peter beeching wrote: > I recently purchased your open office Cd from Think all.com which was free to > me apart from postage and packing. I was billed the postage and am pleased > with the product. I today have been billed the sum of $49.90 from Think all > for a free product. If you value the reputation you have may I suggest you > stop this firm distributing your product for free then charging for it on the > back of a free offer. >
We are aware of the situation with ThinkAll, and I think there is a consensus that ThinkAll's tactics probably constitute unfair trade practices of the sort that are illegal in many (if not nearly all) jurisdictions. ThinkAll has repeatedly been asked to stop engaging in these practices, and has refused to do so (despite assurances that it would). My understanding is that they are located in Texas, and that the Attorney General of that state has received numerous complaints about them. What (if anything) has been done I cannot say. Where are you located? I might be able to recommend a consumer lawyer who could represent you in a claim against the company if their practices violate your local laws. In some states, it's worth it to sue for even $50 because if you win, the defendant has to pay your attorney fees--thus costing you nothing and costing them a bundle--and in some states you can treble your damages. I think there's also a potential for a class action suit here, which would make a lawyer more likely to take the case. (And I should know!) Having said all of that, there's really nothing the OpenOffice.org community can really do about it: The upside of open source code is that it's freely available for anyone to use pretty much any way they want. The downside is that it's freely available for anyone to use pretty much any way they want. Nothing in the licensing really addresses the manner in which the product can be sold (at least, not in a way that I can see would prohibit "subscription" sales, which is how ThinkAll classifies their scheme). That might be something that should be addressed in the next edition of the LGPL--a prohibition on using the code for fraud or illegal purposes--but I don't recall seeing anything like that in the existing license. Ergo, the OpenOffice.org community really has no cause of action. The best bet to stop these kinds of shady dealings would be to pursue an action on your own or as part of a class in a consumer action. Such an action could both get you monetary damages and get an injunction put into place that would bar them from engaging in these kinds of tactics. Best of luck, and I'm sorry to hear that you got taken in. From now on, your best bet is to just download the product directly (and for free!) from www.OpenOffice.org Best regards, -- Steven Shelton Attorney at Law (Licensed in Michigan) ******************** NOTICE: This message may contain confidential information intended for the specified recipient only. If you are not the intended recipient, please reply to the sender to inform him of the mistake and then delete this message. Nothing in this message should be construed as legal advice or as establishing an attorney-client relationship. ******************** --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
