The eHelp Corporation Issues
Last updated July 29, 2002 @ 10:45 a.m.

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The Issues

• In 1997, Blue-Sky Software (now known as eHelp Corporation) copyrighted the term WinHelp (download a zip file containing this information by clicking here). Microsoft's help engine at the time was commonly known as WinHelp and had been known by this name since at least Windows 3.x and possibly earlier. This is due to the file name for this engine originally being winhelp.exe. Windows OS's today ship with both winhelp.exe and winhlp32.exe.
• In late 1998/early 1999, Blue-Sky Software (now known as eHelp Corporation) used legal force to suppress unfavorable informal reviews of their products. Partial details are available in a copy of a post to the WinHlp-L email list from Sharon Burton-Hardin toward the middle of http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/jacksondean.htm.
• In 1999, an employee of Blue-Sky Software (now known as eHelp Corporation), using a pseudonym of "Jackson Dean", posted a derogatory review of a competitor's product to the now-defunct WinHlp-L email list. Details of this incident are available at http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/jacksondean.htm. Full facts behind this matter have never been revealed.
• In 1999, an employee of Blue-Sky Software (now known as eHelp Corporation) posted a Visual Basic code sample to the now defunct WinHlp-L email discussion list, indicating he had written the code himself. It soon became apparent this code had been plagiarized from http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter. Details of this incident are available at 
  http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/code_hijacking.htm.
• In late 1999, Blue-Sky Software (now known as eHelp Corporation) sent a "special offer" to a list of "preferred customers". The same offer then showed up on their web site for any visitor to the site to purchase with (http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/rebate_offer.htm).
• In 1999, someone again using the pseudonym of "Jackson Dean" posted a list of internet domain names Blue-Sky Software (now known as eHelp Corporation) owned at the time. The listing included variations of the URL's for competitors' web sites. This practice is now known as typosquatting and has been successfully fought in the courts.
• In late 1999, Blue-Sky Software (now known as eHelp Corporation) modified their Terms of Service to allow for removal of negative postings about their products from their own online forums and the blanket hijacking of the copyrights of any code posted on their web site or in their forums (http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/terms_of_service.htm).
• The eHelp Corporation web site has copied working code directly from another copyrighted web site. Details are available by downloading a zip file containing KnowledgeBase.net's original page and graphics. (This page worked on the KnowledgeBase site until April 25th or 26th, 2002, at which time it was removed. It's curious this would occur while the page you're now reading was being actively assembled.)
• In late 2001/early 2002, we've seen WexTech (http://www.wextech.com) and ForeFront (http://www.ff.com, which now redirects to http://www.componentone.com/ffhelp/ff.htm) sell-off their respective help authoring tools to ComponentOne (http://www.componentone.com). Of concern is whether the above activity by eHelp Corporation directly led to what happened with WexTech and ForeHelp.
• In January 2002, eHelp Corporation used a copyrighted poem in their newsletter without receiving permission or attributing the source (http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/drzseuss.htm).
• In January 2002, eHelp Corporation created a consulting arm (http://www.ehelp.com/services/consulting.asp), taking business away from help authoring consultants, including now-former members of their own Advisory Board.
• In April 2002, eHelp Corporation sent an advertisement email to an unknown number of rented email lists which targeted software developers/programmers. This advertisement made misleading claims about their products (i.e, eHelp Corporation products can automatically author help system content) and discounted the need for the profession of help authoring (http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/incident_4_02.htm).
• eHelp Corporation currently regularly bypasses their own opt-out mechanisms in favor of a chance for new advertising. Details are available at http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/incident_4_02.htm#jon_tobeys_beef.
• eHelp Corporation has apparently sent invoices for items which were never ordered (http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/incident_4_02.htm#invoices).
• In April 2002, eHelp Corporation attempted to silence the discussion of negative aspects of the operation of their corporation on the HATT email discussion list. 
• In April 2002, I found eHelp Corporation had, at some point, posted another sample on their web site using my own code without attributing it to me. Details of this incident are available at 
  http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/code_hijacking2.htm. (Please note that this issue is an issue with eHelp Corporation, and not Matthew Brown, who is no longer with eHelp. My heartfelt apologies to him in this matter.)
• In May 2002, members of the HATT list noticed a distinct similarity between one of eHelp Corporation's latest products and a product from another company. Further investigation revealed eHelp Corporation apparently purchased the other company's product with the purchase price to be multiplied by a factor of six. Details of this incident are available at http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/robodemo.htm. Shortly after this incident began, a number of eHelp's MVP's and CRI's (who are unpaid volunteers for the company) were abruptly fired by eHelp Corporation. Note that the CRI's (Certified RoboHelp Instructors) "had been supporting other tools". This action resulted in others of their MVP program and Advisory Board publicly announcing their resignations, including one Microsoft employee.
• In late May 2002, eHelp Corporation distributed a postcard ad making claims about how their RoboHELP product can save up to 80% of the time needed to complete a particular job. The numbers used in a graph on the postcard had the timings down to a tenth of a second, which struck the members of the HATT list as completely and utterly ridiculous. Details of this incident are available at http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/timesaving.htm.

Other Events

• Sometime between June 3 and June 10, 2002, the HTML Help and WinHelp samples former eHelp employee Matthew Brown wrote using my code silently vanished from the RoboHelp community web site. These samples are the ones discussed at 
  http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/code_hijacking.htm and 
  http://www.mvps.org/htmlhelpcenter/ehelp/code_hijacking2.htm. Note that I never asked the samples be removed, only that I receive proper credit for the code usage, which Matthew had later added to the HTML help sample. 
• In June 2002, T-Sector Magazine in San Diego published an article titled "RoboRant" on the issues with eHelp Corporation. The article covered the advertisement of April 2002, and featured interviews with eHelp Corporation Vice President of Marketing Marylin Stompler and former eHelp Advisory Board member David Knopf of Knopf Online.
• On June 18, 2002, someone from the HATT list initiated a poll related to the T-Sector article. The poll was as follows:

Supposedly intended as "light entertainment", this poll offended a number of HATT's members, including this writer. Some of us demanded the poll's removal, which occurred later the same day.

• Sometime in late July 2002, eHelp posted a new Visual Basic/HTML Help sample to the "Support Downloads" page of their HelpCommunity site. Written by a Gerry Powell, this sample contains generic HTML Help API code and provides correct concepts for its usage.

My Position

Following is my position, as posted on the HATT list:

HATT-Based Humor related to all this

• Sean O'Donoghue-Hayes' Apology

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• HATT Archives

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