Cheers.
Time to end this thread with a little something by Johnathan Swift written more than three hundred years ago:
“I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.”
Well…
I can see I’ve stirred up quite a hornet’s nest. I guess I should start with Keith Swifts defamatory accusations about me ripping off his narratives from his own InspectVue software. It is true that I was a former user of InspectVue, which I still consider to be the finest inspection software available on the market today. Keith’s narratives that were included with the software when I first purchased it were superb, but over the years (5?) I have changed/tailored them to meet with my personal requirements. These are the naratives that went into InspectMaster, as I felt that they had evolved past the point where I would/could be occused of theft or copyright infringement. I would therefore ask that Keith provide me with a list of any/all narratives that he feels are exclusively his and that he has copyrighted, and that he would like to see removed from InspectMaster. I will review them and then take whatever action I think is appropriate. If he is not satisfied, then I would suggest mediation or arbitration, as I have very little regard for attorneys. I have a lot of respect for Keith, and consider him to be one of the most upstanding individuals that I have ever met. He is a true gentlemen in a world that is rapidly running very short of true gentlemen. It truly saddens me that he has attacked me so viciously.
With regards to Keith’s allegations that 3D sent me a letter to stop using a page from their website about home inspection software, there is some truth to this. Before InspectMaster was available for sale, I had copied and pasted the content of this page directly onto my (new) website where I also had planned to have a page about home inspection software. It was placed there temporarily, and I had every intention of writing my own page that reflected my own opinions and comments, which I did before placing InspectMaster up for sale. It was temporary filler, and that was all. My apologies to 3D if they thought I meant to use it permanently. I most certainly did not, as it was rather poorly written and attacked other home inspection software companies.
With regards to my special offer to give away five copies of InspectMaster, I will readily admit that it was a complete failure. It would appear that everybody is quite happy with the software they are currently using.
I received only 1 ‘review’, which was nothing more than a series of screenshots which, by the authors own admission, took him less than 2 hours to make. It was not a review at all, and certainly was not worthy of a free copy of InspectMaster, and I have not and will not use anything that he wrote in any testimonials on my website.
To all others who joined in on the attack, both on the software and on my character, I have absolutely nothing to say to you. Your words and actions speak for themselves. I can only assume that you either have something to gain from your remarks, or that you are just have nothing better to do with your time.
I believe that InspectMaster is a solid product that offers a lot of value for the price. The software works extremely well for a 1.0, and I look forward to using it every time I begin an inspection. And that says a whole lot.
Regards,
Martin Hewitt, former NACHI member
NOTE: Yes, I chose to use the username ‘Martin Peterson’ on this BB to avoid any confrontation with Nick, who I enjoyed sharing vicious emails with several years ago regarding NACHI and it’s minimalist membership requirements and his personal attacks on ASHI and other HI organizations.
One bit of advice, next time you think you need to hide your identify to do something, don’t do it. Next time you think you will just borrow someone else’s IP, don’t do it or get permission first. It will keep you out of alot of trouble in the long run.
Thank you, Brian. Well said, and nothing more need be said?
Hewitt, know this.
Compliments from the NACHI membership fill me with pride; your compliments are truly worthless.
I have tremendous respect for attorneys, and I’m not surprised that you don’t.
You know that you didn’t borrow and “change” a few narratives but that you lifted paragraph after paragraph, sentence after sentence, occassionally changing a word or two here and there. Of course, you’ll be able to confirm this as a part of the legal “discovery” process.
I have a passion for truth and justice and have earned my laurels in that arena, but you may negotiate with Lorne Steiner (PVS) at (800) 388-4541, Ext.2
Glad to help. Sleezebags like this need to be stopped whenever possible. Good vendors with good products (and remember I use M$Word for my report writing) are needed, bad vendors who rip off others, and lie about things should be run out of town (tar and feathers optional). I would hate to see new inspectors who don’t know the history find out this joker has a product and accidentally buy it. He doesn’t deserve the money, no original ideas, etc. and I’d bet if he lies about all this, he’s going to provide piss poor support. Not what we need.
Keith,
When you get all the documentation together give me a call and you can fax it over to me, or I’ll come meet you at disneyland and pick it up 
My dad has a pretty big law firm up here in Ontario and while he doesn’t do copyright law he does have a few friends that do. I’m sure with what was done to you, 3D, and even to me that we have a pretty good case. As Brian stated, Martin has basically built off of your program. According to copyright law, you could easily become the new owner of InspectMaster (not sure what you’d want to do with it though!)
I don’t want to alert Hewitt to the extent of my case against him, but Nick and the membership deserve a little proof, but first this.
As everyone knows, I don’t brag about the PVS software, and certainly not when I was the VP; I did include my affiliation with PVS as part of my name tag, so everyone knew who I was and could not accuse me of surreptitious marking, which is more than Hewitt can say. Regardless, PVS upgrades their programs continuously. In fact the latest PVS software is light years ahead of Hewett’s “new” software, but let’s talk a little bit more about Hewitt’s character. Several months ago I added a “free” new construction library for our users, and even though Hewitt had not renewed his subscription with PVS in years he actually had the nerve to request a free copy of the new construction library from PVS. This speaks volumes, doesn’t it? As Jonathan Swift said, more than three-hundred years ago, “I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.”
Now, for one example of Hewitt’s plagiarism (theft) from which he hoped to profit; judge for yourself:
I do believe most of us learned about this in the eighth grade when we turned in our assignment only to find out our grades . . . BIG FAT F . . . seems like to many of us students had copy our reports out of the same encyclopedia, changed a few works here and there . . .
Kinda looks like my eighth grade report . . . oh ya, that’s what our teacher called it . . . plagiarism. Theft!
Martin I took your report trial with every intension of writing a full review.
I E-Mailed you about the fact that your software freezes up computers when photos are downloaded and you refused to answer me.
Now you freely admit that you got one review that only took two hours to write so you did not give it to the guy.
What kind of lier are you?Where on your offer did you put a time limitation for the review.You promised five free copies and gave out zero.
I put my review on your special offer thread right here and would like the free copy you promised.Sorry if it is a small review, but that should not matter.
If you gave out none you can’t be trusted and may have broken laws on contests.As far as NACHI entrance requirements goes .(who the heck are you to spout off about an organization with 10,000 members and then think they will buy anything from you).So where is my free copy?
And since it is two weeks since I asked for help or support I guess there is none.
Keith
Please go after this worm…comments like this make me sick.
Will do, Mario. It takes some digging to expose “worms,” but expose him I will. Best wishes, as always. Keith.