Apprarently you didn't read anything I wrote because I never mentioned anyone stealing your tools, never did I defend anyone that's done so, and have openly said I side with the CI when it comes to that topic. So luckily you didn't type a large detailed tome because it wouldn't make any sense. Much like your brief and to the point tome didn't make any sense.

I haven't checked in for a bit, got busy with the long weekend, but this thread seems to have taken off but not in the direction I hoped.

Lots of finger pointing between dealers and customers it seems but IMO the real pointing should be done at the manufacturers. URC seems to have a nice cozy little arrangement where they can deny technical support to any user and at the same time fool their dealers into thinking that they're "doing everything they can" to make sure that their dealer line is empowered to be able to make a living selling their products. I've been reading a lot about URC and from the input from other dealers in this thread it just seems that the company has no real interest in protecting their line.

These guys can't do something as simple as put a password on their software? Who are we kidding? How long would that take? Is it something that requires 40 man hours of programming?

Their likely excuses of not being able to control their distribution lines and shady dealers being responsible for their products ending up online on eBay and other places just seem like a half truths to me.

Also cgav, you noted that you use RTI because they care more about this, but a quick search online found their software just as easily leaked and being distributed.

And all the excuses given in this thread about lawyers take time and they can't send hired muscle to fix the issue -- I agree with all that, but my point is that they would not have ended up in this mess if they actually gave a damn about the issue from the beginning. Now that their software is leaked online and easily downloaded, now they have to pretend that they're trying to do something so that their dealers don't get upset.

But is URC really upset about it? I can't really see how this hurts them at all. They sell more remotes since DIYers now can easily get access to the software. URC gets more revenue while at the same time gets to say they're not responsible for any tech support or any issues that pop up with the device and at the same time it looks like they're trying to protect their dealers.

Call me cynical but it just seems like a rather cozy little arrangement.

But I'm probably wrong and putting a password on CCP probably requires months of work and programming, right?

How long would it take for a password to leak out? Are you daft there little buddy?

Hi Tom,

I may not have made my point completely clear and I apologize for that.

What I mean is that instead of just using a single password for everyone, URC assign dealers an individual user code that they enter to authorize the software before it is installed on any computer. Much like any other paid for software where a licensing system is in place.

URC could have a database on their end where the software could quickly check with when the software is installed and authorize the install. After that, no further checks would be needed on that computer.

If someone leaks their username/password URC could blacklist it.

I'm not really sure why there is resistance to such an idea. It just seems obvious to me.

They could also serialize the software, have the serial number associated with the MAC address of the PC and require the software to be registered online, in order to be activated. When live up dates are available, the software should ping to check the status of the serial/MAC and make sure it matches.

New computer? Get a new serial #.

When registered users start showing up with more serial numbers than sales and employees, it's safe to say what's going on.



Damon

Thanks for chiming in Damon -- this is a much better refinement of my idea and you explained it clearly too.

Would any dealers really be opposed to such a system? And what has been keeping URC from implementing something like this? I'm sure this isn't a novel idea and from searching online it seems that the URC software leaking issue isn't anything new either.

If the reason they've been dragging their feet is just that they just "haven't gotten around to it", well then that speaks to their priorities and how much they value their dealers.

So yea, just to teach some of you a hard lesson I emailed urcsoftware.com and asked if the software I had was illegal to have. I got this fancy email below...

"Dearest Kind Sir,

Please know that our software is of utmost quality and of purest code. Ownership of this software has been passed onto you under the laws of the United Kingdom and with the fullest validation of law from the Constitutional Monarchy Alliance.

Your auth code is: 3ff29k231URCS

If you have any more questions or would like further updates please feel free to contact us and state your auth code in the subject line.

Raheem
Senior Integrator S.F.A.
"

Not sure what else to tell you guys but it seems they are very legit.
Hate to say I told you so.

let me guess, you also find it believable for a prince in africa to contact you via email to help him move millions of USD...

