Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Trying To Lure Suckers, Company Resells Open Source Blender

Posted by timothy on from the born-every-minute dept.

sylphsama writes "A company named 'IllusionMage" deceptively resells a 3D open source animation package (Blender) and claims it as their own. The software, dubbed IllusionMage, portrays flagrant similarities with Blender, although outdated compared to the original. The website itself is a patchwork of sorts, using renders from different users and numerous other packages as a way to impress its visitors. Not only is that a breach of copyright, but they intentionally hide that the software is distributed under the GNU GPL license, rendering it free to use. The Blender Foundation itself has spoken out through its chairman Ton Roosendaal." I love that they promise "Free Updates For Life. All From the Thriving Open Source Community, This Software is Forever Improving."

4 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Legit by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What he's doing is completely legal.

    His customers appear happy, and given that he's marketing to die-hard Windows & Mac users (no Linux version mentioned), the fee probably makes them feel more comfortable. It's a feature...

    " Wow this software is incredible. I have owned Maya, 3DMax and PoserPro. I can tell you, this is by FAR, the easiest software to use."

    Isaac Oneil - Marion, NC

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  2. FlightGear by U8MyData · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Same, nearly identical, treatment for flightprosim.com knock off of flightgear.org. Shame....

  3. Re:Legit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's a legitimate stance that fraud is a worse crime than copyright infringement.

  4. Special launch offer expires in Date() + 3 days by dk3nn3dy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This part is awesome:

    Your Dinky One-Time Investment Is Only $47!
    (This is a special launch offer only, we're only opening this for the next 3 days only before the offer closes forever!)
    Thats right. Your investment for the entire course is only $47 (this launch offer will closed anytime after February 26, 2011 )

    Where February 26, 2011 is:
    days = 3; // How many days to add to today
      d = new Date();
    now = d.getTime(); // Add 10 days
    d.setTime(now + days * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
    document.getElementById("offerEnd1").innerHTML = formatDate(d);
    function formatDate(d) {
    var months = new Array("January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December");
    return months[d.getMonth()] + " " + d.getDate() + ", " + d.getFullYear();;