Is this true?

[Chen]

I got another feeling - it will be closed like http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...threadid=13523.

[Hooper]

Originally posted by Nicholas Brown
Now, thats not good. Just think how much money Jelsoft are loosing because of these idiotic pirates - its not fair.

I think the way Jelsoft have setup the tracking is an OK way. Its loaded in 1 frame that isnt rereshed as you do your admin-ing.

Not exactly true. If indeed 50percent of the vBulletins are pirated (in which I do not believe for even a moment that it's that high), It would be absolutely ludicrous to think that the pirated versions are money in the bank if it were not pirated. The fact is, these people would not pay a dime for this program period. They would use a free program or what have you first. You couldn't convert ten percent of the 50 percent into paying customers.

Might be able to talk 3 percent into a purchasing a license if that.
Most of them don't feel a bit guilty.

And although I do not agree with the antics of these people, I do not condoan vBulletin for installing a looking glass either. Not in the slightest.

And in reality, the best way to stop the unlicensed copies is to just keep an eye out. Just as I always go to the forums of individual sites, I can't help but notice what they are using. I've seen many posts on possible copy violations. Matter of fact,
that is why I stopped in here in the first place today.

Possible Unlicened Vbulletin. How coincidental.

If vBulletin has installed spyware on my licensed copy, I want it off. I didn't pay for spyware when I purchased my license.

I wouldn't hesitate to let the next suspicious site go if vBull is going to be another MicroShaft. People are INNOCENT until proven guilty in the US and this is a clear violation of the rights of the public. Like it or not, that's the truth. At the least being unethical and sneaky with the people who have supported this software over the years. Let's not forget, you may have pirated versions of vBulletin out there, but they are not supporting you anyhow, why risk losing your already paying customers? Not very smart PR work John. Or did you think you would keep it a secret?
Either way, not good business.

And another thing, why were we "The vBulleting fans, customers, and users not notified of the new policy?" If this is your way of thanking your loyal fans, Id'e say you are in for some serious negative attention in the future with this.

vBulletin, If you want to tighten up your assets, then the first place I would start is the members area. I can give my email address to anyone and they can download my licensed copy just by clicking on the "forgot my password link".

Tighten up the members area and get rid of the SpyWare. And until it has been officially removed, I would like to know where the code is at and how to delete it. Please PM me with instructions.

Protect intellectual property? YES. But this is not the way to do it. MicroShaft is being hated right now. They get away with becoming a monopoly. They sold crap software for years. Buggy, unstable and the list goes on. Now finally they come out with a solid windows operating system known as XP and they rape the public with the rediculous prices they want and add protection against piracy that will annoy half the universe.

$299.00 for XPprofessional after putting up and paying for DOS, 2.0,Win3.0,Win3.1,95,98,98SE,98ME,2000NT? (Well 2000 was a bit better but they charged way too much to upgrade then too.)

When is enough enough? When does the "Legitimate" customer get treated right?

I think MicroShaft should give a copy of XP to all the people they sold "Blue Screen of Death" software to . Lost work, production due to the multitudes of crashes should entitle all of us to a copy of XP. Time for Linux Mandrake. Just about have it down.

Companies are creating their own demize. Create software that has a price tag that is unreachable for some and more piracy will result. Be a beloved software company that we can "trust" and sell your products aimed for all and you will see more purchasing instead of pirating.

"Pinging my server with intent to gain information without my consent does not gain my trust."

Price is one area that vBulletin has done well. They kept the price right for the quality of software produced. Which I am a fan of. Now we need to get rid of the vBulletin MicroScope. One day your pinging my server and getting info while I'm in the admin control panel, then next you'll be on my hard drive scoping out my business agenda and P&L report.

Where is the privacy policy on this. I want to read it.

[web]

While I agree that actions need to be taken to deal with the protection of Intellectual Property, the information I have discovered in this thread and the tenor of some of the statements concern me.

The process and mechanism stated for verifying the 'legality' of a vBulletin installation asserts 'guilt' until 'proven innocent' by the Jelsoft inspection/verification. I must 'prove' I have a 'legal' installation by 'passing' the Jelsoft inspection/verification. Think about that! That is quite a 'slippery slope' to embark upon.

It was stated that "the only people with access to this information are John and James". In assessing the viability of a process such as this, the involvement of specific individuals should never be considered. Individuals come and go, but a process tends to remain. If part of the acceptance is based on the individual(s) involved, it creates an inherent instability that generally is not addressed until 'later rather than sooner' after a key individual departs. This is no reflection upon John or James, but a comment on how to design critical processes to remain viable and consistent with their intent based upon the process rather than based upon specific individuals involved in the process.

While I am ecstatic about the features, support, sense of 'community', and many more things about vBulletin, I am disturbed and disappointed in regards to this issue. I would have expected a company that encourages such a open and vibrant environment to be more forthcoming and explicit about what they are doing in this regards. Furthermore, I would expect such a company to be seeking alternative, innovative methods to protect their IP without the negative implications of the current method.

Regards,

web

[MattR]

I apologize for posting that -- not good to post at 4AM after visiting the local pub. Please accept my apology but I was very angry at that time.

Hopefully I can clarify my feelings; I'm not upset that the 'feature' is there – it’s your code do what you want and it seems like a good way to combat some piracy. I'm just upset that no clear privacy policy has been set regarding the data collected and especially when people asked about it representatives of Jelsoft said "Don't worry about it. Why should you care?". That smacks of "We can do anything we want" – sound familiar? (Microsoft, etc.)

I respect Jelsoft, their employees/representatives and the product too much to allow that sort of behavior to turn away prospective customers and give the product a bad name – because in my opinion that is exactly what that attitude is doing.

[nuno]

yup this is true
vBULL has a call home feature in it
and i LOVE IT

[The Realist]

Yes its going to be a very long thread and anything that stops software piracy is a good thing.

[Hooper]

Originally posted by MattR
I apologize for posting that -- not good to post at 4AM after visiting the local pub. Please accept my apology but I was very angry at that time.

Hopefully I can clarify my feelings; I'm not upset that the 'feature' is there – it’s your code do what you want and it seems like a good way to combat some piracy. I'm just upset that no clear privacy policy has been set regarding the data collected and especially when people asked about it representatives of Jelsoft said "Don't worry about it. Why should you care?". That smacks of "We can do anything we want" – sound familiar? (Microsoft, etc.)

I respect Jelsoft, their employees/representatives and the product too much to allow that sort of behavior to turn away prospective customers and give the product a bad name – because in my opinion that is exactly what that attitude is doing.

Maybe you should have drank a few more beers last night and said what I was thinking today when I found this out. You didn't say half of what I was thinking. But I agree with your every word.

[merk]

Originally posted by Jakeman
pirating vb will get you bad jakeman karma

OMG! You have a karma hack3@#!##@!#@!#@!#@!#@!

GIMME!

[Mike Sullivan]

I am closing this (and the other one) and will let John/James respond when they return from vacation very shortly.

(And please don't think of this as me trying to shut you guys up or anything; we'll just wait for the most official response)