You have the ODDEST sense of humor I have ever experienced. It's painfully obvious you are a vengeful prior poster, started this website and brought it here under this new name.

Keep rationalizing your criminal behavior however you need to in order to sleep at night you scumbag. While I doubt you actually have the "sons" you mention in previous posts, I hope you aren't personally responsible for the well-being of any offspring as the world doesn't need any more people with the obvious lack or morals or lack of upstanding character you possess.

I'm not the legal voice of URC, so there's a lot more I cannot say than what I can, but: the site mentioned in this thread is not legitimate and is most definitely illegally distributing copyrighted material.

I understand the frustration of URC dealers when someone takes a stand that affects your business, but let's all do our best to remember that anger only strengthen's the other person's resolve. We can all be gentlemen here, I hope.

All copyright holders must actively enforce their copyrights or lose them. If a copyright holder has to resort to legal action to enforce copyright, they do. How? Well, SWAT teams don't advertise their plans; they just hit the criminals they need to hit, and they try not to be noticed. The same is true of enforcing copyright: telling the world how you're going to do things is like handing them a strategy to circumvent you.

I want to close by saying that the company I work for cares about its dealers and their customers. No distribution model is going to meet every need or make every potential customer happy, but our model works well in the industry we sell to. URC has been good to me as an employee, so I wanted to speak up for our dealers and let you know that we are most definitely doing our best to be good to you.

Lastly, I can't answer any questions about any of this. I probably won't respond to anything that's said about my post here. I'm just one guy, working for a good company, trying to put a polite spin on an edgy topic.

Everyone keeps saying urcsoftware.com is illegal, but why is it illegal?
Their support guy replied to me saying they are legal so now I am confused.
It is good that URC is finally supporting its customers

The site itself is not illegal. Offering downloads of other company's copyrighted works is what is illegal. Also, the site uses URC's trademarks without permission, which is also illegal. As for their support guy, well, a guy on the street corner selling stolen Rolex watches will say he's legitimate too, but his word doesn't make his crime legal.

URC has always supported its customers. But as I mentioned before, the steps a company takes to protect its intellectual property are, whenever possible, taken behind the scenes. There are legal reasons for that, too.

Dale: As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, there are ways to deal with things. I've know about them before I even worked at URC. It boggles my mind that the same issues have not been squashed for over a decade. It's really quite simple, but...it's not my company to run.

If anyone over there is interested in solutions, I'm happy to help, but my time isn't free. I've designed processes for software (but not as a coder), as well as dealt with legal protection of products. I was once on the other side of the online sales fence around 2000, right before it became a big issue. It's a matter of outsmarting the ones you want to stop and locking them out. If anyone is interested in my experience and honestly protecting the line, I'm here to help.



Damon

Damon, no offense, but if stopping this stuff was possible, wouldn't Microsoft and Apple and other multi-billion dollar companies have been more successful in removing their pirated software from these illegal sites?

Not trying to say you don't have talent or skills, which I'm sure you do, but am just seeing a disconnect since Microsoft Windows or Apple OS X pirated software can be easily found and even though those companies have taken legal action against the sites, the software remains easily accessible to anyone.

I looked at the site that this thread is about and as I had put in an earlier post, it just seems like it will be pretty difficult for URC to do anything in this case.

They're technically just linking to the software....which I'm sure Google is doing also. Also Google has outright refused demands to block thepiratebay from their search results -- [Link: torrentfreak.com]

Not sure what Google hopes to accomplish by that, but yeah...

Oh and JOE GRIMMS, for the record, it is illegal to download from there no matter what the person running the site tells you. Will you get caught? No, but that still doesn't make it right.

I dont think they could catch me because I use a firewall on my router. My friend said that if you don't like a website you can block it from your yahoo search and then it is off the internet. I am trying to do that but it is tricky since everytime i trying to block yahoo from finding it the software says you cannot block 192.168.1.1 even though that is the IP of Yahoo.