Looks like he has been doing it since:
poweryourwordpress.com
created: 15-Jul-2005
last-changed: 15-Jul-2005
registration-expiration: 15-Jul-2006
registrant-phone: +1.5152401641
registrant-email: [email protected]
Would someone mind posting this to the Developer’s Mailing List (I’m not a member at this time)? I would like to know what the developers of those “over 500 plugins” have to say about this. ^_-
And the list of themes
(I tried to list them, but it is so long.. I dont want to make the post that long. They are avail on that site.)
“And the list of themes”
I’d imagine that a large majority of these themes will have been licensed under a GPL license (having been entered in Alex King’s theme contest) so technically he’s within his rights to redistribute them at cost (though anyone who purchases then can also redistribute them for free if wished) as long as he keeps the license agreement.
However, I take a very dim view of this spammish site; that said, his target market aren’t exactly the most innocent of victims.
How silly… what a plodger.
If you need WP installed, I’ll help you out for free. If you want some theme work done I’ll quote you my hourly rate to scare you away, but if you take me up on it i won’t atually charge you anything [and god help you.]
the response to this bit of shameless exploitation has been an interesting read. still, i wonder how many people would actually fall for that kind of deal? who really wants a “blog tactics” book?
In my dim view of the world, i suppose anyone willing to shell out the big bucks for this get rich while you watch tv scheme kinda deserves whatever they get (including the “blog tactics” book they’ll never read.)
Sexy!
Yeah, but cpanel et all are free once you’re already paying the hosting….
It may be free to you, but somebody is paying for the cpanel license.
Don’t get me wrong, this guy’s business sounds sleezy, but I don’t see what the big deal is here. There are many examples of companies that make good money by repackaging GPL software and charging for
1. having packaged it (big woop)
2. service/support
3. customizations/fixes
Welcome to the world of GPL.
It gets worse. He’s got affiliates with cookie cutter sites all selling this sh***t. The mildew is spreading . . .
I kept waiting for Tony Little or Ron Popiel to pop out and say “But, there’s more! Act now and also….”
Unfortunately I don’t think he’s done anything wrong. IT may be questionable (such as the blatent lifting of the WPLogo image), but since nearly everything associated with WP is GPL’d…
-tg
Well if istockphoto.com can come down on people for using images in a clearly commercial manner, then why can’t any of the theme and plugin editors whose works are being “redistributed”?
Unfortunately, I don’t suppose there’s any difference in this and me, wearing my web designer hat, offering to install WordPress and X number of themes and plugins to someone’s site for $79 (or whatever I felt like charging). Is this a good analogy? It’s one thing to create something for WP users to enjoy (plugins and themes); it seems tacky to bundle up someone else’s work and offer it to those stupid enough to purchase such a silly thing. Or maybe I’m just mad because I didn’t think of it first.
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I kept waiting for Tony Little or Ron Popiel to pop out and say “But, there’s more! Act now and also….”
-unquote-
Even worse– anyone from the greater NYC area remember Crazy Eddie?
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Unfortunately, I don’t suppose there’s any difference in this and me, wearing my web designer hat, offering to install WordPress and X number of themes and plugins to someone’s site for $79 (or whatever I felt like charging). Is this a good analogy?
-unquote-
If this is a service you are performing for someone who has not the knowledge or is incapable in some other way, then no, this is not an apt analogy, since this person is paying you for your time and expertise to perform a specific service. Just like the custom and proprietary designs I create and make into wordpress themes for the exclusive use of a particular client are not in any way analogous.
This “power” person is packaging up the hard work of others, adding very little of any extra value or originality and profiting by it via a line of bs deep enough to bury the whole herd.
I remember Crazy Eddie from Vegas back when – after he got run out of NYC prob’ly….
Well if istockphoto.com can come down on people for using images in a clearly commercial manner, then why can’t any of the theme and plugin editors whose works are being “redistributed”?
I don’t think you’re allowed to specify non-commercial use under the GPL or any GPL-compatible license. One of the many reasons I don’t make themes anymore.
So I guess the lesson for the day is: if you’re going to be a kind soul, releasing stuff to the wp community to use for free, be sure you specify some other sort of licensing to cover potential scuzball commercial use….
So I guess the lesson for the day is…
So some scum is going to get some money from this, so what ?
Imagine if everybody had that, “I don’t want anybody making money off my hard work” attitude: there’d be no wordpress, no php, no apache, no mysql, no linux.
The real lesson is to make sure you understand open source and specifically the particular license model before you release (L)GPL/Apache/BSD etc. code.
