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The Vuze application (and Azureus before it) is free and open source software, available for free download from www.vuze.com (and azureus.sourceforge.net). The source code is freely available from SourceForge, and the application is licensed under the Gnu General Public License (version 2, also known as "the GPL"). Every installation of Vuze must include within it a copy of GPL.txt that explains the rights of the user, including "The licenses for most software are designed to take away your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users."

The application also happens to be available for no charge, but the guarantee to keep the software free is a guarantee to protect the freedom of users. In the words of a popular formula, "Free as in Speech, not Free as in Beer."

Part of that freedom, explicitly laid out in the GPL, is the right "to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish)". It certainly doesn't surprise me that Vuze is a popular choice to redistribute for companies who offer other services. Typically, the service they offer is a subscription to "information that they have aggregated, and advice, recommendations, or reviews". Unfortunately, if they've made promises about specific types of files that a subscriber to their service will be able to find and download using Vuze, and the subscriber is unhappy with the quality or accuracy of the information, or the service provider's responsiveness, their confused or unhappy customers come to us looking for help.

Vuze (the company) doesn't have a relationship with any of these companies that redistribute Vuze (the application), and we don't have experience with the services they offer or opinions about the value of those services. But we do think that all users should be careful to understand what exactly they are paying for, and to whom. Below is a list of some of the services that have come to our attention. Being listed here is not an endorsement of that service, nor is it an indication that the service provider is providing bad service. All we know is that they are promoting Vuze (yay!) and they are charging for a service. But we do welcome their customers sharing their experiences with the service providers, in the interest of everyone getting value for providing value.

• unlimitedps3cheats.com (xrl.us/playstation3) ($29.95, http://www.unlimitedps3cheats.com/support/)
• unlimitedwiidownloads.com (no longer exists)
• unlimitedps3downloads.com ($49.95, http://www.unlimitedps3downloads.com/support/)
• mywiidownloads.com ($29.95 - 49.95, mailto:support at mywiidownloads dot com)
• netps3downloads.com (no longer exists)
• expressmoviedownloads.com ($29.90 - 34.90, http://www.expressmoviedownloads.com/support/)
• netiphonedownloads.com ($49.95, mailto:techsupport at netiphonedownloads dot com)
• viewvids.info
• unlimitedgamesdownload.com (, http://unlimitedgamesdownload.com/support.asp)
• the-movie-downloading.com ($29.97 - 39.91, http://the-movie-downloading.com/contact.asp)
• membersarea-movies.com
• membersarea-wdownloads.com
• free-movies-and-music.com
• stage66.com (claims to be free but charges minimum $30, no support link)
• ch131.com
• fasttvdownloads.com (good description of their service and limitations linked to from their homepage, http://fasttvdownloads.com/contact.asp, reports that refund requests were handled promptly)

Vuze (the company) gets a lot of support requests and refund requests from people who have paid money to companies like the ones listed. I'm clarifying the distinction between the Vuze software and Vuze Inc., and entities who charge money for services that include redistributing the Vuze software. Vuze (the company) has no relationship, business or otherwise, with any of the companies listed and does not get any money from any of them.

The article itself has been up for several months, Bubba. I just updated it to include specific company names (as I'd always intended to). I send people who are asking for refunds to this forum thread for clarification, and would like for web searches for any of those company names to include this discussion in the search results. And I encourage anyone who has had experiences (good or bad) with a company that charges for services and that redistributes Vuze to let us know about their experiences.

I PAID MONEY TO THE THEMOVIEDOWNLOADS.COM AND ITS ON THE LIST I CLICKED THERE LINK SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO.

Dispute the charges with your credit card company..?

It's kind of your responsibility.