>There is also "Data Mining" of various ideas off the
>lists, fora, handouts, etc. Some of the ideas we've kicked around here may
>have so many authors and contributors that trying to list them all is
>ridiculous. II would like to use ideas from discussions, etc. without having
>to track down every Tom, Dick and Harry who contributed to it to give them
>their moment in the sun.
How is that incompatible with offering "reasonable credit where possible"? That would seem a clear case of "unreasonable credit where impossible".
And how about crediting the relevant lists en masse?
>No publisher or author that I know of has *ever* acknowledged a "parrallel
>evolution" like that. I'ts probably a really bad idea to acknowledge
>something like that (in a legal sense).
Happens all the time in academia.
>Because the FPP is a legal document, and there are things you do & don't do
>in a legal document to cover your ass.
Yep, there's my gripe on the spot. Issaries does something that every single person agrees is unreasonable (including Greg, Steve, Roderick,...) and their response is not to correct the mistake but to point to a legal document that "covers their ass".
Crediting people is not difficult. It is not unreasonable. There are people on this list who could be fired for consistently failing to credit their sources, many of them working in fields a hell of a lot bigger than Glorantha. Issaries policy in reality seems to be "credit for significant contributions, and correct online where that fails to happen". So why does the policy document not say so? "Covering your ass" seems a very thin excuse to me.
>People are not willing to give II the benefit of the doubt.
"Benefit of the doubt" is a very dubious basis for discussing a legal document...
Anyway, if Issaries stated policy does not reflect Issaries actual policy, there is a reason to change the stated policy on the spot.
>Hell, read the License Agreement next time you install a new piece of
>software if you want some scary reading.
Is this really a good defense? We're better than Microsoft? Okay, its true, but surely you can do better than *that*.
>People want to deny II the same rights that they themselves already enjoy.
>Fans use II information all the time without attributing it. If you write
>your "Vinga's Little Sister XXX" story, are you atteributing all the names
>and Gloranthan ideas to Greg and/or II?
My site has always acknowledged Issaries' trademarks and copyright. As has every other site I'm aware of. Most of us add the acknowledgement to the foot of every single page.
>Finally, you might ask yourself *why* Greg felt he had to protect his
>intellectual property in this way. If it weren't for some "fans" who abused
>Greg's trust and good will, we wouldn't be in this mess. So blame II all you
>want, but take the time to curse the sh*theads that forced them to take this
>course as well.
That isn't the origin Steve Martin told me. The origin I heard had nothing to do with fans at all.
Cheers,
Graham
-- Graham Robinson graham_at_... Albion Software Engineering Ltd.
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