delton@pro-carolina.cts.com (Don Elton) (01/30/89)
It's come to my attention that two companies have been selling Talk is Cheap,
my copyrighted communications program, without my permission and without
paying the usual licensing fees that I require for this sort of thing.
The first company is called Software-To-Go in Abilene, Texas. They've been
selling the program as public domain for $9.95 and actually have packages in
some store shelves. They had a notice on the package saying that the package
was "user supported" and that "with software of this kind, the author
sometimes requests that users register their names with him."
I informed them via telephone that they were not authorized to sell the
package and that they were welcome to enter into a licensing agreement for my
usual fee if they so desired and that I would be getting in touch with them
concerning damages. Their employee Larry Lumis verbally apologized and
promised to remove the packages from the shelves where they were sitting. I'd
appreciate hearing from anyone who sees such a package in a store so I can
check to see if they're legit or not.
The second company is called Megatronics or Logan, UT. They've been bundling
TIC with their AVATEX modems and actually advertise in full-page ads "Talk is
Cheap with our Modems!". I spoke to them on the phone and they said that they
had no intention of stopping the bundling even when informed that Applied
Engineering had paid thousands of dollars for what they were doing for free.
When I first called, the sales girl assured me that the software they were
including was public domain (not true) and that they had letters from the
authors (really?) authorizing the inclusion of the software. When I spoke to
someone higher up he assured me that my own copyrighted software was public
domain and when advised about the copyright notice no the title screen he said
"Don't you know that ALL public domain programs are copyrighted? That
doesn't mean anything!"
I'm still haggling with these guys but get the idea that they are very
uninformed about copyright laws and have no inkling of morality regarding
personal property.
I'll be exploring what other measures I can take to protect my copyright and
those honest users and businesses who are paying to be users and/or
dealers/distributers of this product. At the very least though I think these
folks should have the opportunity to be educated as to the error of their
ways.
Software-to-go
2249 41st Street
Abilene, TX 79608
915-691-0281
Megatronics
PO Box 3660
Logan, UT 84321
800-232-6342
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US Mail: 3207 Berkeley Forest Drive, Columbia, SC 29209-4111matthew@sunpix.UUCP ( Sun NCAA) (02/01/89)
Donald,
Megatronics is a large advertiser in 'Computer Shopper', and by the
'Founder Position on Honesty' Computer Shopper does not condone such actions.
If the ads you mention are in Computer Shopper (they are not in the
Feb `89 issue, haven't checked back issues), a letter to the editor should
bring pressure to bear on Megatronics from this advertising outlet.
Give them a try.
--
Matthew Lee Stier (919) 469-8300|
Sun Microsystems --- RTP, NC 27560| "Wisconsin Escapee"
uucp: {sun, rti}!sunpix!matthew |