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UK Government Confiscates Firefox CDs
Alsee writes "The idea that Free Software can be sold has some government officials perplexed. Times Online has the story. A UK Trading Standards officer contacted the Mozilla Foundation to report catching a business selling copies of Firefox. The organization confiscated the CDs with the intent to prosecute said business. When informed that such distribution was authorized, the officer first expressed disbelief that Free Software could be sold then said 'If Mozilla permit the sale of copied versions of its software, it makes it virtually impossible for us, from a practical point of view, to enforce UK anti-piracy legislation'."
My GOD ! They're giving it away ! How can we control this !
... you're going to put us out of our jobs, I mean, who would we prosecute then??!?!"
Someone should take this guy to the bar and explain it to him over a 'free beer'.....
Browsers shouldn't have a back button!! It's all about going forward...
Litter is British slang for prostitutes.
Hehe,
Everyone who buys it is reducing load on the download servers and mirrors
I download one copy for every copy i burn.
Those who actually offer some added value will sell better. This encourages Firefox development (in the same way that Red Hat, Mantiva, Novell, IBM and many others have contributed to Linux).
I only sell it to Microsoft employees who promise to burn every copy.
In many places, offering a product for sale implies a certain amount of warantee which cannot be disclaimed, on the part of the seller (lemon laws, etc). This gives consumers leverage by which to demand things like security updates, which further incents distributors to participate in Firefox development.
I tell them the security update warnings are spammers, and that I won't update it for them.
Many people in the world with very slow, noisy connections to the Internet cannot reasonably download something as large as Firefox.
I give them Opera.
For every dollar (or Euro or Pound) spent on Firefox CDs, there is more measurable sale of open source software.
Sales are unregistered with tax, etc, authorities.
Overseas sales will encourage better regionalization enhancements.
If someone from overseas orders a copy, I send them an empty box.
Since you can download it for free, those purchasing it are likely people who would NOT have used Firefox otherwise (perhaps they just don't trust free software, or perhaps they would not have come acorss it other than on a shelf).
To encourage sales, I have a large advert in my shop window stating that the MD5 sums on Mozilla's website are incorrect because Mozilla is an increasing target of hackers and they regularly hack the site and put malicious copies in the place of genuine copies. Only I have genuine copies, only I, only for $50.99.
I have too much time on mu hands, you insensitive clod!
Man, there's a particularly unfortunate abbreviation.
antipaucity
"It goes against the grain to have this sort of thing going on in Great Britain. We've partially dismantled free speech and the freedom of movement. We will need to review what can be done to combat this new threat."
Unfortunately awesome, maybe.
The big law firm of Morrison & Foerster..."Over one thousand lawyers worldwide"
That's a lot of mo fos
Morrison & Foerster.
Attorney A "Who are we up against?"
Attorney B "It's the MoFo's."
Attorney A "That just great!"
I guess if you need an attorney, you'll want one that's a real MoFo.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
In related news: Morrison & Foerster : Legal Updates & News : Press Releases : MoFo One of 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers
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