On Tue, 07 Aug 2007 13:44:49 -0400, Andy Looney wrote: > > Speaking of patents, here's a highly relevant article I wrote 5 years ago, > which provides a lot of detail on our thoughts and wishes for the pyramids: > > http://www.wunderland.com/WTS/Andy/Games/PatentsAndLawsuits.html Thanks for sharing that Andy, (both originally, and reminding us of it in the discussion now). It is interesting to discuss what the various details of copyright, trademark, and patent law allow for. But I think it's more important to just respect the wishes of people that create and share wonderful things. Andy says: Here is our new official policy: * If you manufacture and sell your own Icehouse pieces, but you make less than $100 a year doing so, we ask only that you send us a sample of your wares. * If you're making more than $100 a year profit selling Icehouse pieces, we would request then that you pay us a small royalty on each sale. Now, a Big Evil Corporation might look at a statement like that and ask, "What law gives him the power to enforce that?", or "Can we work around any of his trademarks, copyrights, and patents and still make money off of these pyramids". But, me, I look at that and understand and accept Andy's wishes. If I were ever to consider going into the pyramid-making business, I'd make the decision to do it or not based on the terms above, (which would mean negotiating the royalty amount with Looney Labs). Personally, I think it's really important to respect the intent of creators, (whether of games, software, etc.), regardless of whether there's any codified law that gives them the ability to use the government to enforce that intent. And I think that's simply part of being a good human. -Carl
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