There was a report in the news recently of someone in the USA who has been sentenced to more than 2 years in jail for selling "counterfeit" Rockwell software on EBay. Apparently, the person involved bought various types of Rockwell software on eBay. He then made very good copies of it (including printed labels, etc.) and then offered the copies for auction on eBay again at very low prices. He sold the software in 32 separate auctions and individual packages had a retail value of between "$900 to $11,325".

It probably shouldn't be a surprise that this is going on, but I thought that I should bring this to the attention of everyone. There have been plenty of news reports of people selling counterfeit copies of things like AutoCad and Photoshop on eBay for some time now, but apparently even niche markets like PLC software are seeing this as well.

There weren't any details as to how this case came to the attention of the authorities, but from the information which was available it appears to have originated with a complaint from Rockwell.

 

Walt Boyes' "Instrumentation Reference Book" showed up as an electronic pdf version some months ago on eBay, at a fraction of the printed version price.

I gave him a call and told him about it. He was unaware that there was an "electronic version", not surprising since there most likely wasn't one, the ebay offereing was likely a pirate version.

The listing disappeared shortly thereafter, so I assume his publisher put some lawyers on it.

Dan

 

Yes, Dan, they did sic their attack lawyers on eBay as soon as I told them about it. Now, I'm all for information interchange. But I'd like to make more than $0.0005 per hour on the 4th Edition, now in preparation.

Walt Boyes
Editor in Chief
Control magazine
www.controlglobal.com
blog:Sound OFF!! http://waltboyes.livejournal.com
_________________

Putman Media Inc.
555 W. Pierce Rd. Suite 301
Itasca, IL 60143
630-467-1301 x368
[email protected]

 

Hi,
As RA were awarded the $5000 that the guy made, I assume now they will support the 'counterfeit' packages. (Perhaps one shouldn't read too much into USDOJ copyright warning stories) The people who buy this stuff are the problem, anyone in the business knows that a nod, a wink and a hardware order will elicit free software.

I've never yet had to pay for a programming package! As for reference books, the book you mention, as well as a host of others have been available for free on the 'net for years, check any bittorrent site. The world has changed, the ending of the farce of copyright means that millions of middlemen, lawyers and law enforcement personnel will have to find something useful to do, and artists and 'creatives' will have to continue to work for a living, just like the labourer who can only sell his labour once.

Marc Sinclair

 

In reply to Marc Sinclair: I don't know if Rockwell made any arrangements with the purchasers of the counterfeit software packages. In the case that I mentioned, the person involved sold software valued at over $700,000 for $4,150, or in other words for about 6% of its nominal value. You may be able to buy things cheap on eBay, but a 94% discount ought to look a bit fishy to any purchaser, especially given eBay's reputation for dodgy goods.

Not many software vendors would have much sympathy for the purchasers of counterfeit software. Typically they have their lawyer send a letter to the purchasers warning them that they are using the software without a valid license and demand that they either purchase a license or stop using the software. Generally, if you purchase counterfeit software on eBay, you are not considered to have a valid software license. The legitimate software vendors would simply tell you that you should have gone through one of their authorised dealers.

As for PLC salesmen handing out free software licenses, well that is their right if they think it will help sell more hardware. They are legitimate agents for their companies and can be authorised to throw in "extras" if they think it will help gain an important enough customer. I have been told by salesmen that they like the repeat business that hardware gives, while programming software sales are usually more headache than they are worth.