Where to turn too?

  • Mutuuj

    (@mutuuj)


    12 years, 11 months ago

    Hello

    I recently signed up at WPMU DEV and as they release all their themes and plugins under the GPL – I am entitled to redistribute or sell verbatim copies as I like.

    All INCSUB, LLC Plugins, Themes and Support are provided as is under the GPL 2.0 license.

    I read though their terms and conditions and there is no clause that states I can not redistribute or sell verbatim copies.

    They have canceled my membership without notice or warning. No refund has been issued and I would like to ask what steps I could take to resolve the matter.

    I have emailed them to no avail, and I can’t post on their forums as my membership has been canceled.

    I see no other way in which I can get a response. Advice will be greatly appreciated.

    Here are their terms of service

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    12 years, 11 months ago

    Note: I AM NOT A LAWYER!

    Answer: Nowhere.

    Their TOS #9 clearly states you get no refund.

    As for the GPL issue, legally you’re within your rights to take someone else’s plugin and resell it (yes, I know that’s what you’re doing on your site – and by the wait, it’s STRAIGHT not STRAIT unless you’re making a pun/joke I’m missing). ETHICALLY that’s a different story. To do that, without the express, written, consent of the plugin developer is intellectual theft. So is taking a pay-for plugin and giving it away for free. Sure, you CAN, but it’s a mean, unkind, unethical and basically naughty thing to do. If you did it to me, I’d be pissed as hell and sever any contract I had with you right away.

    Are they within their rights to sever your account? TOS #6

    You may not claim intellectual or exclusive ownership to any of our products, modified or unmodified.

    The wording on your site puts that in question a bit. I could probably argue that point.

    #7 says

    You may not resell, share, or publish subscription credentials or access.

    That’s actually what you’re doing. You’re selling YOUR access. To anyone. That’s a clear violation to their TOS.

    The whole “You agree to not use these Services to:” can also be used to further their argument.

    Basically: You tried to cheat the system. You got caught. You got punted. You take your lumps. Their site, their rules. You ain’t got a leg to stand on.

    nit3watch

    (@nit3watch)

    12 years, 11 months ago

    You may not resell, share, or publish subscription credentials or access.

    I am not selling access, I am selling what is rightfully mine as I purchased it and am aloud to distribute it, as per the GPL:

    Does the GPL allow me to charge a fee for downloading the program from my site?

    Yes. You can charge any fee you wish for distributing a copy of the program. If you distribute binaries by download, you must provide “equivalent access” to download the source—therefore, the fee to download source may not be greater than the fee to download the binary.

    Does the GPL allow me to sell copies of the program for money?

    Yes, the GPL allows everyone to do this. The right to sell copies is part of the definition of free software. Except in one special situation, there is no limit on what price you can charge. (The one exception is the required written offer to provide source code that must accompany binary-only release.)

    And finally they are in violation of the GPL if the reason for canceling my subscription was based on me redistributing their ‘items’:

    If I distribute GPL’d software for a fee, am I required to also make it available to the public without a charge?

    No. However, if someone pays your fee and gets a copy, the GPL gives them the freedom to release it to the public, with or without a fee. For example, someone could pay your fee, and then put her copy on a web site for the general public.
    Does the GPL allow me to distribute copies under a nondisclosure agreement?

    No. The GPL says that anyone who receives a copy from you has the right to redistribute copies, modified or not. You are not allowed to distribute the work on any more restrictive basis.

    If someone asks you to sign an NDA for receiving GPL-covered software copyrighted by the FSF, please inform us immediately by writing to license-violation@fsf.org.

    If the violation involves GPL-covered code that has some other copyright holder, please inform that copyright holder, just as you would for any other kind of violation of the GPL.

    Also why was my Mutuuj WordPress.org account deleted?

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    12 years, 11 months ago

    Your account isn’t deleted (if it was, the above post would turn into ‘Anonymous’). We don’t delete accounts. You MAY have tripped the spam filter, but I don’t see any posts hanging out there.

    I am not selling access, I am selling what is rightfully mine as I purchased it and am aloud to distribute it, as per the GPL:

    Right, except you’re not. Look, you are not violating GPL, but you ARE violating their TOS. You’re re-selling plugins which can only be gotten BY using access. What they’re doing, punting you, is within their right. What you’re doing, reselling their plugins, is within the rights of the GPL, but not the agreement you signed up to. They didn’t make a more restrictive license, they just said ‘To use THIS site, you agree NOT to do THAT.’ You keep the plugin and lose access to the site, and you can still resell all you want. Nothing anti-GPL there.

    You’re performing theft of services, and you’ve upped the ante by reselling. They can, and should, ban you from their sites. I would. I’d also have an explicit statement in my TOS like ‘You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, resell, or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Service (including your membership ID), use of the Service, or access to the Service.’ but I like to cover my ass.

    At the end of the day, your issue is with wpmuDev. A site unrelated to this one, save they offer WordPress plugins and themes. WordPress has no control of them, no power, no ability to censure. They exist over there, like any other professional WP related site. Your only recourse is to get a lawyer, and I’m pretty sure they’d tell you that you’re not gonna win.

    Jen

    (@jenmylo)

    12 years, 11 months ago

    The GPL does allow for redistribution of GPL code. You can even charge for it if you like. However, here at WordPress.org that sort of behavior is not encouraged or supported in our repo. If you redistribute, we expect to see modifications not available in the original. We show respect for the authors of GPL code by only promoting redistributions that are useful as new contributions through helpful modifications.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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