Potential violation of GPL; where to report?

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M4tth1j5
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Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:54 am
Operating System: Windows 10

Potential violation of GPL; where to report?

Post by M4tth1j5 » Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:59 am

Hi,

I think I might have come across a website offering a piece of software that is clearly Audacity, but with different colours, and not offered as Open Source, and under a different name.

Where can I report it so that devs can look into this?

Regards,

Matthew.

steve
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Re: Potential violation of GPL; where to report?

Post by steve » Mon Feb 08, 2021 11:25 am

Please post the link here, but remove the "http://" part (we don't want to give them free advertising ;))
9/10 questions are answered in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

M4tth1j5
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:54 am
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Potential violation of GPL; where to report?

Post by M4tth1j5 » Mon Feb 08, 2021 7:04 pm

steve wrote:
Mon Feb 08, 2021 11:25 am
Please post the link here, but remove the "http://" part (we don't want to give them free advertising ;))
Of course ;)

The link I came across yesterday is:

web.avidwaves.com/apollosoundstation

(Yes, that website is ridiculously amateurish…)

Upon investigating, I noticed the video on that page, at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqu0Dw8XskQ

which clearly showed the Audacity rip-off, with different colours, and named "Apollo Soundstation".
This video has now been made private, which is unfortunate, because it'll make investigating harder. I wanted to make a screenshot but was unable to.

This is the channel it was on; it is still up:

www.youtube.com/channel/UCQMjnRPSCwWBApza_grmUCA

I suspect that this "company" makes rip-offs that they then try to sell (although "Apollo Soundstation" is offered for free, albeit not under an Open Source licence).

Many thanks, and good luck!

steve
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Posts: 80752
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2007 11:43 am
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Re: Potential violation of GPL; where to report?

Post by steve » Mon Feb 08, 2021 7:46 pm

Thanks for the details.
Yes they deffinitely look like scammers. I've seen "appolosoundstation" for sale on ebay for $199 :shock: (and reported it to ebay).

They also have another scam site "avidwaves.com" which is totally laughable (in one part Pro Tools is described as "Coats and Jackets" and Melodyne as "Cardigans & Jumpers")

They appear to have removed Audacity from their collection of fake goods, at least for now.
Thanks for the report.
9/10 questions are answered in the FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

M4tth1j5
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:54 am
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Potential violation of GPL; where to report?

Post by M4tth1j5 » Mon Feb 08, 2021 11:14 pm

steve wrote:
Mon Feb 08, 2021 7:46 pm
Thanks for the report.
My pleasure, thanks for the quick reply :)

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