They can’t do that, it’s a violation of the Open Source licenses and they could be sued by the OSI regulatory body whose license you used.
The bad publicity of stealing Open Source code wouldn’t help them either.
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/category will give you a lot of information on what’s available to you.
Ed_P, I really don’t have time to monitor the usage of source code. All is not lost though… I used a lot of the Weather Watcher code as a base for Weather Watcher Live.
You won’t have to, the Open Source community is very good at watching out for violations of others source. There is nothing to fear with using Open Source.
Ed_P, you originally suggested that I release it as open source so others can maintain the code. We’ve already established that it would not be legal to use the code in any compiled form since it’s accessing data that is not supposed to be freely accessed, according to The Weather Channel’s latest TOS. It looks like this idea is dead in the water. Nothing good will come from it.
Have you received a cease and desist order from the TWC’s legal dept?
Have you spoken to anyone in TWC’s legal dept? In large corporations the marketing and legal depts are two separate entities and rarely authorized to speak for the other.
Are you being sued for the millions of copies of WW currently using the TWC data?
Weather Pulse, which also uses the TWC data, is still being freely distributed.
I can see that your talk with the TWC marketing people frightened you but it’s possible there was simply a misunderstanding between the two of you.
Maybe you discussed changing the WW model from free to subscription base, like you did with the WWL business model, and TWC then referred you their business fee structure. If you keep WW free maybe the business fees don’t apply.
Open Source and compiled source are two different things and have two different sets of rules. The rtn to decrypt DVDs can be freely distributed. It can be used as an example of how to decrypt DVDs, or as an example of how DVDs are encrypted. Source is covered by rules of free speech. A distribution of a compiled version of the routine is covered under different rules. I wish I could explain the concept better but I doubt that I can.
Others have already done so: http://www.rainmeter.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=615
Maybe you should use Weather Pulse then? It sounds like a good deal to me if they are still supporting their application (and for free too!).
That’s the problem – they only want to license their data. The second problem is that you don’t want to afford what they want to charge you. I wouldn’t pay hundreds of dollars a year to license their data either, so I don’t blame you.
Yes, I understand the difference. My point is that I am under the impression that you want me to release the Weather Watcher source code so other developers can maintain the application. If that’s not what you’re suggesting they do with the source code, then please clarify.
Q - Can they stop use of their data?
A - Yes. Some years ago Kahn Central Networks was stopped by Blizzard entertainment from accessing their game servers even tho users had paid for the Blizzard Entertainment games in use.
Q - Is it a good idea to release the source code when you know some one is already looking for it to profit?
A - No it is not. They can allow anyone to develop the code some more and then sue them into submission to get ownership of the code. After all its makes use of their data that is not meant for free distribution. This has already happened before with users that tried to create sequels to video games deemed abandonware.
NOAA and NWS are already paid for, I propose the Weather Watcher be made to retrieve data from there. And just to disarm potential trouble makers re-write and re-name it.
NightHawk, thank you for your input.
FYI, you can access NWS weather stations with Weather Watcher Live.
Mike,
I’ve been using WW for years. I’d just like to thank you for the programme, it suited my needs perfectly. It has a very elegant simplicity and it works. Not much software achieves that!
Thanks again and all the best.
Tom
A program with the same name Weather Watcher is already in the Open Source project list:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/weatherwatcher
But it’s only for USA and it’s not even close to Mikes’ program!
Who exactly are you referring to? Me? If so that is totally incorrect. TWC? Do you really think their staff of highly paid IT techs can not create the same thing? If so your dreaming.
At this point WW is neither licensed nor copyrighted so ANYONE can do whatever they want with it. If not with the source code certainly with the name and webpage designs it creates. Open Source licensing would put some LEGAL controls in place.
Ed, creating an open source project is not enough, there needs to be enough interest by programmers to develop something like this, obviously the interest is not there for some reason. In my previous post I mentioned there already is an open source project for a Weather Watcher program, however:
Even open source project has to abide with licensing, i.e., they cannot acquire data from other sources without paying the fees, hence they might end-up with the same fate as ‘our’ WW.
Ed if you are going to quote then post the full statement:
“A - No it is not. They can allow anyone to develop the code some more and then sue them into submission to get ownership of the code. After all its makes use of their data that is not meant for free distribution. This has already happened before with users that tried to create sequels to video games deemed abandonware.”
Do you really think their staff of highly paid IT techs can not create the same thing? If so your dreaming.
It has already been done because its cheaper and discourages competition. I have been approached a few times to help create user supported versions of abandonware games and dead gaming portals. Every time i declined and warned about the likely outcome. Every time they were allowed to code for a year or two until the code was stable and then they got assaulted by the layers of those that owned a franchise, a data set, a server or distrubution rights and ended up loosing the rights to use their own code.
Maybe you should listen to those that are factual and less to your imagination Ed (no offense meant).
A key reason could have been the existence of WW. And with it’s demise the interest could grow.
True, but if WW was Open Source maybe someone could change it to pull data from other sources.
