Second Hand Legality and the Sale of Downloadable Goods

[DrB0b]

This is just a theoretical discussion as over my time of participating in this site, I have seen some very intelligent people commenting and am curious as to their take on this matter. I would like to keep any URLs off this posting so we do not accidentally promote some of these "websites" and increase their traffic. Perhaps not the best title to sum up this posting but here it goes anyway.

After searching around for vendors of a certain software, I came across an obvious scam site claiming to be selling the full versions of software at a tenth of the initial price anywhere else. Immediately I did some whois and review research to find my suspicions mostly confirmed, that they are basically selling pirated copies of the software with limited "help" on installing them. I know people that have used similar sites and outside of paying the initial fee, they weren't Credit Card scammed. I also know a guy who, if not for ID protection with his bank, would have lost thousands due to similar scams. These types of sites "sell" many of the big software names and apparently judging by reviews have been doing so for quite some time. It isn't like it is difficult to find these sites. A simple Google search will find them.
Why don't any of the major software manufacturer's go after any of these sites? If they are blatantly ripping off those companies, why aren't charges being filed against them?
Also, could/would/should the major software companies go after the buyers in this case? Assuming the majority know this deal is too good to be true.

Sorry for adding this here. It didn't seem fitting for STC or MAI, so this was the only other place I could think to place it. Just curious how that many sites can get away with this amount of piracy but the FCC and others are going after torrent seeders instead who are gaining no financial gain off of the distribution of the software.


Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.

 

[goombawaho]

Good question. Too many targets, not enough darts? Filet the biggest fish first?

 

[DrB0b]

I suppose if you attack the seeder you may get the initial cracker which could cut off programs to those sites. Still seems backwards to me to go after someone not profiting verses someone in direct violation.

Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.

 

[goombawaho]

Sounds like you know a lot about that Bitorrent sharing stuff

 

[DrB0b]

One would be silly not to know the ins and outs of the piracy world. It allows one to know what to look for from shady businesses, coworkers/employees, and friends when talking software. Plus I do a lot of troubleshooting with this site some and another very frequently. Dealing with hacked programs is a whole new ball game and not permitted by either site.

And there are tons of legal torrents out there as well........

Also, would it be that difficult to track down those people selling the "OEM" version? Whois tells you a ton of info, Credit Card receipts of those who actually bought from them show where the money is going and with a subpoena the bank could tell the owner of account whether a front business or person. Just seems if you want to be tied to that business to make a profit, your actually name would be on some document somewhere. Maybe Im being a bit simplistic in my view and approach though......

Learning - A never ending quest for knowledge usually attained by being thrown in a situation and told to fix it NOW.

 

[Sympology]

To get to your point, the companies do go after these sites, but it's a case of whack-a-mole.

Credit Card receipts of those who actually bought from them show where the money is going and with a subpoena the bank could tell the owner of account whether a front business or person

A US subpeona has little use against a Chinese user using stolen bank details filtering through a Russian bank.

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