Selling WinAmp on eBay!?!?

[Erby]

Hey,

I found this a$$hole on eBay trying to sell WinAmp for profit on a CD with a ton of skins. While it may save time, you are paying for something that is FREE and this guy should be flamed. It is also probably illegal. He metions that you can get it for free, but he is still selling something that is free and, c'mon, that is pretty lame!!
Here is the eBay auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI...tem=1218148394

-Erby

[tjb2004]

Ok, let me start by telling you that there is nothing on this disc that you cannot get for free from the internet with a little searching and one heck of a lot of downloading on your part.

But it is probably illegal.

i wonder if you contact AOLTW about this if they will prosecute him.

[pixelpusher]

Let alone the fact that he cannot distribute winamp, He also cannot distribute skins. They are considered intellectual property. And therefore covered under US copyright laws.

I've posted this in the skin love forums. And reported this guy to EBAY. Plus sent him a personal e-mail of my actions.

[Edited by pixelpusher on 03-01-2001 at 02:06 AM]

[Radiskull]

Aw, you reported him?! I hope there is still time to bid.

[Nabeel]

even if you guys report him, how they gonna find him. won't make ne difference. but whoever it is, he's a real moron.

It's kinda like trying to sell warez cds on ebay...

[Nabeel]

can't we report to ebay and make 'em remove the thing ?

[piesupreme]

one of the points that no-one has discussed is:
why would anyone want 5000 skins? i mean, i can't even manage 60, and there's this guy wanting 5000?
wanker!

[sgtfuzzbubble011]

Heh... I've got over 650 skins.

[SexyLoserKitten]

I only have 1...it matches my desktop and all

[Nabeel]

i got 453 skins....

[Psycho Puppet]

I got 3...and that guy selling winamp with skins is a retard

i have about 15 skins, (5 that i made but i dont bother putting them at winamp.com or any other sites)

[SNYder]

can i see the skinz you made? why not? i'll give you some feedback

[Thor]

This guy just doesn't realise he's probably doing something illegal ... Has he mailed you back yet Pixelpusher ?

[mr_sax]

wut an idiot... i got only about 30 skins, why would you possibly want 5000? does he REALLY want to be prosecuted for being so stupid? i mean... LOL that would make it onto america's funniest. ouch. you wouldn't even be able to get to see all the skins 'cause it would take wayyyy too long to get through all of them. probably hafta click on each individual file to install the skin too wouldn't you? i forget how they install... o well stupid guy, and he'll get in serious shiet for it.

[fish]

what a RETARD

[Bizznatch]

What a moron, notice noone is bidding on this item, I predict nobody will. If anybody wants to report him, go to ebay's safe harbor, tell them that he's selling a questionable item, fill out the forms, ebay will remove it.

[Bizznatch]

heheeheee!! I just bidded on his item with a false ID. I will purposely leeave him negative feedback when the auction ends.

[Bizznatch]

revenge is sweeeet

[whocarez]

stupid-dumbshit-goddamn-mother-fucker

i'd shout but i don't have the energy to press shift as well

[Bizznatch]

MWA HA FUCKING HA!!! He cancelled the item because of "questionable intent" when I bid on his all 20 of his winamp cd's @ $99 each!!!!

[Bizznatch]

I say who's house?
Runs house!

I say who's house? (say what, say what)
Runs house!

Martin!

(from the Movie "Dogma")

[Ice]

i'd get a list of skins from the guy. then contact the authors. 5000 mad e-mails wouldn't be fun.

[pixelpusher]

Well, I don't have the copy of the letter that I sent him. Because I had to send it though Ebay. But It basically said that I had reported him for qestionable content and I explained why I felt that way. Intellectual property laws. And that I though it would be in his interest to take down the auction. He responded to my personal address. Here are the letters that ensued.

His response to my first letter.


Before I take down my auction, you tell me how I have violated anyone's copyright? You give your skins away on a dozen different sites on the web? Why is what I'm doing an issue?

Jim

My response to his letter..

Sorry, Jim. But the fact is that they are open to Down load for personal use. If you read the readme.text in alot of the skins. You will see that alot of them have copyright notices written into them. To get to the readme.txt files. With winamp open. Click the menu button on the top left of the player. Go to options/preferences Then scoll down to skin browser. Select a skin in the list and look at the text below it.
Anyway.. The skins are considered art by the person that made them. Permission to distribute and sell them must be directed to the owner of the skins. I'm not trying to be a hardass. Just letting you know that some people are going to be upset over this and you might consider asking before doing something like this..

John

This is his response to that reply.

Hello John--

You'll be happy to see that the auctions have been taken down. I assure you it was never my intent to rip anyone off. The downloading, orgainization, duplication, labeling and mailing that went into the disc I was offering is/was a long way from free. I don't see why the artistic community (i've always thought that use of the word community was a load of shit) didn't see it as just another distribution point. But that's neither here nor there. One thing you might want to make your "community" aware of is that everytime someone hits the WinAmp site, you guys are getting ripped off. WinAmp is owned by AOL, and AOL is a pure hit driven business. So while you think you're being good guys sharing your work on a site that WinAmp/AOL has provided you, they are making some serious bucks of of the traffic that is brought to that site due to your work. Trust me, if they weren't making a buck at it, they wouldn't be doing it. Anyway, like I said, I never meant harm so please accept my apology if I caused any.