Why? I quoted the part I was responding to. If someone what’s to read the full posting they only have to scroll up a post or two.
I don’t agree with your interpetation of events. It sounds like you took possession of a company’s copyrighted property, modified it then I assume tried to profile from it yourself. The owner of the copyrighted property found out and claimed their ownership.
The WW source is not owned by a company. If someone reversed engineered Mike could not claim prior ownership. It’s not copyrighted or protected under a Open Source license.
There is no license covering “abandonware”. People chose to modify something that they didn’t own and the owner said No. Big surprise.
What if someone goes to your car in the train station’s garage and modifies it for their own use while you’re away. What do you think you will do when you find out? Have them scrape the decals off and remove the speakers and etc and simply take the car back??
How about clothes in your closet that you don’t wear everyday that they “customize” for their needs, like cut off the sleeves, maybe the pant legs, then you go to use them for your brother’s wedding.
Still think “abandonware” means giving up ownership rights?
Maybe, but not in this case. And no offense taken.
Have you thought of
Have you thought of using NOAA instead of TWC? The National Weather Service is tax payer funded - you, as a tax payer - have a Right - to use their data (in fact, that is where TWC gets theirs…)
If you can hook into the NOAA site instead of TWC - you’ll get access to the same data - but no constraints on use.
Re: Have you thought of
You can access NWS data in Weather Watcher Live. No need to reinvent the wheel :icon_smile:
Re: Have you thought of
ah… so this is not about the weather channel and expense - this is about income. A converstion from free - to shareware.
I can understand your decision. It just seems it would be preferable to tell all your loyal (albeit - not for pay) fans… the truth: You’ve decided to make the program shareware, instead of free - rather than hiding behind an “excuse” of “The Weather Channel made me do it”… (seeing as you are obviously still accessing the weather channel in your for pay program)
I have enjoyed using your program - I have used it for many years.
I have also tried the “for pay” version - and find that, for me… it just has way too much “stuff”… with a way too large interface.
all I want is to look down and see the temperature.
I want to get my emergency warnings, and occasionally look at a map indicating snowfall forecasts and thunderstorms incoming.
I dont need a huge elaborate “here is everything you ever wanted to know about the weather” weather program…
This was the reason I never upgraded to pay
and this is the reason I probably wont.
I will miss your program… dearly
thank you for all the years of work… it really was the Best weather program I ever found (and I would never have looked for anything other)…
How sad.
I have used Weather Watcher for years. I started using it after becoming very unsatisfied with Weather Bug.
I had a paid subscription to Weather Bug. Yet I still got ads, still go spyware, still got cookies and the like I didn’t want. Each time I did a spyware scan, something linked to Weather Bug came up. The ads on the program became larger, even though I had paid for it. I got no help from the support.
So I switched to Weather Watcher and was pleased with the service. Still am! Sometimes it is wrong but that’s not the software’s fault. I’ve never liked The Weather Channel anyway. Since Katrina, they’ve been so drama focused and not as weather focused.
I will try Weather Watcher Live and will let you know how it goes. If not, then I will just keep going to Weather Underground website for weather info.
As for the previous commenter, I don’t believe you would do that after all this time. I’ve always gotten excellent support from you. The idea you would do this on purpose just to get money doesn’t fit the experience I’ve had with you and your software.
I am very sorry to see Weather Watcher go. I will continue to use the latest version until it ceases to function. It is (was) the best software of it’s kind. I have tried to support it in multiple ways and I have recommended it to many users. Will I give Weather Watcher Live another try when and if WW stops working? I have to say, it is very unlikely.
Like ASL4U I have tried Weather Watcher Live and it is not for me. I did not like the new interface and it has way too much stuff that I do not need. In fact, the overwhelming factor that led me to Weather Watcher all those years ago was that I hated the things that WeatherBug did. Of course, being based on the “Weather Cockroach’s” data feed, WWL does all those same things. I don’t need to see live camera feeds and videos. I don’t need news about tropical storms thousands of miles away. I do not like the way many of WWL’s features just send me to a page on WeatherBug’s web site which still tries to steer me back to all those ads that I ran (screaming) to get away from in the first place.
It’s been a good run Mike. I wish you would put in a bit of effort to retrofit WW to use the NWS feed or license it as open source so that someone else can. It is a sad day indeed.
Weather Watcher was discontinued because I cannot afford to give the weather data to you for free, and you do not want to afford the cost that I would have to charge you to recover the kind of money The Weather Channel wants.
By not reinventing the wheel, I’m referring to the massive rewrite that would be necessary to create a version of Weather Watcher that uses NWS’s data. It is of little benefit for me to create a weather application that only works in limited areas of the US. I’d rather take advantage of the many available real-time personal weather stations, as well as write an application that can be used outside of the US.
No, this is your perception of the situation.
In Weather Watcher Live? The Weather Watcher Live download page clearly states that the data comes from WeatherBug and NWS (which is accessed through WeatherBug).
It sounds like my software is not for you then.