Fair play and Business
 

Hello,

Latelly DBTech released the mod Copyright Managment which replaces their copyright link (links if you're using more of their mods) with a single line global copyright appearing in all pages.

With a first eye this is a good move as it reduces the needing space to list all of their copyrights (if you're using more than one mod). The problem starts from the point that this copyright is global, which means that is appearing in all pages regardless if that page is powered from their mods or not.

And here comes the question. Do you think that this is a fair play to the other coders? I'll not talk if it is legal or not as I'm not a lawyer. Also the laws are so complicated that nobody can say "yes" or "not". So I'm focusing only to the fair play.

And here is a list of my thoughts. Let's get as example that I'm using their vbQuizz and vbCredits system and finally I'm adding this mod to merge the 2 copyright lines in a single one.

1. According to which logic pages like Classifieds, Auctions, Reviews, Extrapages must include his copyright? Is there anything from his mods on this page that gives the right to show their copyright there?
2. They use the phrase "Site powered by vBulletin Mods & Addons from DragonByte Technologies Ltd. (Details)" which is very general. Any unexperiant visitor will thinks that the Classifieds page that he is viewing is their product. "Site powered..." means the full site. Why they didn't used a more fair phrase like "Some sections of this site is powered..."?
3. You must click on the Details to understand that this page is not their work. By the way. When submitting a mod there is an option to check if you're pulling content from 3nd party sites. This "External" option is unchecked, so users maybe don't know that at that time you exchange data with their site.

When I complain for it I got many replies from different users. Supporting or not my post. Actually who didn't support my post was the Author and his friends. I'll focus on some only points:

1. "Does not prohibited by vB.org rules": Sure. Because 10 years in this site never seen before such action. There were coders (like Zachery who didn't even added their copyright. I do believe him). All the rest coders were putting their copyright only on their pages. So its normal that such a rule does not exists. Because never had such similar before. And rules are for changing as all rules, as all laws are updating from time to time to cover all new issues.
2. I read many times "Nobody prohibits you (me) to add your copyright in all pages". Perfect. So a site which is using their mods, my mods, and another 10 other mods will has a footer with 10+ lines of copyrights. Great :)
3. You're (me) free to add your own rules in your mods as you're not breaking vb.org rules. Great again. So, as it does not also prohibited by vb.org rules, I can release new versions which will not works if they found in the site this mod installed?

What I know is that a community must has except the normal terms of use and some "fair play" terms. Otherwise, the financial crisis around the world, will lead in unfair actions. Because I can bet (and anybody can understand it), that this mod, released not as a way to help the users, but as a way to be visible in all pages. Yes, I do agree that they have a plethora of mods, and I congratulate them, but 95% of their mod are working only in forum pages. And on now days most sites have much more other pages than just forums.

As a final note. In my opinion this mod brakes the fair play and offcourse I'll do the same (if not worst). What do you think about?

Thank you for your time. By the way give a vote to the poll. Maybe it will be a reason for vb.org to update their terms.

Christos Teriakis
aka ChrisTERiS

Flawed polls are flawed.

I think its perfectly fine for any addon author to decide how and when their copyright is displayed on whatever pages they want it to be displayed on so forth those requirements are outlined in the addon thread, or license.

vBulletin.org is a place to share addons for free, if we start placing too many more restrictions, or requirements on addons, we'll only chase more people away.

This is what I want to check. If the users support your opinion for me should be the best.

Years ago I downloaded and used a Forex mod for VB 3.x that displayed the various Stock Market indexes on forum home, Eventually I noticed the copyright notice appeared on every page. I didn't like it so I uninstalled the mod. I've never used another mod since that insists on global copyrights. Problem solved.

You don't have to install that mod. It's up to you. It's a decision you make - several copyrights only on some pages versus one copyright on all pages.

To clarify something. I'm talking as coder and not as user. Yes, if I was a user I had to decide which of them fits better for me.

But as a coder I found it unfair:
1.- The meaning is very general. Site is is powered by vB mods by DBTech. So, an average visitot will thinks that my Classifieds, or my Reviews etc etc, is his work.
2.- If its a user decision ...hmmm.... so-so....

--------------- Added 07 Jun 2013 at 00:27 ---------------

And because I seen that most moderators already replied, can you tell me if I've the right, according to the site's terms, to release tomorrow new versions of my mods making them incombatible with this addon? Is there any term prohibited it? For global copyright I'm not asking, as all of you wrote that is something that depends on coder's decision, so I'm in.

Edited: By saying incombatible I mean that my mods will not work, not the others. And offcourse should be big notification to potential users for this. And let's them decide what they want, on the same way that they'll decide if they need one global line or many.

Its a coders choice to do, or not do, whatever the hell they want with their own code.

Its an end users choice to use the software, abide by its terms, or not use the software at all.

I don't know why you're so up in arms over something you literally will never have control of ever.

Because I want them as a guarantee. Have bad experiance in the past believe me. Calorie is not here any more, but still have (even after 5 years) her email. Different things she wrote me on her emails, different thinks she did when I follown her "instructions".

Calorie is just fine, they decided to stop being involved here (and vBulletin/internet in general). That is their choice. I spent a lot of time working on them.

Its up to every coder to do what they want with their code.

First off, I did not vote in this poll because it is one sided, not enough options to choose from.

Now, some of DBTech's mods do run on all pages and some have the potential to, depending on what settings you choose. So with the Copyright Management mod, it just condenses the footer, and as a side affect, shows on all pages. In order to not have this, the conditional you would have to write, would look like a novel. If any one of these 30+ options are true, then display the copyright on all pages, but only if this or that is enabled bla, bla, bla.

So as a end user I have the choice.

• Use the Copyright Management mod, and see their copyright on all my pages.
• Don't use the Copyright Management, and have my footer on some of my pages look like a Christmas list.
• Purchase the branding free for the mods I am using.
• Purchase the Global Branding free, which works for all their mods.
• Don't use any of their mods. (Which will never happen, as their stuff is top notch, and the support is at the highest level)

Yes you as a coder, can code your mods to not work if X product is installed, or if any mod from X developer is installed on a users system, but IMO that is just plain silly. With the customer base that DBTech has you could potentially alienate your self with alot of people, and loose customers yourself. It may work out for you, cause that in it's own has the potential for less people using your mods, thus cutting down on your support time.

I for one would never install a mod that was explicitly coded to not work if another mod(s) was on my system.

This statement is 100% untrue.

The Copyright Management mod was created as there were a multitude of requests on their site, to help out the users that could not afford to purchase the branding free for the mods. Also, you are the first person in over a year to express concerns about this. The mod has many users using it, and they have no issues with the basic functionality of the mod, and how it displays the copyright on all pages.