Um illegal usage

[Tomba]

Um I thought taking the copyright off of the bulletin was illegal u know that thing on the bottom

if so look here

http://205.134.182.35/forums/

[TWTCommish]

Looks like a violation to me...however I think it's a little odd that people who pay for vBulletin need to keep the footer there...I can understand that aspect of it for the freeware version, but not the paid version...

[JimF]

I believe that, if you were to do a proper search through the forums, you would find a few posts by James saying that they weren't going to be very strict about how the copyright notice was implemented. I believe he said something to the effect of "as long as there is mention of it somewhere". They had "Powered by vBulletin" in the Page title, so I would wager that it is perfectly legit.

I could be wrong though.

-jim

[Tomba]

I am also pretty sure that they didnt purchase it either

[Mike Sullivan]

Well, I believe you have to leave some form of copyright in the footer - but the wording doesn't have to be exact. Something like "vBulletin (C) Jelsoft Enterprises", but I believe SOMETHING has to be there. James, please comment.

About the legalities of the actual board: I don't like to point fingers or anything, but look at the content on the board: ISOs. A definate possibility for a warez'd board. May or may not be, but I think a board about warez usually has a bigger change of being warez itself :)

[TWTCommish]

No offense to the creators of vBulletin (they're putting out the best product on the market), but I don't think any credit should be required really...for any user who's even mildly savvy he or she will likely recognize vBulletin anyway...

The notice is absolutely necessary for the free version, but I think if someone pays the money they ought to be able to customize it however they like...it looks a tad bit unprofessional to have that notice at the bottom.

I suggest this: give payed copy owners a choice of either leaving that notice on the bottom, or dropping vBulletin a line of credit and a link in some sort of "About this site" section...

[Mike Sullivan]

It doesn't really bother me, personally. Just wondering, why are some people bothered by it?

They're just following the UBB style of things, IMO.

[JimF]

They're not even following the UBB style of things - they're improving the UBB style of things. Seems to be a re-occuring theme... UBB wouldn't let yuo change a darn thing regarding the copyright notices - I much prefer having my own title to my forums rather than "Powered by ...." in the title bar.

It doesn't bother me one bit. I'm proud to display that my forums are vB, there are so many other forum programs out there these days that it is sometimes hard to tell one from another. But I like people to know that I use vB - it reflects better on my board and my site. Who's to say it isn't an EZ Board or something??

[TWTCommish]

Don't get me wrong...I'm not ashamed of it, I just think that anyone who pays for it ought to have a bit more freedom...not a big deal, just my opinion. :)

[Mike Sullivan]

Actually, Jim, just to clarify, if you asked Infopop about modifying your copyright, they were generally OK with it. I believe Stallion did something along the lines of "UBB (c) Infopop Corp.", asked Ted about it, and Ted OK'd it. Just, most people never went that far :D

[JimF]

I asked them on several occassions about modifying the copyright wording, and every time I got a "not on your life" type of answer. I guess Stallion had an "in" that I didn't.

I'm also not saying that anyone would be "ashamed" of having it - it's just that I would rather show it than not because it says a lot about your site. I think the fact that vB is VERY liberal about the way that their copyright wording is displayed is plenty for most users. It is their product, and the license agreement should have some sort of wording in regards to the copyright notices. If you purchased the product and agreed to it's licensing requirements, what's the big deal about this? You knew it was going to be there.

Obviously TWTCommish was not a UBB owner, and never experienced the battles that were waged between customers and Infopop. If you look at the way they handled things, compared to the way that Jelsoft is handling the same situation, John and James look like a bountiful green pasture compared to the rocky shores of UBB (what can I say, I'm feeling poetic tonight :p).

-jim

[TWTCommish]

Jim,

That may very well be...but my opinion remains basically.

Once again: no big deal, love the program, just think the policy is odd.

[Martin]

At least they haven't forced a link upon us in the footers like they have on UBB users.

I don't mind having the copyright notice in the footer, but I would prefer it not to be in the title.

[WildWayz]

I agree... I don't mind the footer - heck, I want people to know what board I use :)

Title is the only thing I would want to change.

As for the content of that site - ISONews are very careful with that site. They do not tell people where to get files from - they edit out all the serial numbers etc from the apps so all they are, is a site dedicated to informing you what is new out in the 'warez' scene.

Cyaaa

--WildWayz

[ukliam]

I agree, don't mind the footer, but I don't like the Title.

[SonnetCelestial]

*waits for John or James*

[James]

We're fairly relaxed when it comes to displaying the copyright notice. Just so long as the copyright text is visible somewhere on the page, we're quite happy :)

Here is another thread that may be of interest:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=49

Thanks for posting the link to the board sans copyright text. I'll look into it.

All the best,

James