Leon

Good news x2 We have reached the 500$ mark ... and even a bit over - _AND_ seems like IPB have accepted the deal. I have yet to hear from him - but i guess i will get a letter from him sooner or later.

Use paypal

Hi Mark, That "She" happens to be a "He" who also happens to be the CEO of the company - sadly. If they choose not to accept the offer that i have sent them - then we do have a few options. 1) Logically we will have to find some other software, there is both free.. and not so free options 2) We'll have to migrate all data over there Basiclly - and this is said thruthfully - i dont give a damn about american laws - i live in EU - we have our own (hell) to deal with over here. And when it comes to choosing between our users and some CEO in USA - then its a pretty choice to. I asked him simple questions and reached out for a solution.

Calagan, in some way i can agree with you - but i am still left with "why now??" - they have upgraded our software plenty of times, we have used this theme for quite a long time - why wait until now ?

First of all we have to find a forum platform where we can import stuff.. that would be step 1 - i think it would suck big time if we had to kill everything.

While we wait and hope for more donations - feel free to start researching alternatives - the software we use now is called ipboard.. we need a way to migrate _everything_ over to a new platform. Users, posts, passwords, attachments .. everything

Hi, Despite what they are writting, then i have sent them an email asking for us to resolve this. We are now around 402$ - and as i said earlier, if they refuse - we'll have a talk about what happens next. And if we choose to go with an option that is "free" we will logically refund all money - thats a promise i will keep.

You are right that she have pulled the license, but i have good faith that we can get one more chance.. i mean, we are so close now.

For the record - we just reached 350$ - 150$ more togo and we are home safe

In terms of donations.. donate what you feel is right, if we are not going (aka we dont make the mark) option to buy the license package, then logically - we will refund everyone (- whatever nasty fee paypal takes) Again, i thank you everyone who is helping is solve this.

You are right that just migrating to another piece of software is not as easy as it sounds, its takes planing .. lots of planing - and the cost in terms of time is high. While we properly could add the copyright text - then one should know it creates a new situation and it benefits invision more than us. 1) In the world of SEO and Google - Link is power - as mentioned before, if we add a link to the footer.. it will be shown on ALL pages, profile pages, posts.. everywhere.. that creates about 100-200.000 links to their domain from hours... whats the big deal you might ask. The big deal is that we essentially in terms of google help their domain advance even more and we transfer "link power" to them - in googles world - you could say that our sites becomes inter connected - and we (osxlatitude.com) shows that their domain is really important to ours (relative search). Since their site is NOT relative to ours in terms of content or pagerank might even drop because its abuse of linking - the two sites are simply not relative enough - for us, this is mad.. for them.. its good. If this was insanelymac (as in linking to them) .. or even apple.. or something other osx site it wouldent be a problem - but for us.. it is.

Thank you very much Yes, in time we will need all the help for building a new platform - we'll need people with php/css skills - but for now you have helped where you could help - you like the others who have donated and helped keep osxl online.

I agree with the american statement.. the bigger part of the crew is american and this have nothing todo with the american people. I have been to USA several times and have plenty of friends there - many from here which i have come to count as close friends. It is the behavior of the company i dislike - but this might aswell have been a european company and it would have made no difference.

Agree - for the sake of the argument.. lets change "your" to "our" - OSXL belongs to all of us - we - the users including the crew is what makes osxlatitude - with us - the users - this site is worthless Again, thank you to everyone that helps resolve this. we are closing up on 300$ but we have time against us.

That is most likely what we will do - but now we just need to get the donations in.. so faar we are at around 250$

Hi, You are completely right, 500 usd is nothing if just everyone would donate a little. We have 47000+ users.. imagine if everyone would just donate 0,5$ - not only would we solve this... but OSXL would be funded in anyway for life. Sadly, that is not the reality of things and generally hosting cost, early license cost for forum, domain cost and everything else is paid by me personal

Hi Ergosteur, I fear that they win _more_ by forcing us to spend hours and hours on re-building under new software - it sends them a clear signal that they can do whatever they want. Instead - us standing up and saying "fine, we'll pay what you ask to not have your ads on our site" is at this point time a better way of saying we wont bend over just because you try and force us to it. In their eyes - there is a better value for them (without any doubt) in forcing us to have their links on osxl - and they know that moving to another solution will be costly - so honestly, they properly expect us to just fall in line. We are hafl-way on donations, so if you can - please help.