Peace
Jim

I didn't respond to this yet. He misquoted me in this last one. I told him in the first letter that I had informed the skinning community. "Not Artist community". Meaning that I posted the fact of the auction in the skin lovers forum.


So.. Thats that.. I actually feel bad for the guy because I know he put alot of work into it. And I don't think he really thought he was doing anything wrong. But the fact is that he should have thought about it. All the skins have names to the left of them that say who made it. And most have a e-mail link. So to me there is no excuse for being uninformed..

Out... Pixelpusher..

[christ0pherg]

Hey there,

Alright, I don't see what the big problem with this is. I mean, who really cares? To those whose skins are on the CD, well, man, that's just more 'publicity' for your creation. And here you are pissing and moaning about it. All this fellow was trying to do is help some people out (and obviously make a bit of cash while doing it). So, really, what's the reason for making such a huge deal out of something like this? I think it's pretty pathetic that a handful of you want to go tattle on him. I mean, come on people, weren't we supposed to get over that in first grade?
Well, I'm just going to leave it at that.

See ya.
Chris

[pixelpusher]

Originally posted by christ0pherg
Hey there,

Alright, I don't see what the big problem with this is. I mean, who really cares? To those whose skins are on the CD, well, man, that's just more 'publicity' for your creation. And here you are pissing and moaning about it. All this fellow was trying to do is help some people out (and obviously make a bit of cash while doing it). So, really, what's the reason for making such a huge deal out of something like this? I think it's pretty pathetic that a handful of you want to go tattle on him. I mean, come on people, weren't we supposed to get over that in first grade?
Well, I'm just going to leave it at that.

See ya.
Chris

Obviously you have never spent weeks on end creating a skin.
I did it to protect the rights of the artists that did. And as far as it being a handful of people. I only know what skins were previewed in the auction. But I'm sure that if everyone that had a skin on his disc knew about it. There would be more then a handful. 5000 skins. Even if only half didn't like the idea. Thats still 2500 people. A 1/4 1250. you get the point.
But just for the hell of it. If any skinners out there object to what I did, Please feel free to hit the e-mail button on the bottom of this post and send me some hatemail.
And I will write a public apology for shutting this guy down.

[christ0pherg]

Pixelpusher,

Yeah, you are right. I never have made a skin, but trust me, I've tried more than once. (At the age of 14, Photoshop can still be a little confusing, if ya know what I mean. Haha.) So, alright, well, you were definitely right in what you did. This fellow should have consulted the authors. OK, so, I just want to apologize for my previous post. I stand corrected, and I'm sorry.
Well, enough with the sappy stuff.

Ciao.
Chris

[pixelpusher]

No problem christ0pherg, I just wanted to clarify why I did it. I know how hard it is to create an awesome winamp skin. Mine all suck. I haven't gotten any bad replys yet for doing it, So i'm assuming that most don't mine. But like I said above. If i've overstepped my bounderies then I will gladly apologize..

Sincerely Pixelpusher.

[Xerxes]

Originally posted by SexyLoserKitten
I only have 1...it matches my desktop and all

you deleted EDO?

[sgtfuzzbubble011]

I've still got DadaAmp...

[SexyLoserKitten]

Think I still got that on my other puter

[dj_rigo]

pixelpusher i thought that guy selling the 5000 skins was making a favor to the people. in fact, the money he asks for the 5000 skins is just to pay the effort to download the skins, burn 'em, make instructions, etc...
it is like shareware cds, they ask money for the effort and distribution.

the skins shown on eBay kick asses. if i lived on the us, i'd buy that cd.

i hope that guy hasn't already burnt the 20 cds.

SHAME ON YOU!

dj_rigo

[Nabeel]

Originally posted by sawg
If he had the moral right to do it is up to debabe. Did he have the legal right to do it? Nope. The re-distribution of copyrighted material without the authors permision is a crime.

yes and Crime Duz Not Pay
or duz it ?

geeez... one's just trying to make a living out of other people's work and look what one gets in response. And by the way, you're all on my black list, so once im rich and famous, everyone'll know i dislike you. I dislike you all. You bastards. sniff.

[mr_sax]

ok, for one thing i talked to my mom (who is a lawyer) about this, and this is what she said -


This guy has made a cd, and states in one of many e-mails that the winamp site is still making money off of us going to the site. Well, who pays for the winamp program to be programmed? who pays for the domain name? who pays for all the things that winamp makes? AOL may be a big company, but, losing money isn't fun. This is why AOL and Winamp have put ads on their site, to make money to pay for the production of the product. Another thing is that, yes if you have ppl who have spent hours making the skins on the CD, then if you were one of those artists why would you want your skin to be sold to someone? yes he states that the money is for making the cd but he is still making the profit from selling them. It doesn't matter what he says, he's still making profit

that's my .02$ thanks. if i'm wrong in any way please tell me

[rm']

Originally posted by zxypher

that's my .02$ thanks. if i'm wrong in any way please tell me

Isn't that your mom's 2 cents? And if she's wrong, would I really want her as my lawyer?

[mr_sax]

well......yes......but.............yes.........