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Cracking Down on License Violations | Forum

Topic location: Forum home » Support » General Questions
dave Leader
dave Aug 20 '13

Folks we love that you chose Oxwall for your community software, and we are very appreciative of that.  However we cannot continue to sit idly by and be unresponsive to license violations. 

 

You must display the (approved) Powered By Oxwall logo on the bottom of your site unless you have been approved to remove it.  It is a license violation otherwise and no site support will be given to your site until such time as you adhere to license terms by either placing the logo back and leave it, or get approval to remove it.

 

If we find that you are placing the logo on your site just for the purpose of getting support and then removing it afterwords (we will check), then all future support as well as your authorized use of the software will be at risk.

 

It is a simple thing to do, leave the logo alone or get authorized to remove it.

 

Plans are in place to really crack down on this folks so this is fair warning to those violators. 

 

Thanks.

Valentin
Valentin Aug 20 '13
+1, I want to project continued its development
Evgeny
Evgeny Aug 22 '13
+1 for Dave. Agree that this is the least we can do to support OxWall.
dave Leader
dave Aug 22 '13

True Fox, it is a challenge but that is when the license department contacts the host directly and registers a complaint. 

 

Most good hosts have no problem in taking action against violations once they determine the violation is lagit.  It is self serving because they feel if the client is going to violate one license then they have no problem violating any terms (including the hosts).

 

They will typically contact the client and notify them of the complaint as well as possibly suggest they comply or even warn them of the actions that could be taken.   Worst case if the client decides to be a jerk and refuses to do anything to conform, the host under their "we reserve the right" clause can shut the site down.  And that always gets their attention.

 

Hosts dislike clients that cause trouble, i was surprised awhile back because i had the impression (my bad) that russian hosts were horrible or refused to enforce anything, that is what i was led to believe over the years.  But one day i found that a russian website had copied and pasted the front page of my old social site on one of their pages and was using it to link to a porn site.  I was enraged, so i sent and email to the site and got no answer. Then i sent an email to the host and within 24 hours i received an email that they had contacted the client and that the issue was resolved.  I checked and sure enough it was gone.   I was happy to see that happen.  The point is that many hosts dont want trouble clients.     

 

As i had mentioned there are plans in place to make this better.  Such as the possibility of requiring anyone which asks for support to post their site url or have it on their profile.  To train those volunteers on here to check first before offering support.  It will not happen overnight but it does need to happen and we do need to tighten the noose a bit.   Of course we will never catch everyone but it is a step in the right direction and opens the door for new process to be born from the ashes... :)

The Forum post is edited by dave Aug 22 '13
dave Leader
dave Aug 22 '13
Yeah a good way to do this is to put that logo code in another file and just use an include.  Then in the logo file use a define or other call to  set the value and encrypt that one file with ionCube.  Then somewhere else in in the script check the define value.  Its not perfect for open source but its a start.
Jerry
Jerry Feb 10 '14
It's a great package, why not keep it there? Maybe afraid someone sees where you got the script from and opens their own? hmmm feel free, it's not for every joe. I have my site up and running but there is still lots of work to customize. Mine is staying right where it's at. Thanks Oxwall
Austeyr
Austeyr Feb 23 '14
+1 good post. 


Dont know why people would just remove it - it's only 50$ donation to legal remove the thing. People spend more on plugins they dont really need.

The Forum post is edited by Austeyr Feb 23 '14
dave Leader
dave Feb 23 '14
I agree Randell but some people have never heard of the word ethics or character and its a crazy world out there. 



Jordan
Jordan Mar 6 '14
I found this site and noticed that the oxwall logo was removed, just wanted to share it with you http://www.imotaku.com/
dave Leader
dave Mar 6 '14

I sent them this, they are not on the list.   Thanks Jordan :)


This message is regarding your oxwall install, you have removed the oxwall attribution logo and link from your footer.  Unless you have be authorized to do so you are in violation of the oxwall license.   Please refer to this link:

http://www.oxwall.org/attribution

If you have been authorized then you need to contact oxwall team to get on the list of authorized sites asap.   We are cracking down on oxwall license violations.

Jordan
Jordan Mar 7 '14
Quote from dave

I sent them this, they are not on the list.   Thanks Jordan :)


This message is regarding your oxwall install, you have removed the oxwall attribution logo and link from your footer.  Unless you have be authorized to do so you are in violation of the oxwall license.   Please refer to this link:

http://www.oxwall.org/attribution

If you have been authorized then you need to contact oxwall team to get on the list of authorized sites asap.   We are cracking down on oxwall license violations.


No problem, jusy trying to help out. Have you gotten a response from them?
Joseph
Joseph Mar 8 '14
how I see it is one issue I have had in the last 3 years using oxwall actually got solved by oxwall staff. Every other issue I got told it was this or that and when I finally fixed it it was not what staff said and it took me doing it myself I have earned the right to remove my powered by I don't care about the support here I will report bugs and if you guys fix them so be it because the last bug I reported which is a pretty big one I got told "it'll be fixed in an upcoming update" which will take forever while my users complain so yeah there's that 
dave Leader
dave Mar 8 '14
Well Joseph we all have to ride the same horse here. We are all bound by the same license.  And the license is pretty clear and so is the process for which you can remove the attribution.  Although i do agree with you that it takes Oxwall a bit of time to do things,  you also have to recognize that they are a small staff.  I agree they would be better to say "we will try" rather than "we will".  But that has nothing to do with the ruling of the license or the process by which any of us can remove it.  This is not a "i did a good deed so i don't have to abide by the license" deal.  


If that was the case then many of us would have "earned" that right. But that is not the case so what will happen is that eventually scripts like this will be forced to use encryption or other means to force people to abide by the license and none of us want that.  


Regardless if Oxwall fails to abide by its "possible over promissing"  the fact of the matter is that using the software you agree to the terms, we all do.  And those are the terms and none of us earn the right to remove the attribute unless we get authorized. 


The Forum post is edited by dave Mar 8 '14
Joseph
Joseph Mar 8 '14
well this isnt about a good deed but here to help out I just donated 50 dollars to oxwall under the paypal email c.r.bunyard@gmail.com please add wickednation.net to the list of sites
dave Leader
dave Mar 8 '14

Thanks Joseph... :)    shoot Aliia http://www.oxwall.org/user/aliiam a PM she actually does the posting.  She should be back on monday. 

ross Team
ross Mar 9 '14
Joseph, you have not sent your domain name. Please do
Joseph
Joseph Mar 9 '14
I pmed it to allia as well its clearly stated above
ross Team
ross Mar 10 '14
She is not responsible for the donations any more, please send your domain name to donation@oxwall.org and we'll add it to the list
Joseph
Joseph Mar 10 '14
ok will do
dave Leader
dave Mar 10 '14
You are in charge of that now Ross or is it a shared job now?
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