice + FireFox
http://www.oooff.com/
Created by the Linspire Corp. - SirNuke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They aren't allowed to sell it because of the copyrights Mozilla has on 'Firefox' and (more importantly) the Firefox icon. Hence the reason the Ubuntu's default Firefox package doesn't have the real icon.
- BlueBoiks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0BTW Firefox isn't GPL licensed, its MPL licensed "MOZILLA PUBLIC LICENSE"
3.6. Distribution of Executable Versions.
You may distribute Covered Code in Executable form only if the
requirements of Section 3.1-3.5 have been met for that Covered Code,
and if You include a notice stating that the Source Code version of
the Covered Code is available under the terms of this License,
including a description of how and where You have fulfilled the
obligations of Section 3.2. The notice must be conspicuously included
in any notice in an Executable version, related documentation or
collateral in which You describe recipients' rights relating to the
Covered Code. You may distribute the Executable version of Covered
Code or ownership rights under a license of Your choice, which may
contain terms different from this License, provided that You are in
compliance with the terms of this License and that the license for the
Executable version does not attempt to limit or alter the recipient's
rights in the Source Code version from the rights set forth in this
License. If You distribute the Executable version under a different
license You must make it absolutely clear that any terms which differ
from this License are offered by You alone, not by the Initial
Developer or any Contributor. You hereby agree to indemnify the
Initial Developer and every Contributor for any liability incurred by
the Initial Developer or such Contributor as a result of any such
terms You offer. - BlueBoiks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Registrant:
Xtreme Software Ltd.
7 Petworth Road
Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2JB
United Kingdom
Registered through: GoDaddy.com (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: FREEDOWNLOADHQ.COM
Created on: 06-Feb-05
Expires on: 06-Feb-06
Last Updated on: 08-Apr-05
Administrative Contact:
Software Ltd., Xtreme XtremeSoftwareLtd@gmail.com
7 Petworth Road
Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2JB
United Kingdom
0000000000
Technical Contact:
Software Ltd., Xtreme XtremeSoftwareLtd@gmail.com
7 Petworth Road
Haslemere, Surrey GU27 2JB
United Kingdom
0000000000
Domain servers in listed order:
NS13.ZONEEDIT.COM
NS17.ZONEEDIT.COM
Oh no somebody forgot to renew their domain....
:) - AdamCo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0jczer68;
Uninformed does not always equal stupid. I'm sure you don't know everything about every subject in the world and could be duped when it comes to something you don't know about. There are a lot of computer illiterate people out there that probably look for firefox after it being suggested by someone else and have no idea that it's free. Sure people should research, which was careless on their part of them not to, but doesn't imply they are stupid. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0>"These guys take FREE software and SELL IT FOR $37.95 and then have the nerve to call themselves FreeDownloadHQ."
I don't really care anymore... if people insist on paying stupidity taxes, then let 'em. These people, the stupid ones, have gone unchecked in the US for long enough. - ramsinks.com, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have a list of software that gets tons of hits a day. I spend a lot of time tested "free" software. I don't charge for it.. nor even have ad's on it.
To the posters who think "charging" is a good idea for a free list. - AdamCo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0sorry for the several posts but I just wanted to see what people thought of the effect on download.com by this site charging for a link to their site. Sure, they are creating traffic for download.com, but at a price. I see it kind of like me standing outside a free event and charging admission for people to get in. Also the unsuspecting user may see an affiliation between the two sites and could miseducate people about what download.com really is. Then that person maybe tells someone else that download.com is a pay site and the. What are your opinions about this?
- Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"No. They are charging you to send you to download.com to download it."
You've got to be kidding me. They're not really doing that are they?
Well, if they are, I take everything I said back, and they can burn in hell. -
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