Q:

Javascript business model

Does anyone know anything about slidedeck's business model (see link below)? These guys are a javascript component that they sell online. As the tech savvy know - It's very difficult to sell javascript online, because it's pretty much like selling source code.
But check out: http://www.slidedeck.com/pricing-b/
These guys give away a "GPL Branded" branded version of their code and then sell two premium "unbranded" versions that allow licensing of servers. They have some impressive clients. 
I'm just about done with a project of my own that is similar. I was just going to open source it and then use that source to create a demo to go and find financing for a bigger server side project (with a more clear cut monetization strategy), but seeing this made me take pause. 
I'm thinking - could I monetize the client source in the short run and raise less money?  This seems like an option - but it also raises lots of questions:
1) If slidedeck's code is "GPL Branded" - how do they enforce that it's branded? Couldn't I just remove the branding, release my update to the community? (That would be a crappy thing to do, but would it be illegal or against GPL?)
2) While it's quiet obviously - the right thing to do - Outside of premium support models what are the main drivers for companies to license this code outside of the honor system?
3) Given Slidedeck is GPL what protections do they have from flat out plaugerism and people coying their code and selling it for less? Are there legal measures that can be taken to prevent this? How could they enforce this? Copyright perhaps?

A:

Yes, the GPL is very much enforceable in court, and you can find several examples of this on Wikipedia: The GPL in court. In fact, under the Berne Convention, you automatically hold the copyright to all your works. Violating copyright is illegal in most countries, however the money and effort involved in going to court is usually justified only against larger companies. This is precisely why so many open source products are free for personal use but require you to purchase a license for commercial use. (I just realized the preceding line is misleading -- you can always use GPL-ed software for free, so the licenses are exclusively for support.)
As you mentioned, support is one reason, but of course another important reason is that they don't have a choice -- a few hundred dollars may not be much for a big corporation, but they stand to lose much more if they decide to use unlicensed software.

Of course, in the end, it all comes down to the quality of the product itself -- if it's an excellent product, you can name your price (within reasonable limits) and you will always have buyers.

