Any Ideas please

[television]

TOM7035 raised this problem about why I ask for VIN and why the info I give cant be shared with other people

I ask for the car VIN number because of the huge range of variants within that range of cars, most people say for instance " I have a C22ocdi" well there are 8 variants of this car.
I have been told that it is not wise to put these numbers up here through fraudulent reasons.Though I can walk around Tesco's car park and write down all of the VIN numbers I wish, and I could have taken note of all of the 200 cars at MB Exeter on Friday.

Re how to do the job. I should not be using or have a copy of the program for this info, through copyright reasons it cant be put up here. when a posting comes up, and the guy gets no answers, I try and turn the situation
around as to how I would feel in those circustances. TOM7035 and I are of an age and type that has a go, but not everyone can do that, so for the sake of ½ an hour some ink and a stamp I post it. whilst I could put the words here, the picturs are worth more, and everyone could share it and we would have a record.
On this site we are unlucky in that we do not have enthuiastic mechanic who works for MB.
On the Volvo Yahoo site they have a guy called nick,he answers every problem on every car, right down to the time taken to do the job, he is red hot and precice on every model and fault.
I think that I am right in saying that one purpose of this forum is to help people with their problems. I also think that it would have been in MB's own interest to have the cars running as smoothly as possible. As the program that I use is not being used for any commercial intent, I wonder sometimes what would happen if I asked MB if I could put the info up on to the site.
Any idea's welcome please.

Malcolm

 

[clive williams]

TOM7035 raised this problem about why I ask for VIN and why the info I give cant be shared with other people

Re how to do the job. I should not be using or have a copy of the program for this info, .............Any idea's welcome please.

Malcolm

Malcolm are you referring to the program that is commercially available on e-Bay ie the WIS manual? The fact that it is commercially available with no copyright warning would tend to imply agreement from MB. I doubt whether the e-Bay vendor would want to instigate a copyright law suit.

In terms of whether you or I or anyone possessing former MB documentation may be subject to the copyright laws is a topic that is best not to speculate on unless comment is had from an expert ie a barrister specialising in that branch of the law.

I for one, will continue to help other MB owners using whatever information I have available. (I'll wait for the writ)

Clive

500E
E320CDIT210

 

[television]

Thanks guys, tried that putting onto forum almost got thrown off, plus you are not putting up pictures

Malcolm

 

[davidsl500]

Before we get too deep into this discussion I would like to remind users of the Forum about its rules of conduct :-

Observe all copyright laws when posting copyrighted material. If the material belongs to someone else, credit the original author. Do not post material if you do not have permission to distribute it electronically or otherwise.

No discussion, allusion to or encouragement of any illegal activity. Links provided to locations that deal with any such activity are also expressly forbidden. Illegal activities include but are not limited to mod chips, and file sharing of copyrighted material without express permission of the copyright holder.

No posting messages that violate the Laws of the Land, which include, but are not limited to, anything that violates a copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or is bound by NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement).

If i get time I might post my own thoughts later but I would ask that Forum Members kindly observe the above

Thanks

 

[andy_k]

if you reproduce pictures without the owners permission then you are contravening the copyright. If you bought the software from an "unofficial" source then you are contravening another set of laws relating to the licence. Now, keeping that information on your own computer only places one person at risk, which is fair, you chose to break the laws it's only reasonable that you should face any consequences should they arise but as soon as you post it on somebody else's server you immediately implicate them as they can be held directly responsible for any content they are storing (I think a case against Demon Internet set that precedent) even if they are unaware of it.

Before you start gathering public opinion I think it is only fair you

a, contact Mercedes Benz to ask their permission. Make sure that any permission they grant is in writing should they decide to change their mind later on. This could be risky because you are basically saying to Mercedes "Look I've got a pirtate copy of your software and want to distribute it" and I doubt if they'd look too favourably on that request.



b, If (as is highly likely) Mercedes deny that permission then you should contact the site owners (not the moderators) and the owners of the server where the site is hosted to see if they mind you using their web space to commit a criminal act.

As a final thought, if it was your work (and profits) being pirated and distributed for free how would you feel?

Andy

 

[tom7035]

I appreciate what Malcolm is trying to do but it's my personal view that the forum is becoming more like a 'phone-in' advice centre, and interest appears to be waning amongst the longer-serving members. Its main function to my mind is to exchange practical information gleaned through working on one's own vehicles and experiences of resolved problems and sharing that information with is all. With the advent of the digital camera, photographs are an added bonus.

In the relatively short time I've been a member of the forum I miss a number of past members who used to come in with a wealth of information based purely on practical and personal experience of successful diagnoses and repair procedures never quoted from a manual. Most of us I suspect wouldn't be here at all were it not for the exhorbitant charges and apparent inability of most MB dealerships to deal with a problem effectively and nail it first time.

Another issue with me is the failure of members to come back with a result, successful or otherwise, after using given advice. Only by doing this can we end up with a virtual 'manual' of our own on the forum!

Malcom, please don't take this as a personal slight on you as it certainly is not intended to be, I'd just like to see more practical stuff up here and less of the theory.
Cheers, Tom.

 

[tom7035]

Re. my comments above, see post #4 on '300TE Suspension help' by Andy k - this is exactly what the forum is for IMO!

 

[andy_k]

cheers Tom, I've said exactly the same as you in the past in fact I've even said it to Malcolm (Television) - any help given should really be based on personal experience and not just copied from a manual - I thought we'd gone past all this.

Andy

 

[SLinKyjoe]

Am going to close the thread, but not due to the content of the post. but due to possible replies that may be added.

this forum is for Mercedes Owners and Enthusaists to offer support, advice and help to members and is a place where you can meet other like minded individuals who share your views on Mercedes Benz.

the MBOA is set up for that and send out magazines to those who join up, once a month.

it would be nice to have a mechy who comes on to help. but the forum and the MBOA or not connected in anyway with mercedes.

they will not give permission to allow members to use the information from pirated disks sourced from ebay. they may even take action to close the forum if that was to be the case on here.

if you choose to take pictures yourself, use information you have experince of, and tell your tales of woe on here thats fine. but if you knowingly pass on information garnered from illegal sources then the whole forum is at risk.

Hope that helps.