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I agree to much of what Tom says here:
Quote:
Ignore them, there are tons of reasons to remove the front copyrights, here's a few:
Assists in preventing hackers from finding you via google or other search engines, as they search for such terms, XOOPS get's hackers too, don't they Damaster.
Doesn't look professional having credits pasted all over a professional website.
Doesn't look good to your client or your clients customers.
Allows your competition to compete with you easier (IE they know what your doing and how your doing it, without having to do any work themselves).
You can be ranked down in some search engines (see the whole WordPress sponsored footers thing recently).
Links could lead to offensive material when the domain name is not renewed by the developer.
Sites and software like McAfee, have a rating system, and if it leads to a red site, it could also put a mark against yours, leading to a loss of users and possibly customers.
There are a number of other modules that have such a link and some modules contain remarks that these links should not be removed. It is interesting to know that some of these modules are collective works containing files that are released under the GNU licence, that your website is probably a collective work (at least the underlaying technique), that you can add a new template to your site without changing the original work (module), and that
some Creative Commons licences state "
at in the case of a Collective Work, at a minimum such credit will appear where any other comparable authorship credit appears and in a manner at least as prominent as such other comparable authorship credit" which IMHO means that you can credit the author in an other place as long as it is prominent enough.
My ethical opinion: if you use a module, the maker deserves some credit but within reasonable terms. Do not sell it commercially if you are not the copyright owner (although you may sell support).
In the case of Xigg, I did not find any licence information except for "free for personal use". This worries me. Perhaps the maker has focussed on the programming and the usability (as it is a great module by a well-respected developer), perhaps I did not find the licence, but without a proper licence it is not wise to use a module as it will be subject to full copyright by default! There are to many open questions, for example:
- if it does not run on a next XOOPS version, and the maker focusses on
XOOPS Cube (another CMS; he released the module on xoopscube.org), will you be allowed to adapt it? (if you or other people are not allowed to adapt it, how will you tell your users that their bookmarks will be lost?)
- what is personal use? Is it on a local host? And when does a site become commercial?
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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: the information presented above is my personal opinion, not an advice. To the extent permissible by law, I disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The information presented above is provided 'as it is' and I accept no liability for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person as a result of the information provided in this posting. Always verify critical information with the relevant authorities before you use it.
