Right, me, nor you, nor bustabit, nor anyone else has any idea how it is supposed to work because there is no license in existence that would state what it is that I can or can not do.
Bustabit is a big name in crypto gambling, and being licensed by them is a big deal - 2.3+ million bitcoins wagered ... That's why my broker (I've sold 3 Amazon FBA businesses through him) has a buyer that is interested. I'd been going over things with my broker to put it all together in to an offering. I don't have a license to show, and that's my biggest selling point by far.
And yes, BTC is highly valued - And that's why I'm so pissed.
Said more simply if I lost anyone there... (I'm just irate about this situation).
Bustabit was paid for a license. No license was provided. When asked about how to remedy the situation - Bustabit refused to give a refund (even for less than the original purchase amount and not even if I was to surrender my domain to them).
I don't know what planet Bustabit is from saying I should have asked for a license at the time of purchase of my license.. But back here on earth (I get it everyone is trying to go to the moon), at the time of purchase means not only when you pay for something but for the time period leading up to actually taking delivery for the purchase. So, it is still very much at the time of purchase at this very moment in time.
I'm hoping that the crypto gambling foundation will be able to help, because their members are held to high ethical/moral standards as well as transactions with online casinos being provably fair - And this situation is most certainly provably unfair.
The license is directly referenced in the source code, and you can read the terms at
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html. Bustabit also provides a written acknowledgment (
https://bustabit.com/license.txt) that serves as documentation of your purchase and proves that your site is exempt from AGPLv3's requirements, allowing you to take your code closed-source.
I didn't say you should have asked for a license. I said you should have asked for whatever it is you want to show them. Just to be clear, what exactly is "the product" you believe you didn't receive?
I have spoken to a lawyer about this and familiarized myself with the issues, here is how it works in this case...
Bustabit has code, if Bustabit sells me a copy of the code, much like a book, I can read it, but I can not run it or modify it and Bustabit has every legal right to tell me I need to cease doing anything besides reading it. I'm not saying that Bustabit would do this, but when a legal team looks things over, they look for any and all issues. This is a MAJOR issue.
Code with the addition of the GPL allows use of the code, but requires that if any modifications be done that the code is made available to everyone (Share new modifications on Github, etc).
Modifying the GPL is fine, if there is a written agreement. An agreement requires both parties to agree to the modifications. This is what you are partially claiming was done. It was not ... What was done, is as the bustabit.com/license.txt says was done... which is: "The following sites have purchased a non-distributable copy of the previous version of bustabit's source code..."
Which brings us to our actual state of affairs ... Bustabit sold licensing to be a licensed by them site (That is why Bustabit is listing the domain names of the sites on their website in bustabit.com/license.txt) ... The problem, is that no license exists, all that was given was code. Which legally, can only be read, not used in absence of a software license, this is due to it being the copyrighted works of Bustabit. A text file stating that a domain purchased code and is exempt is what is legally referenced as being a "nothingburger" ... Another thing the lawyer pointed out is that a domain is not a legal entity, a person or business needs to be at the other end of an agreement, a domain is simply an online presence. From that alone there is no effectuated agreement. But further, saying "here is the software licence that you are exempt from" is like doing 0 + 1 (GPL) = 1 (software license) ... 1 (software license) - 1 (requirements to adhere to license) = 0 (software license).
So, again, I will request the same as I stated from the beginning - Would you please allow the surrender (transfer) of my domain to Bustabit, and refund the purchase to my specified BTC address when I do so ? I never received what I paid for, and I am not happy about it.
The lawyer, which I have not yet hired, states the best way to go about this is to lodge a complaint (due to the amount being over $100K USD equivalent) with the FBI Cyber Crimes division, where a case will remain in effect until there is a resolution. I'm told this can take up to three years, and daily I'm watching Bustabit rake in far more the 2 BTC this is all about. If I go the route of reporting (which I will if you will not give me a refund for my purchase that I was never provided) then this will be going in as a complaint that it not only happened to me, but to a total 32 sites (64 BTC).
Please let me know at your earliest how you would like to proceed. If you will refund for the purchase please provide email address for me to surrender the domain to you at. I really hope we can get this dealt with today, not only to expedite things, but also because I don't like involving police/cops/government in anything I do. It isn't my intention to cause a major disruption or loss to anyone, but this can easily go that way if Bustabit wants to be that greedy over 2 Bitcoin. I'm not going to be letting it go, and in the event of a shutdown/seizure there could be losses suffered by those that will need to prove identities in order to release assets back to them. I hate the position that I'm being put in to with this, but I'm not the a-hole in the equation unless you force me to be. I really thought that my first post would have been enough to get this resolved... Sincerely hoping that this one is going to be enough. The lawyer wanted to proceed with it right away with lodging a complaint, but at the very least I found it right to first let the community know of my intentions. Which are:
TLDR; NOTICE TO ALL CONCERNED PARTIES (INVESTORS, ETC) - BUSTABIT WILL BE SUBJECT TO A FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH FBI CYBER CRIMES DIVISION IF THEY DO NOT REFUND ME FOR MY PURCHASE (PURCHASED LICENSE TO OPERATE THEIR CODE - LICENSE NEVER PROVIDED). I WILL UPDATE IT HAS BEEN RESOLVED SHOULD I BE PROVIDED A REFUND, I WILL LIKELY NOT BE REPOSTING IF THEY AGAIN REFUSE.