Hi folks, just thought I'd jump in with one more teeny suggestion.
Boycotting X1's product won't work. Per their initial comments, their belief is that the online community represents only 20% of potential sales. Their market is the 80% not on these fora. They can afford to lose this 20%- perhaps they can afford to lose 50% of sales; they put little to no money into creating the add-on, and disks are relatively inexpensive. They can still sell enough to make it a worthwhile venture.
The place to hit them is at the distribution level. I asked earlier who the US distributor is. Let's expand that, who are their worldwide distributors- find that and we have the key. I can't think of any reputable company that would willingly market a product which could ensnare them in a lawsuit- even if it's just the threat of one.
A simple letter to these distributors, explaining the origin of this add-on, the controversy, and the fact that legal action has been threatened (OSSI
did threaten a lawsuit after all
), and politely request them to not market this product. Who would be willing to risk negative publicity AND the possibility of being named a co-defendant for some two-bit software company of dubious moral character?
Forget X1, even if you stop them some reincarnation will spring up, smarter than before. Instead cut them off from revenue and send THAT example to the would-be OSSIs out there, silently monitoring these developments.
@Abraham- I like your copywrong of my registration of Beery's theftware. Maybe Beery will co-opt it for the next RUb. How 'bout it, Beery?
