Can you go there and warn that guy about what they’re doing?
They’re selling avast! Home version in CDRom for U$18. It’s not fair.
Please, don’t let me alone on this.
I’m posting the text and the robot translation to English of that page.
Shit… they’ve stolen my translation >:(
Avast! Home Edition is one of the best free antivirus for personal use, having a portuguese version and working in any Windows: 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP. It has a graphical interface sufficiently sophisticated, monitoring sending and receiving e-mails, protecting against virus in programs P2P (KaZaA type), allows updates constantly and automatically without user intervention. Has skins. In this exclusive booklet with 28 pages, you could know avast! Home Edition in details, knowing its options and learning configurating it correctly. You will receive a CD with avast! Home Edition in portuguese and english as well the trial of avast! Professional edition in portuguese and english. Buy it: R$ 19,00
Well, I understood it such that they’re selling the booklet, while the accompanying CD is just a bonus. While it is a little strange, I don’t think we could prevent anybody from selling a book on avast!, for example. I don’t know if they got a permission to distribute avast! on the CD, I sent a message to the sales guys.
Of course, if their booklet copied parts of avast! help (which is not obvious from the announcement), that would be something else… did you see it?
Something must be wrong, because they cannot use the eula.
Then how can they charge for a program that is free for home users?
Piracy in the anti-spyware world is common, but to run it under the same name is stupid. You could inform spyware.guide.com to warn against it. Next time have some in-built security, that other cannot crack, so no one can run away with software that is not theirs. In this world there is one basic rule: trust no one and nothing at face value.
Then how can they charge for a program that is free for home users?
They aren't charging for avast!. The fee is for book of instructions. They also have a copy
of avast! on the CD so you don't have to download it. It's free. The instructions aren't.
Unless the documentation that's being used is a copywrite infringement, what the're doing is perfectly legal.
The only thing I can see is that they are using the avast! Shield on the CD cover
Translation:
Avast! Home Edition is one of best antivirus gratuitous for personal use, having version in Portuguese and functioning in any version desktop of the Windows: 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP.
It has a graphical interface sufficiently sophisticated, monitorial the envio/recebimento of e-mails, protects against virus in programs P2P (KaZaA type), allows updates constant that they are installed automatically without the intervention of the user and also has skins (subjects).
In this exclusive booklet with 28 pages, you he will know avast! Home Edition in details, knowing its options and learning to configure it correctly, besides gratuitously receiving a CD-ROM with the versions from avast! Home Edition in Portuguese and English, beyond the trial version of avast! Professional edition in Portuguese and English.
They are saying that avast home is free (gratuitous) and are charging for the booklet, now what is on the booklet may have copyright issues but not to mention the avast! help file (with Tech’s translation) would seem to negate the need for such a booklet.
So I think it is only the contents of the booklet (as Igor mentions), its source material that could be challenged.
They don’t ask for it… They’ve sent an email to me just saying they would do nothing…
They make the advertisement that avast! is the only antivirus translated into portuguese and they use the concepts of avast! help files to make they’re selling book of avast!
avast! Home version can’t be shipped into CD as it is for Home and non-commercial use. They’re not allowed to use avast! image too.
Let’s see what the anti-piracy associations here will say about that. I will make a formal complain about it.
Eula says:
2. Copyright.
The Software is the intellectual property of ALWIL Software and is protected by U.S./Czech Republic copyright law, international treaty provisions, and applicable laws of the country in which is being used. ...
So they must be under the law here too...
Trademarks can only be used to identify printed output produced by the Software.
They make a CD cover for avast! and they're selling the free material downloadable in Internet.
3. Transfer
You may not rent, lease, sub-license, or lend the Software or Documentation. You may, however, transfer all your rights to use the Software to another person or legal entity, provided that you transfer this Agreement and transfer (or destroy), the Software, including all copies, updates and prior versions, and all Documentation to such person or entity and provided that you retain no copies, including copies stored on your computer.
Am I stupid or can’t I read English?
They can’t do that…
It’s not my words… they’re stealing my work, your work, avast! is being sold in CD, they’re making money…
Why don’t they sell AVG? Because here we have AVG site, AVG resellers, etc.
If I don’t do that, protecting tons of hours of work from me, Sasha, all other translators… well, what am I doing here? They do not contribute with anything, send me an email telling won’t do anything and they’re giving a s*it to the programmers. avast! is free for HOME users and not all the ones they’re selling their CD.
Ok, when Alwil turn off the free version of avast! I won’t to be here anymore.
