Transcender Licensing and Enforcement Suck!

[DurocShark]

A guy was selling his Transcender stuff on the FS board (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=45&threadid=1062739&STARTPAGE=1 and someone created the account Transcender and posted the below:

Originally posted by: Transcender
The Transcender Single-User License does not allow for transfer of the software (no selling, trading, etc.). It is for the exclusive use of the Registered User. This applies regardless of how you obtained our Product or whether the Product has been opened.

Unopened software purchased from Transcender may be returned within 30 days or exchanged within 6 months as long as a system key has not been issued.

For more information, please visit: www.transcender.com/message.asp?ID=license

Please remove the Transcender software from your listing. Otherwise, I respectfully request that this thread be locked.

 

[Yossarian]

I get a forum error when I click on that link. That't some sh!tty licensing rules though.

edit: you have an extra parentheses in the link.

 

[Electrode]

He could always give the stuff away along with a $150 paper clip. That's how I sold a copy of Win95C (OEM, not for resale) to someone without incurring the wrath of the mods or the MS lawyers. 🙂

 

[TallBill]

lol, i thought you were talking about your transgender problem

 

[DurocShark]

I figgered it out... The auto-parsing thought my closing paren was part of the link. Fixed.

 

[Transcender]

Originally posted by: DurocShark
A guy was selling his Transcender stuff on the FS board (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=45&threadid=1062739&STARTPAGE=1 and someone created the account Transcender and posted the below:

Originally posted by: Transcender
The Transcender Single-User License does not allow for transfer of the software (no selling, trading, etc.). It is for the exclusive use of the Registered User. This applies regardless of how you obtained our Product or whether the Product has been opened.

Unopened software purchased from Transcender may be returned within 30 days or exchanged within 6 months as long as a system key has not been issued.

For more information, please visit: www.transcender.com/message.asp?ID=license

Please remove the Transcender software from your listing. Otherwise, I respectfully request that this thread be locked.

You'll find that most other certification exam preparation products have similar licensing restrictions regarding resale or transfer of software licenses. If you'd like examples of links to their licensing agreements, I can give them to you privately.

Please take a moment and understand our position; if resale or transfer of the software were allowable, then one copy of Transcender's software could be used/resold/pirated by thousands of users, no one would purchase the software for themselves, Transcender would be forced to fold, and you would be left with one less quality certification resource. We are making great efforts to become more affordable while maintaining the same high quality standards. Therefore, even without the ability to resell the software, the price paid for the software should be well worth the benefit received. If not, we haven't done our job well enough.

As far as my reply to the seller's post goes, I contacted him via PM to give him an opportunity to remove it. He chose not to remove it, even after logging in; therefore, I posted our licensing policy. I did not feel the need to immediately run to a moderator to have the thread locked or the user suspended; I simply wanted the user to take some initiative on his own. If he chooses not to, then I'll contact a moderator. Is this not fair?

If I can provide any further information, feel free to contact me via e-mail.

 

[Aceshigh]

Originally posted by: Transcender

Originally posted by: DurocShark
A guy was selling his Transcender stuff on the FS board (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=45&threadid=1062739&STARTPAGE=1 and someone created the account Transcender and posted the below:

Originally posted by: Transcender
The Transcender Single-User License does not allow for transfer of the software (no selling, trading, etc.). It is for the exclusive use of the Registered User. This applies regardless of how you obtained our Product or whether the Product has been opened.

Unopened software purchased from Transcender may be returned within 30 days or exchanged within 6 months as long as a system key has not been issued.

For more information, please visit: www.transcender.com/message.asp?ID=license

Please remove the Transcender software from your listing. Otherwise, I respectfully request that this thread be locked.

You'll find that most other certification exam preparation products have similar licensing restrictions regarding resale or transfer of software licenses. If you'd like examples of links to their licensing agreements, I can give them to you privately.

Please take a moment and understand our position; if resale or transfer of the software were allowable, then one copy of Transcender's software could be used/resold/pirated by thousands of users, no one would purchase the software for themselves, Transcender would be forced to fold, and you would be left with one less quality certification resource. We are making great efforts to become more affordable while maintaining the same high quality standards. Therefore, even without the ability to resell the software, the price paid for the software should be well worth the benefit received. If not, we haven't done our job well enough.

As far as my reply to the seller's post goes, I contacted him via PM to give him an opportunity to remove it. He chose not to remove it, even after logging in; therefore, I posted our licensing policy. I did not feel the need to immediately run to a moderator to have the thread locked or the user suspended; I simply wanted the user to take some initiative on his own. If he chooses not to, then I'll contact a moderator. Is this not fair?

If I can provide any further information, feel free to contact me via e-mail.

The seller was in fact, selling his trancenders. He was not giving them away. Your company takes the position that people should not buy them used since therefore you receive no money in this transaction. Well, many people buy used cars. And this doesn't seem to hurt the car manufacturers does it?

It just seem's wrong to tell someone they can't sell something that they themselves purchased. Legally you may be in the right, but ethically it doesn't seem so.

 

[FoBoT]

what is the problem?

you want to take food from the mouths of the kids of the people that work at transcender ?

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
what is the problem?

you want to take food from the mouths of the kids of the people that work at transcender ?

Well, I consider software the same as a book. You buy a book, read it, and pass it on. Software licenses like this are unethical, if legal and common.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: DurocShark

Originally posted by: FoBoT
what is the problem?

you want to take food from the mouths of the kids of the people that work at transcender ?

Well, I consider software the same as a book. You buy a book, read it, and pass it on. Software licenses like this are unethical, if legal and common.

That's the way I've always looked at software. More like a book. Can only be read by one person at a time and only belong to one person at a time. Now, a book could be loaned out to someone and I don't think that is something one should do with software as that's tantamount to piracy (it will be installed by the borrower and, most likely, not removed once finished).

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: DurocShark

Originally posted by: FoBoT
what is the problem?

you want to take food from the mouths of the kids of the people that work at transcender ?

Well, I consider software the same as a book. You buy a book, read it, and pass it on. Software licenses like this are unethical, if legal and common.

That's the way I've always looked at software. More like a book. Can only be read by one person at a time and only belong to one person at a time. Now, a book could be loaned out to someone and I don't think that is something one should do with software as that's tantamount to piracy (it will be installed by the borrower and, most likely, not removed once finished).

Well, a book can be scanned too... And with modern OCR technology, a pretty good eBook version can easily be generated. Just because few people choose to do it doesn't mean we should outlaw libraries!

 

[Yossarian]

I would be interested in finding out whether this kind of EULA has ever been found legally enforceable. If the software is opened, you can't return it. Unless the software is opened, you don't know you can't sell it.

 

[xaigi]

NM, dont want to get started

 

[DurocShark]

Thanks xaigi! Good work, and I believe it applies. Of course the DMCA may or may not have something else to say too. 🙁