High level contact at Dream Host?

[edgeprod]

Just had someone process an Autoblogger Pro transaction with a bunch of what appear to be fraudulent credit cards. They're hosting on Dream Host, with WHOIS privacy.

Please contact me directly via ICQ if you can help me get to the bottom of this.


Thanks!

[edgeprod]

Anyone have this info?

[kektex]

Email support (at) dreamhost.com... their reply times have improved noticeably.

[Rhesus]

If dreamhost are in their right mind they will never give out this info unless they've been affected themselves.

[Spudstr]

due to privacy acts you wont get much information with out a subpoena.

[Juicy D. Links]

[email protected]

Subj: Important Shit Juice

Thx

[Matt 26z]

Originally Posted by Rhesus

If dreamhost are in their right mind they will never give out this info unless they've been affected themselves.

I agree.

A court subpoena should be the only time privacy protection is revealed. If they give this random guy the info then their privacy service is worthless.

[KaliC]

Why not call them for this?

[GrouchyAdmin]

Originally Posted by KaliC

Why not call them for this?

"Hi, Uh, I make a product that I charge for, that, uh, uses WordPress, and have never released my patches to be compliant with the GPL.. and, uh, I think somebody is trying to rip me off."

"We'll get right on that, sir."

[Spudstr]

Originally Posted by GrouchyAdmin

"Hi, Uh, I make a product that I charge for, that, uh, uses WordPress, and have never released my patches to be compliant with the GPL.. and, uh, I think somebody is trying to rip me off."

"We'll get right on that, sir."

actully Abp SA doesn't use wordpress ABP SA is just a management system really.

[GrouchyAdmin]

Originally Posted by Spudstr

actully Abp SA doesn't use wordpress ABP SA is just a management system really.

Last I recall, Zend encoding things without even changing the names of the subroutines doesn't mean that you are no longer in violation of licensing.

Regardless: LOL Dreamhost, LOL ABP.

[edgeprod]

Originally Posted by GrouchyAdmin

"Hi, Uh, I make a product that I charge for, that, uh, uses WordPress, and have never released my patches to be compliant with the GPL.. and, uh, I think somebody is trying to rip me off."

"We'll get right on that, sir."

Huh?

Autoblogger Pro Stand Alone was written from scratch, from the ground up. I spent a VERY long time on it. It is not integrated with WordPress in any way. But don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

You may apologize at any time.

[edgeprod]

Originally Posted by GrouchyAdmin

Last I recall, Zend encoding things without even changing the names of the subroutines doesn't mean that you are no longer in violation of licensing.

Regardless: LOL Dreamhost, LOL ABP.

http://www.abpsa.com

You *must* be talking about something else. You're making baseless accusations, and it's pretty insulting.

[edgeprod]

Originally Posted by Rhesus

If dreamhost are in their right mind they will never give out this info unless they've been affected themselves.

What info? They shut it down promptly, that's all I wanted. I already know who the guy *IS*, I just wanted it down.

[edgeprod]

After asking for a retraction of the untrue and very annoying accusation, I had the following conversation:

