Buying software

[Kiwiberry]

First off let me just say I’m a clicker. I see a new site I click, interesting ad I click, I Click on just about everything that could or would seem interesting to me. (this is also how I found this forum).

Today, while I was reading through various posts. I saw and ad for really cheap Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 ($39.95) . Now, not only have I never heard of this company, but I’m also skeptical of purchasing any product at such a discount.

Has anyone heard of this company? How much of risk is it really? $40 bucks, I’m sure I’ve blown more in a weekend.

The URL for anyone who's interested:

http://www.blyapal.com/product_details.php?product=2046

[Kiwiberry]

And I just fount a package deal for:

Macromadia Dreamweaver MX 2004
+ Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Pro
+ Macoromedia Fireworks MX 2004

for $99.95.

It's starting to tempt me.

[StephanieCordray]

I have seen those ads, too, and been tempted. What I do when encountering those super low prices is contact the company and ask them, "If I were to contact the software company will they tell me that you are indeed a licensed reseller of their product?" In other words, ask them if they have permission to sell the software... regardless of price. To date I haven't heard back from any of those companies. Someone with a cd burner can make copies of pirated software. Key generators can give them any number of serials to use with their bootlegged copies. It is better to be safe than sorry. If you are caught with pirated software it's bad news and can mean jail time depending on the company catching you. Some adopt a tolerant view, some don't.

If you read any tech mags you'll see articles in them every so often where company X was using pirated software unbeknownst to the users... they thought they just got a good deal.

[Kiwiberry]

, I've been cut deep. Get my hopes up to realize it's a sham. I just found this qoute on their website.

"2.3. You cannot register the software with the manufacturer and updates are available not for all the products;"

"2.4. You do not receive printed license documentation;"

While I can't be certain that it's Fraudulant, I will be leary of doing business with them. Steph, I agree it probably pirated software. I did send them an email questioning why I can't register the software. I'll hold my breathe while I wait for a response.

[StephanieCordray]

yup they pretty well let you know it's not legal

[Kiwiberry]

Ah, just for fun this is the response I got from Macromedia after questioning the legitimacy of the site.

"Totally illegal…there are a bunch of sites out there advertising this garbage…they’re all illegal. There are active investigations on them(most of which are connected to Russian organized crime). Thanks for passing this along.

Investigations Manager, Anti-Piracy"

[StephanieCordray]

yeah, they say that but i doubt they are actively going after those sites... don't know if they can... depends on where the site is hosted really... copyright laws in much of Europe are quite different from the US and some others.

[tfgames]

<post deleted. cant have material which advocates software piracy here>

[Kiwiberry]

Ouch, I couldn't do that. Not that I'm worried it'll happen, but ethically and morally it’s obscene. If by some miracle my site hits it big, I would go nuts if people were copying my info for profit without giving me credit.

If you want cheap software or free, go to open source. Granted a lot of the software doesn’t compare to the copyrighted versions, but that’s what happens when you’re not getting paid for it.

Nvu is a great Html editor. It doesn’t compare to Dreamweaver, but I’ll keep using it until I can afford to pay for a legal copy.

http://www.nvu.com/

[StephanieCordray]

Kiwi has it right. How would you feel is someone stole your stuff especially if you have spent countless hours making it? If you ever have to program some of that stuff hoping to make a living, I hope you remember that you paid such prices for it from people who didn't pay a dime to lift it off from the companies... you and who knows how many others.

I don't always agree with the prices of some packages but I do try to respect the amount of work and effort that go into those packages... except Windows because they send out more bugs than my backyard holds and wait for the users to fix them, but then they don't charge as much as they could charge for that OS... If you think the prices are too high try making one of your own and see how you feel about it then.