eBay violators

[rc3105]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=5742005283

gberlam, got anything to say for yourself?

you do know it's illegal to sell uma6fix?

[alldeadhomiez]

Sure would suck to lose your business over a few silly auctions.

I hope for this guy's sake it was an honest mistake, and not a pattern of willful copyright infringement. Time will tell.

[AhoyMatey]

I don't see gberlam as a donor for the 4.x on RID patch either. And I assume that the system uses a killhdinitrd kernel...

[snowman]

I'm hoping someone has PM'd him as well, so he has a chance to read the message. I'd hate to have a public lynching and him not be here to enjoy it.

[AlphaWolf]

It's probable that he doesn't read this forum anymore, but a response from him isn't required anyways. I would file suit immediately, I could easily see you getting more from him than what he actually sold that tivo for, much much much more.

[rc3105]

he responded through the ebay system, says he used the guide on HUGE's personal site which links back here for files

guess he didn't read the not so fine print

got plenty right now to file for summary judgement, if he opts to buy a license after the fact the EFF will get a modest donation, otherwise things get ugly

[SledgeHammer]

You are going to sue the guy for selling a KillInitRd'ed Tivo on eBay? Good luck with that. Isn't KillInitRd a violation of the DMCA to begin with since its circumventing security? Not to mention a violation of the Tivo / DirecTV license agreements? Besides, at $118, he is hardly selling your software, but rather the box itself. If I have a PC with software on it, I am not allowed to sell my PC without formatting the hard drive?

P.S. Just because someone agrees to a license agreement or contract and later violates a portion of it, doesn't mean you can sue them. Not everything somebody randomly writes up is legally enforcable.

P.S.S. Just for the sake of argument... how much are you asking for a license?

[AlphaWolf]

You are going to sue the guy for selling a KillInitRd'ed Tivo on eBay?

They can easily do that, regardless of the DMCA. Copyright protections don't ask whether or not the material being pirated does something that is legal to begin with. Whether or not it is legal is up for debate, however that will not be looked at here if this is taken to court.

P.S. Just because someone agrees to a license agreement or contract and later violates a portion of it, doesn't mean you can sue them. Not everything somebody randomly writes up is legally enforcable.

It doesn't matter, when you publish anything anywhere on the internet, by law it is automatic that nobody is just allowed to arbitrarily redistribute it without the permission of the author. Doing otherwise is a violation of copyright law, and is very much subject to restitution of the author so desires.

Go look up the differences between freeware and public domain software.

Not only that but this isn't just killhdinitrd that we are dealing with, this is also the 4.x on RID framework.

[rc3105]

what is this slashdot? read the darn auction listing! AhoyMatey assumed the guy was using killhdinitrd, but there's nothing to indicate that

only reason a used dvr80 went higher than a new one is that it was advertised including HMO. there's a 12k signature petition on TCF of folks that want HMO on dtivo, ddb members ponied up $5k, these features are definatly in high demand

filing fee's are only about $60, punative damages get steep quick and the guy's allready admitted to advertising uma6fix for sale in violation of copyright, why wouldn't we protect our rights? it's a slam dunk


*per-unit licensing for ebay distribution is $75 because the authors really don't want it being sold that way

[snowman]

I'd like to see the court papers. I honestly don't believe there's any enforcement to be had through the court system. I ain't stupid enough to let my hind end swing in the wind to test the theory though. I'm curious to see how this truly pans out.

[AlphaWolf]

I honestly don't believe there's any enforcement to be had through the court system.

I've seen enforcement of things seemingly far more trivial. We are serious about this though, the ebay issue is a real problem for ddb.

[alldeadhomiez]

I honestly don't believe there's any enforcement to be had through the court system.

Well, if the courts can't enforce copyright laws, maybe you should pass the bar and then start getting these guys released:

http://www.cybercrime.gov/StocktonSent.htm
http://www.cybercrime.gov/sankusSent.htm
http://www.cybercrime.gov/fitzgeraldSent.htm
http://www.cybercrime.gov/tobolskySent.htm
http://www.cybercrime.gov/rothbergSent_pirates.htm

[rc3105]

filing fees aren't much, lot more expensive to get a lawyer on retainer and respond

*course, you can allways ignore that sort of thing and end up with a default judgement against your house / business / wages - ex wife was a legal clerk, even knowing all the tricks that were coming the divorce went spectacularly badly because I just couldn't afford to spend $5k for every round of paperwork that only cost her $60


he's indicated he didn't know there was an issue and will drop it back to 3.x + re-list

[AhoyMatey]

what is this slashdot? read the darn auction listing! AhoyMatey assumed the guy was using killhdinitrd, but there's nothing to indicate that

That's true. It was an assumption. However, if he used HUGE's guide, there's a pretty good chance that killhdinitrd was used. If he used 4.0.1b, and HUGE's guide, he probably would have installed the guide patch for 4.0.1b too. That's another one of them assumptions...

[SledgeHammer]

Well, if the courts can't enforce copyright laws, maybe you should pass the bar and then start getting these guys released:

http://www.cybercrime.gov/StocktonSent.htm
http://www.cybercrime.gov/sankusSent.htm
http://www.cybercrime.gov/fitzgeraldSent.htm
http://www.cybercrime.gov/tobolskySent.htm
http://www.cybercrime.gov/rothbergSent_pirates.htm

Well, I am no lawyer, but I find all these cases irrelevant. Some are clearly in violation of the RICO laws which often carry a stiffer penalty then even murder.

But hey, I guess you managed to scare the guy into restoring/relisting, so you should be happy.

If it was me (and I have not sold any killinitrd'ed tivos or any other hacked tivos on eBay because thats a stupid business venture), I would have likely ignored your threats because it is unlikely a hacker would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight it in court.

If I ever do get and/or sell a Series 2, would I go through the trouble of reformating/reinstalling the drive? probably not.

Too bad you didn't sue the guy, I would have *LOVED* to see that happen.