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[George Davidson]

Has anyone used this Web. to download a program
http:// <removed by admin>

[Brad McIntosh]

Seems to be a Ecuadorian domain .EC). There are similar sites associated with the domains .IN (India), .CN (China), to name but a few. They seem to register them is places where the "software authorities" and/or lawyers can not get to them.

I found this about OEM software site in general - http://ask-leo.com/whats_oem_software_i ... o_buy.html

...and this: http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/findso ... ftware.htm

I personally would stay away from them.

[DanEpps]

Those types of sites are selling illegal, virus-infected copies of software.

Their primary line of business is not selling the software itself, it is identity theft through getting your credit card information and leaving viruses on your computer. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!

[DanEpps]

Let me expand a bit more on my reply...

I just finished three days cleaning up a friend's PC that was so riddled with viruses that it was like Swiss cheese. He has a habit of downloading "cracked" copies of software and software designed to "crack" other software.

He had lots of legit software on his computer so I spent the time letting my cleaners do their work to save him from weeks of reinstalling. Not only that, he also had tons of family photos and other irreplacable stuff.

One of the viruses (actually a trojan) replaced the Windows boot record and "called home" every day to get the latest package of spam to send to all of his contacts. Anyone that opened one of these email was also infected, turning their computer into part of the spam/identity theft botnet.

He has learned his lesson, albiet the hard way.

Just remember what your mom and dad always told you: if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

All of these offshore sites exist for one reason only--to get access to credit card numbers. Don't give them yours!

[George Davidson]

Thank You Dan and Brad
I new there had to be something.I was thinking they were just illegal

[Dean Fehribach]

George,

I hope you take this the right way, but I'm gonna blot out your initial post in order to stop the spread of this likely illegitimate web site.

[Peter Walsh]

I don't think I can count all the angry postings we've had over the years about customers stealing our drawings and having the work done by someone else. We all seem to agree on that. So why are folks thinking there is an exception when it comes to software? If you think what you design takes a lot of hours, you have no idea how long good software takes to build! They should get paid for it.
Kudos to Dean for blanking out the link.
regards,

[Dean Fehribach]

This same principle of buying and selling of OEM software in the retail market also applies to Academic versions. Software vendors, with less than genuine intentions to help students low on cash, offer 'academic' versions of their software at often much lower prices than retail. With academic discounts, software vendors are hoping students will learn their software and take it with them into the enterprise, insisting that its the best tool for their job. Academic versions are a 'loss-leader' with specific licensing requirements.

[George Davidson]

Thank You Dean
After I seen Dan post I tryed to take it off Sunday. I could not get it off