(12:12:00 AM) 37095929: Hi there. I'm afraid I won't be able to make a retraction without actually having the most recent zend encoded product to do a comparison of the subroutines, and I'm not interested in the product enough to purchase it. However, I'd be willing to cut and paste this from ICQ into the thread, if you desire.
(12:12:22 AM) 501917: Sure, a paste would be fine. Let's chat a bit more, then you can paste the entire log.
(12:12:37 AM) 501917: I'm convinced you're talking about the Autoblogger that was a WordPress module.
(12:12:57 AM) 37095929: I have no malice feelings towards you or your revamped product; I have seen the older modularized product, yes, and I know a few folks who have the rights to ABP SA.
(12:13:07 AM) 501917: Autoblogger Pro "stands alone" from WordPress in every way.
(12:13:15 AM) 501917: It "posts out" to it using the API.
(12:13:53 AM) 37095929: So, you're claiming that by using the XMLRPC, it's now a separate product?
(12:14:04 AM) 501917: ABPSA is an interface to a complex database which warehouses extracted posts from your feed sources, and then manipulates them in specific ways to achieve the desired effect. It then posts them, using an API, to the WordPress platform. It also supports several other popular platforms.
(12:14:18 AM) 501917: I'm saying that Autoblogger Pro has nothing to do with WordPress as of now.
(12:14:40 AM) 501917: XMLRPC, as a standard for encoding data, is used by countless applications. We emulate this type of encoding as a means to pass information to WordPress.
(12:14:53 AM) 37095929: However, being dependant upon it as a product which actually provides the data. Without WP or an XMLRPC capable blog, it's worthless, but the whole posting mechanism is now not integrated into WPC.
(12:14:56 AM) 501917: Because WordPress has a flawed implementation of XMLRPC, we use a custom home-brewed module to accomplish this.
(12:15:27 AM) 501917: I agree, it would be worthless without an XML-RPC capable blogging platform, as Microsoft Word would be useless without a document to type.
(12:15:36 AM) 37095929: I'll be willing to say that ABP SA's mechanism is not a part of WP, but I'm not going to shill and say you're not piggybacking off of it.
(12:16:00 AM) 37095929: No, your analogy is more of a 'without OLE to import to Word', however that's still pretty.. uh.. blatant.
(12:16:07 AM) 501917: ABPSA has nothing to do *specifically* with WordPress. You can use it with Blogger, with BlogSome, with many other blogging platforms.
(12:16:18 AM) 501917: No, you're confusing methods with end-results.
(12:16:28 AM) 501917: We pull in data, manipulate it, and put it places.
(12:16:29 AM) 37095929: With anything that uses XMLRPC, it will function to some degree, yes.
(12:16:36 AM) 501917: If WordPress is the "end" place it goes, then great.
(12:16:38 AM) 501917: If not, then great.
(12:16:47 AM) 501917: It has nothing to do with WordPress, except that it POSTS to it.
(12:17:09 AM) 501917: If you're implying we're somehow using WordPress code, then I'd offer that you just don't have an understanding of how ABPSA works. It's not a blog. It posts TO a blog.
(12:17:34 AM) 37095929: As I said, former products were entirely built within, and around WP. Without seeing your zend encoded routines, I can't state that it is an entirely separate product. So you have some textareas and an XMLRPC you claim to have implemented yourself. Bravo?
(12:18:17 AM) 501917: Sure, I agree that the old Autoblogger was implemented as a WordPress module. WordPress itself was distrubuted as plain-text source, without Zend encoding. And I was not involved with the company at the time.
(12:18:49 AM) 37095929: However, you're claiming that all code from this point is 100% proprietary, and all you are doing is using your own interface to post over XMLRPC, am I right?
(12:19:40 AM) 501917: It seems that you aren't really clear what Autoblogger is. I'll accept you posting this log, unedited, for clarity, and leave it at that. It's like saying, "Yes, our apples are organic," to which you're replying, "Yes, but is the sky blue?"
(12:20:08 AM) 501917: In either case, it's my birthday, and I'm going to get back to the festivities. I only contacted you because your post was blatantly incorrect and defamitory, and I figured that you had the integrity to correct it.
(12:20:13 AM) 37095929: No, you're being evasive. I'm asking you to tell me that your new ABP SA is 100% based on proprietary code.
(12:20:18 AM) 501917: By posting this log, you show that you are an honest person who DOES want to do the right thing.
(12:20:21 AM) 501917: And I appreciate it.

After which, I logged off. Birthday awaits! See everyone in a few days.

[GrouchyAdmin]

Here's the exact same copy of the conversation, note edgeprod's lack of acknowledgement whether the product is has GPL code (which is my argument), or it's proprietary (which he claims, but fails to offer):