Thank you all for your support - so faar we are at 50% of donations - some of you have made some really awesome contributions. Yes, other software might be a solution - as mentioned earlier - it depends on alot of things. A friend of mine just pointed out that we should under no circumstances put a link on osxl - with 48k posts and equally many profile pages etc. we are talking about 100-200k links from our site to theirs (in terms of google and SEO) - this is something that they will benefit alot from. Personally - i love the IPboard software, its stable, secure and fast - not to mention that it have served us all really well - i hope that we reach the goal of 500$ so we can simply put this behind us and move forward. On the other hand, its a big shame that invision choose to go this way - i would have hoped on a better solution and a more forth coming aproach from their side.

Thank you mate - lets see where we land in terms of donations and then we'll choose the best solution together - we have always been extremely strict with pointing out that this site and its services is run by its members and not a single identity - and i strongly believe that we can solve this if we stand together and choose wisely.

Ya, it might be the only option - but honestly - their software works really good and it have served us well.. The biggest question is wether we can import all data, users etc.

Sorry, we had it disabled so that you couldent comment - its enabled now, i will let the pool run for 48 hours - seeing that we only have a 72hour time window to deal with - after that the forum goes offline. I will also update on what donations comes in - so far i have thrown 50$ in the pot and we just got another on 15$

UPDATE: While we havent recieved an offical word from IPB - we have recieved a payment notification (even with a small rebate) to offically remove the copyright notification. I want to thank everyone who have donated to make this happen - i am happy to say that OSXL remains online and ads free forever. We are still counting coins - but with the money that came in we are even able to renew the license for the software. From whatever is left, i suggest the following options: 1) Add the IP:Chat to OSXL - Yes, you will be able to chat with each other 2) Donate them to other projects whoms technology we all benefit from 3) Make online video of Bronxtech and Herve get drunk ? *bad humor warning* Again, i want to extend my... our.. gratitude for everyone who took their time and money to make this happen... you all rock! - and you have my promise i will do my best make OSXL the best site for you i can. ------- Hi, Today i am writing one of those posts i never really hope i would hope i would have to - but we need your help to decide. Background: Since the founding of OSXL we have always had a policy never to advertise for another company without good reason (eg. a really great deal for our users) - But we now feel that we are in a situation were we need your help. OSXL is a free site - we do this for free and honestly - running OSXL means nothing but cost to the crew behind the site in terms of Time, money for hosting, license cost etc etc. The short version: A few days ago we contacted invision (the creators of IP:Board, the forum software we use) to (like we always do) - get their help in upgrading the forum software - but unlike the other 5-6 times we now got slapped with a notification that we need to change our copyright with something like a "powered by invision IP:Board" and a link to their website - because for some reason it says so in their license terms - something that we have seen and heard about before - one should think that they would have told us earlier - i mean, we have been using this theme for quite some time. So, why is this such a big deal? Its a big deal because of SEO and ethics - in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) the golden rule is - the more links you have - the higher you will rank and since they want their link on all pages - we would literally be giving them close to 48000 links to their company - for free - thats something you usually would pay good money for. On another hand - we were not exactly asked nicely to add it - and - where I come from Sweden - rules is a bit different - american rules does not apply here - we live and are hosted in Scandinavia - and finally - we are a customer at invision - treating properly one of their bigger customers like this is nothing i personally would suggest. The options: So, we have a choice to make. 1) We can close down the site - over and out and cya. 2) We can pay up the 500$ and move on 3) We can put up a link to their site - Just dosent feel right.. does it ? 