1 license, 1 site, domain <-> forum links

[Arkham]

I have a question regarding the licensing agreement...

I was wondering if I could link a couple of domains directly to a couple of private subforums for easy access. I don't want to advertise that these forums are available through the main forum display, and I don't want them accessible other than by the domain names.

To clarify, I want 2 out of, say, 10 forums that are accessible only by typing in the domain names. Everything is mine, all will be part of one site. I just wanted to buy 2 of domains to ease access to 2 forums. IE www.forum-b.com and www.forum-c.com go to Forum B and Forum C respectively, but everything is part of www.forum-a.com.

Is this legal as per the agreement? I just searched on this and saw a notice that the main reason for the 1 forum per domain was to protect from ISPs buying one forum and having a bunch of people use them under different names. Because this involves different domains, but really just one forum, I'm not sure this is possible.

I mean, I'm sure I can set this up legally with a subdomain, but it'd be great just to seperate the forum by a domain. These wouldn't be new sites, just a shorter way to access the 2 forums.

This isn't important, it's just something I was wondering about.


Thanks. vB is my xmas present to myself after I pay off other people's presents. (after a year of designing my site around vB!!

[Wayne Luke]

Yes you can use parked domains and redirection to get people to your site as long as you only have 1 copy of vBulletin installed on the actual server.

[Arkham]

Originally posted by wluke
Yes you can use parked domains and redirection to get people to your site as long as you only have 1 copy of vBulletin installed on the actual server.

A-ha!

Thank you! After re-reading my post I was a bit peeved at myself. I sounded like a frickin pirate hacker up to no good. "1 copy of vBulletin installed" was the phrase I wanted to address.

Too many coffees today, and it's before noon. Augh. No Brain.


Thanks!


Hmmmm... How does the 1 vB installation per server requirement stop unscrupulous people from getting around the license agreement? Couldn't a hacker set up vB, and partition out forums to different sites under different domain names? Now this sounds like my case, except for the unscrupulous part.

Damn it. I'm going early for a beer. I can then blame my confusion on the alcohol.

[Wayne Luke]

Originally posted by Arkham

Hmmmm... How does the 1 vB installation per server requirement stop unscrupulous people from getting around the license agreement? Couldn't a hacker set up vB, and partition out forums to different sites under different domain names? Now this sounds like my case, except for the unscrupulous part.

It doesn't... There are ethics involved with any interpretation of rules and laws. The unscrupulous don't follow those ethics. This doesn't make them right.

However what you describe is no different than the many people who co-brand their forums with other sites and provide a service either for free or for a fee. The ethics get involved in the fine points of how that co-branding is delivered.

The finer points of these issues have to be dealt with on a case by case basis. However we don't want to restrict legal license holders from being able to profit either emotionally or financially from their investment and work as long as it doesn't involve reselling vBulletin or contributing to the further proliferation of vBUlletin on warez sites...

[Arkham]

Originally posted by wluke


It doesn't... There are ethics involved with any interpretation of rules and laws. The unscrupulous don't follow those ethics. This doesn't make them right.

However what you describe is no different than the many people who co-brand their forums with other sites and provide a service either for free or for a fee. The ethics get involved in the fine points of how that co-branding is delivered.

The finer points of these issues have to be dealt with on a case by case basis. However we don't want to restrict legal license holders from being able to profit either emotionally or financially from their investment and work as long as it doesn't involve reselling vBulletin or contributing to the further proliferation of vBUlletin on warez sites...

Just when I thought vB and it's support couldn't get any cooler, you prove me wrong. That is all more than fair. My case falls under the "profit emtionally" column.

I'll be sure to return with the specifics before I implement things, just to clinch it.


Thanks for all your help, and happy holidays...


mark