My software got featured on a "software collection" CD without my knowledge

Alright, im not mentioning any names or going into detail, but heres the case. A few years back i wrote some software, I failed to see its potential and it had a huge bug in it that i couldnt fix, so i stopped developing it. i did release it on sites like Softpedia though (didnt know about the bug yet).

Now today i decided to google for it, just to find out that my software has a major community and even got featured on one of these "software collection disks" that you get for free with computer magazines.

Now my question is, can they just do that? I never gave that magazine (its a major one you all know) permission to do that...

Now personally i dont care a lot since its freeware, i even decided to start making a new version.

But still, can they just do that?

Was there a TOS when you uploaded it to Softpedia? If it allowed for that and you just clicked through without reading, then yea, I'm guessing so.

I guess i didnt read that, no. Since it is also on a lot of other software websites.

Haha they could have at least notified me, then i could have made a stable version.

Now the whole country got exposed to my flawed application lol

Yeah I don't know about Softpedia, if it is in their TOS to redistribute otherwise I'd say no, even if it's freeware you are still the copyright owner. Redistribution is still in violation of your right.

I used to have a site with a freeware application I wrote and distributed myself. Word came down to me that someone was burning CDs of the installer and selling them at game stores. I was not pleased, but never was able to track down the culprit(s). I simply stopped supporting it, and haven't really been too enthused about contributing any more effort to the betterment of the world gratis anymore ...

I would check that TOS, on any site you uploaded to.

If there's a community of people using your software... be a good capitalist. Build a website, promote the living hell out of it, and try to make a buck. People can work for years to get an active user community built around their software... sounds like you're in a pretty sweet spot.

That was my plan already. i will see what changes i can make once i find some time