4) We can move to new software, but that will invovle weeks of downtime while we create a new theme - and at this point i am not even sure if we CAN import the data from IP:Board to eg. phpbb All in all - we have to make a choice and act fast.. or OSXL is gone in 72 hours. The mail conversation: Leon Bollerup07 August 2015 - 05:03 AM Hi, Can you initiate a upgrade please. Thank you. Mark Higgins12 August 2015 - 02:44 PM Hello. Before we're able to assist with this, it was noticed that the copyright was removed from your skin, but you have not purchased the Copyright Removal option. You'll need to replace the copyright and its hotlink, or purchase the Copyright Removal package from the Client Area. Please let us know how you'd like to proceed. Thank you. Mark Higgins Invision Power Services, Inc. Leon Bollerup12 August 2015 - 02:53 PM Hi, First of all - the copyright was not removed by intention - secondly - live in sweden - that means that unless i actually have signed a contract with you - then there by law is no way i am forced to keep another companys logo or trademark - it is simply not enough that i click accept or use some software - i have to legally sign it an agree with it - however - we do have laws that state that since i have legally bought the software it is within my right to use it as i want (except for piracy offcourse and in any other way where i might break the law) Dont take me wrong, i understand both the SEO and commercial value if you are able to put your trademark along with a link on everybodys site - but please dont make it into a thing where i am forced todo so - i happen to know the law quite good. So - what i would like to know is : 1) How this can impact any existing services that i (legaly) have bought via your company if i choose not to add your copyright 2) What is the cost in case i need to buy it ? (bear in mind, that we had a company design that theme and dont have the people to actually do the modifications needed ourself) //Leon Lindy Throgmartin13 August 2015 - 11:32 PM Leon, I'm not going to engage in lengthy debate on this. I'm not particularly interested in where you're located -- the license agreement, which you agreed to by use of the software, is governed exclusively by the laws of the United States. Further, removing the copyright is a violation of the license agreement and provides IPS the right to terminate your license. I have exercised that right and your license is hereby terminated. I'm sorry you chose to be difficult about this instead of simply adding the copyright back. Regards, Lindy Throgmartin Management Team Leon Bollerup14 August 2015 - 04:57 AM Hi, First of all - i am suprised about the way you handle this and would like to talk to your manager. I clearly - very clearly infact just asked about the cost of paying so we dont have to show it - so let me repeat that one more time. "2) What is the cost in case i need to buy it ? (bear in mind, that we had a company design that theme and dont have the people to actually do the modifications needed ourself)" Second of all - USA laws apply in USA - USA is not the world - BUT - we are infact your customers - have been for quite a long time - is this how your treat your customers ? Wouldent it have been better to tell us this in a nice way and maybe offer us help to add it back? - you choose to go the other way and throw away a customer - a very good customer i might add. You had a choice here - and you choose to show outright dis-respect for your own customer - frankly - i would be really.. really ... surprised if this was the policy in your company. 1) Lets this straith - i never said we woudlent add it or buy the right to leave it as it is - infact - i asked for a price - you dident give it to me. 2) I said that i never signed such an agreement and where i come from it is required by law todo so - you did not even grant me the option to see that agreement - instead you terminated us as a customer - that was worst of ALL of the options - and you dident even offer a refund. 3) You ask me to respect the laws of your country - which i dont have a problem with - i have been in USA quite alot of times - love USA - but what hurts me most is that you utterly disregard the laws of mine - if it was me - i would have been forthcomming in the spirit of co-operation and suggested and explained why it was needed and offer my help to fix it - or even offered a rebate on the no-advertisement package. As i said - i dont think you have handeled this very well in anyway - it is dis-respectful and its hurtfull that a company that we have a really good relationship to suddenly decide to act this way. //Leon Lindy Throgmartin15 August 2015 - 12:31 AM There was no need to imply the laws of your country supersede the copyright toour software. It is not a matter of the USA or Sweden, but simply a point that there's a license agreement and you've violated it. It would have been quite simple to say "sorry about that, I'll put it back" - this happens just about every day and nearly everyone else just puts it back or asks if we can do so and we all move on with our lives. For whatever reason, you chose this to take a stand on -- citing irrelevant rights in your country, lack of written contracts and asking "what if I choose not to?" It's a pretty clear issue that I didx't and don't feel compelled to debate with you. The