Sasha, when they start to sell your skins, will you be here to complain?
Well, you obviously have more information than I do.
Without any other information, I can think of an “innocent” scenario, like this: they write their own book(let) on avast!; I mean their own text, not using the texts in the help files, on our web pages, or in the program itself. Now, they start to sell such a book(let). Well, why not. Now, they also include a (free) CD with the avast! installations; they should have a permission for that, but that happens (avast! Home or Pro Trial is included on some CDs, e.g. included in various computer magazines - might be handy for people with bad or no Internet conntection).
Of course, if they do use the texts copied from (your translation of) avast! help, or copy the artwork, or something like that… now that would be different.
Can you forward me the e-mails, please - if you have any more info?
Thanks.
I have a question. What about just the name “AVAST”. If this company is selling a book with the name of Avast on it doesn’t that suggest to possible buyers that they have something to do with Avast or are part of Avast? If I had a little extra money, had some Babseball caps, teeshirts, Jackets, or anything else that had the name “Avast” on it, sold this clothing and made a profit without Alwils permission, wouldn’t I be infringing legally upon the Alwil name of “Avast”?
I understand what Tech is talking about, I am not a Lawyer, this is an International not a local country problem we’re talking about here. I think there quite possibly could be an infringement upon the “Alwil” name plus this company stands to make money by selling this book. Just my 2 cents worth. :
Igor, the emails with that company was just I blaming against this… the text is similar to what I’ve posted here.
I said I will formal complain about that into Software Companies Brazilian Association (ABES). If I was wrong, they will tell me. If not, they would remove the selling product and apply a fine to them.
Judging by what I can read and see… into the webpage and my emails.
They should have a permission for that, but that happens (avast! Home or Pro Trial is included on some CDs, e.g. included in various computer magazines - might be handy for people with bad or no Internet conntection).
But they didn't... Besides this, the CD art wasn't approved by Alwil Company.
C’mon, I’m just defending what we love here: a company that release a free software deserves respect. Otherwise, what are we doing here? Why don’t we go to Symantec or McAfee forums and site support?
Anyway, I understand your position Igor. Prudent after all…
Personally, I found it suspicious… but I was trying to consider all possibilities.
Anyway, glad it has been sorted out. (Let’s hope it’s not just temporary).
They’ve sent me an email agreeing that they should change that practice.
They asked me to prove who I am.
I’ve give your IM to tell them.
Besides this, anyone who has Portuguese(Brazilian) files base.dll and lang.dll of avast! will discover my real name 8)
Well I guess I’m late, but still I have no clue what was going on in there… haven’t managed to see any booklet or any quote from the booklet, so I can’t tell what’s happened…
As far as skins go, I don’t believe anyone would do that… why ? Simply because skins are for free… and also, they are available for download from the official web site for free. Anyone who would pay for those skins would be stupid, nothing else. I don’t believe anyone would ever give some money for skins. They are not crucial part of the avast!, I mean, avast! works perfectly without those skins, so no need at all to pay for them…
Even if someone is doing that, I still wouldn’t believe that there is some people so naive to buy them from those guys… again, simply because everyone can download them for free.
I don’t know, maybe Alwil can do something to protect our rights in the future. Alwil is there any way we can deal with this issue ? I mean I have no clue what was going on with this booklet and that translation or whatever inside, but I know how much of work is to translate everything, and I’m sure you all know how much of a work is to design, draw and compile all those skins and animations… and best of all, to work perfectly without a glitch… isn’t there anything we can do to protect all that stuff in the future ? I sure know how much of his work Technical put into translations, and do not forget other translators because he wasn’t the only one… there were many diligent people working hard on all those materials, no matter were those graphic materials or text scripts…
They’ve sent me another email in which they agreed to get in contact with Alwil and get permition to do that or decide other thing.
They tried to persuade me the advantages for the users on doing that. Other companies do the same.
I’ve answered: ok, Symantec, McAfee and AVG (which is not free in other languages beside English) can do it without problem. They ask for paying in their products. Well, avast! is free.
I’m just wondering if, one day, I wish it never comes but who knows, they start selling avast! with all free stuffs and we just keep watching and do nothing… Then Alwil will say: “Ok guys, from now avast! won’t be free anymore. They’ve stolen our icons, arts, help files… So we can’t continue sharing avast! for free… Sorry, you were good friends and helped us a lot, we recognize but now we’ll make money from now on and avast! won’t be free anymore. Thread closed.”
In this day I don’t want to be on the other side of the wall…