(21:52:12) 501917: Hey there, GA. Any chance you're here?
(21:54:43) 501917: I wanted to find out what you were talking about, re: ABP and the GPL. Because I wrote the software entirely from the ground-up, I can decide whether or not to GPL it. I haven't decided to do that. I'd appreciate a retraction on your part. Maybe you were talking about Autoblogger, the old product that was a WordPress module? If so, please make THAT retraction at your convenience.
21:57
22:11
(22:11:10) ICQ: Hi there. I'm afraid I won't be able to make a retraction without actually having the most recent zend encoded product to do a comparison of the subroutines, and I'm not interested in the product enough to purchase it. However, I'd be willing to cut and paste this from ICQ into the thread, if you desire.
(22:11:32) 501917: Sure, a paste would be fine. Let's chat a bit more, then you can paste the entire log.
(22:11:48) 501917: I'm convinced you're talking about the Autoblogger that was a WordPress module.
(22:12:07) ICQ: I have no malice feelings towards you or your revamped product; I have seen the older modularized product, yes, and I know a few folks who have the rights to ABP SA.
22:12
(22:12:17) 501917: Autoblogger Pro "stands alone" from WordPress in every way.
(22:12:25) 501917: It "posts out" to it using the API.
(22:13:03) ICQ: So, you're claiming that by using the XMLRPC, it's now a separate product?
(22:13:14) 501917: ABPSA is an interface to a complex database which warehouses extracted posts from your feed sources, and then manipulates them in specific ways to achieve the desired effect. It then posts them, using an API, to the WordPress platform. It also supports several other popular platforms.
(22:13:28) 501917: I'm saying that Autoblogger Pro has nothing to do with WordPress as of now.
(22:13:50) 501917: XMLRPC, as a standard for encoding data, is used by countless applications. We emulate this type of encoding as a means to pass information to WordPress.
(22:14:02) ICQ: However, being dependant upon it as a product which actually provides the data. Without WP or an XMLRPC capable blog, it's worthless, but the whole posting mechanism is now not integrated into WPC.
(22:14:06) 501917: Because WordPress has a flawed implementation of XMLRPC, we use a custom home-brewed module to accomplish this.
(22:14:37) 501917: I agree, it would be worthless without an XML-RPC capable blogging platform, as Microsoft Word would be useless without a document to type.
(22:14:46) ICQ: I'll be willing to say that ABP SA's mechanism is not a part of WP, but I'm not going to shill and say you're not piggybacking off of it.
(22:15:10) ICQ: No, your analogy is more of a 'without OLE to import to Word', however that's still pretty.. uh.. blatant.
(22:15:19) 501917: ABPSA has nothing to do *specifically* with WordPress. You can use it with Blogger, with BlogSome, with many other blogging platforms.
(22:15:28) 501917: No, you're confusing methods with end-results.
(22:15:38) 501917: We pull in data, manipulate it, and put it places.
(22:15:39) ICQ: With anything that uses XMLRPC, it will function to some degree, yes.
(22:15:46) 501917: If WordPress is the "end" place it goes, then great.
(22:15:48) 501917: If not, then great.
(22:15:57) 501917: It has nothing to do with WordPress, except that it POSTS to it.
(22:16:19) 501917: If you're implying we're somehow using WordPress code, then I'd offer that you just don't have an understanding of how ABPSA works. It's not a blog. It posts TO a blog.
(22:16:44) ICQ: As I said, former products were entirely built within, and around WP. Without seeing your zend encoded routines, I can't state that it is an entirely separate product. So you have some textareas and an XMLRPC you claim to have implemented yourself. Bravo?
22:17
(22:17:27) 501917: Sure, I agree that the old Autoblogger was implemented as a WordPress module. WordPress itself was distrubuted as plain-text source, without Zend encoding. And I was not involved with the company at the time.
(22:17:59) ICQ: However, you're claiming that all code from this point is 100% proprietary, and all you are doing is using your own interface to post over XMLRPC, am I right?
(22:18:50) 501917: It seems that you aren't really clear what Autoblogger is. I'll accept you posting this log, unedited, for clarity, and leave it at that. It's like saying, "Yes, our apples are organic," to which you're replying, "Yes, but is the sky blue?"
(22:19:18) 501917: In either case, it's my birthday, and I'm going to get back to the festivities. I only contacted you because your post was blatantly incorrect and defamitory, and I figured that you had the integrity to correct it.
(22:19:22) ICQ: No, you're being evasive. I'm asking you to tell me that your new ABP SA is 100% based on proprietary code.
(22:19:28) 501917: By posting this log, you show that you are an honest person who DOES want to do the right thing.
(22:19:31) 501917: And I appreciate it.
(22:20:35) ICQ: I'll post it as it is, however, you have yet to prove yourself by not answering about your code base. Have a good birthday!

Think whatever you wish, folks - however, blatantly stating 'no this just uses XMLRPC' may be true. I'm not arguing that; I'm arguing that his code is partially GPL, and not entirely developed by himself in a proprietary manner. In accordance, if he is using GPL code, he has to release the changes he made to the product - NOT ABP, but any libraries he's used.

Again, Happy Birthday!