license agreement covers this quite clearly, you violated the license agreement and then chose to argue the point. My right is to terminate the license for violation and that's what I opted to do. You may send an e-mail blast to whomever you would like. The point is you violated the license agreement and then were blatantly combative and difficult about it. There is no wrongdoing on our part -- we could have immediately terminated your license, but instead, provided you the opportunity to replace the copyright. You chose not to. With that said, a copyright removal license is $500. I'm happy to extend one opportunity to put the copyright back or purchase the branding removal license. I'm not going to debate and further argue your perceived rights. Regards, Lindy Throgmartin Management Team Leon Bollerup15 August 2015 - 06:23 AM Hi Lindy, First of all - thank you for taking time to review this - i understand that you must be busy and this is properly the last thing you want to spent time on. I brought up the laws since i have _never_ seen a license agreement, never signed anything and in the 2-3 years we have used the skin developed by a 3rd party company we have gone thru 3-4 upgrades via your support - in that time we have _never_ ONCE heard about this issue. I might be mistaken, but i think your support even consulted us on howto install the skin - and not even there it was mentioned - do you see the problem from my side ? Out of nowhere we are slapped with a requirement that we have no knowledge of singing and we are threaten - how can i react any other way than hostile ? - There is so many companies trying to exploit small sites as us - if you see it from our point of view - would you have reacted any different - your support could have handeld it quite different... a simple: "We have noticed that your copyright have been replaced - you might have missed that in our license agreement it states that you must keep a reference to our company or alternative purchase a package that allows you to remove it - since this is properly a misstake we would like to help you resolve the issue so we can move and upgrade your site - your options are XXXX .. since we do have admin access to your site we can help you handle this" Now.. i am 200% sure we would have reacted quite different in that situation. And no, while english is not my native language - i did not see it as an option to even put it back on in your first email - more of a threat - we had broken a rule in your book that we did not know about and have not signed - and so forth you did not want to help us instead you closed our license (which you infact did). So.. what i would like now is: 1) Some link to the license agreement that i have accepted stating that we need to advertize for your company (notice that we have no other advertisements on our site - the entire site is funded by its users as a opensource envoirment) - i just want to review it and show it to the user board since it does break our most holy rule - no ads. Basiclly get an understanding of the issue from your point. 2) Some guide/howto/instructions for what is is you want us to show on our site. 3) As an alternative - show us where we can purchase the this no-ads thing - i am considering asking our users for a donation to handle this. I see no reason to hostile intentions between us - alot of OSX sites use ip:board and we like others - love the software - but would also like to be treated for what we are - your customers. Thank you. //Leon Lindy Throgmartin16 August 2015 - 09:42 PM Leon, You were not "slapped" with a requirement - you're being a bit ridiculous. The exact notification was: "Hello. Before we're able to assist with this, it was noticed that the copyright was removed from your skin, but you have not purchased the Copyright Removal option. You'll need to replace the copyright and its hotlink, or purchase the Copyright Removal package from the Client Area. Please let us know how you'd like to proceed." As mentioned, I'm not going to debate this with you and I was serious about that. I extended the opportunity (again) to place the copyright back and you chose to argue (again) instead. The offer has been rescinded. The license agreement is clear (which is in the installer and on our website --https://www.invision...andards#license-- thousands of others have no issue with it. You may be the first in recent memory to take a very simple thing and turn it into a big thing. It's unfortunate you've chosen to do so, but I'm not expending anymore time on the dialogue. The license will not be reinstated regardless. As a gesture of goodwill, I've refunded your most recent license renewal. You have 72 hours to remove the software from your site as it is no longer licensed. Regards, Lindy Throgmartin Management Team

Replace the wifi

anyone who can test this on a x201s with 1440x900 ?

Thank you for helping out on this - and a big thank you to everyone invovled. This just afirms my believe that we should apoint a "Head of security" - Whats your skill set Lite ?