Right, but the comparison is still ridiculously inept.
>>Maybe not.) A moronically stupid comparison, for two reasons.
>>
>>1. Microsoft protect their IP primarily through patents.
>> Even the U.S. patent office wouldn't allow patents on
>> Glorantha.
>>
>>
>
> Bollocks. M$ has both patents and copyrights, and their copyrights are
> well protected by ordinary usage practices. As Nick hinted at some weeks
> back, using a RPG is a lot like using a software package. M$ does not
> have any claim to the ownership of any computer systems created using
> the Windows operating systems...
Of course they have copyrights, but they are not really used the same way. MS copyright to written stuff like manuals and web site text is comparable, but not in that strong need of protection. Copyright on a piece of software is quite another thing.
>>2. Microsoft is the richest company in this part of the
>> galaxy. They have the money and the lawyers to out-process
>> any force known to man (or buy them off).
>>
>
>
> Which was my basic point really, this whole bloated nonsense makes II
> sound like the mouse that roared...
Of course not. Rather like a mouse that can bite as well as squeak. It has to cover every contingency in ridiculous detail, just because II unlike MS cannot process its way out of loopholes in it.
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