[thelist] Cheap Software

Jason Handby jason.handby at corestar.co.uk
Wed Jul 8 09:24:14 CDT 2009


Hi Phil,


> In an effort to save money in these troubled times, I have found a
> website
> that sells cheap software, and I wanted to check it out with you guys
> first.
> Has anyone used www.oemlibrary.com <http://www.oemlibrary.com/>  and
if
> so,
> is it legitimate, or has anyone been burned?


My first instinct is one of deep scepticism that they could be legally
selling it this cheaply.

It appears from their FAQ page that they're selling software licenses
previously owned by companies that have gone out of business. Sounds
reasonable, but software licenses can't just be sold on like office
furniture. Some companies' software license agreements specifically
state that the license is non-transferable, or can only be transferred
under certain conditions, so you may not be legally licensed if you buy
it from them.

Their FAQ says that you won't be able to register "your" software online
with the manufacturer. They also say "All updates (for most of the
software) are available for you", and that you can "almost always"
download software updates from the manufacturer's website. That doesn't
sound very reassuring to me either!


Oh -- and check this out. The domain is registered to a Hong Kong
company called "Absolutee Corp. Ltd":

  http://www.whois.net/whois/oemlibrary.com

A quick google suggests they are linked to a fake shipping company:

  http://db.aa419.org/fakebanksview.php?key=20064

a gmail phishing scam:

  http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=84831

and a child pr0n payment processor:

  http://www.matchent.com/wpress/?q=node/369


That may help you decide whether you want to give them your payment
details ;-)



Jason




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