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Topic: Someone's selling UQM on eBay... (Read 6166 times)
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fossil
Core Team
Frungy champion
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I don't think the "non-commercial" clause in the content licence allows this This is completely moot, as the COPYING file clearly states
The content may also be copied freely as part of a distribution of The Ur-Quan Masters.
The CC NonCommercial clause was chosen so that we do not start seeing the Kzer-Za advertising beer on TV, nothing more. The content was always intended to be completely free within the confines of the game itself and the mods, forks, etc.
The eBay seller does not violate any licensing conditions as long as he supplies the source code or an offer for the source code with his distribution. Also, for my part, I do not see any compelling ethical problems with his conduct, but others may disagree. Users that can find or download UQM off the net will do so, and those who cannot (or not bright enough to find us) can buy the disk off of eBay. The seller is also not required to advertise the fact that the games are "free". Consider the fact that the seller takes responsibility for the content "sold" in at least the form of eBay ratings.
Have you ever seen printed Linux distro disks? Do they say that Linux is free? If you are over 30 years old right now, do not tell me that you have never paid for some Linux distro disks, or never borrowed friend's distro disks that he/she paid for!
As for "making money", the asking price barely covers the CD production costs (taking labor into consideration), unless he had them mass-produced, which I really really doubt. If you are wondering, he sold 2 copies in the past month and a half -- hardly a profitable endeavor 
I would just like to ask everyone not to overreact and start spamming, flaming or otherwise harassing the seller en masse. There is no need for that.
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Death 22
Zebranky food
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Aren't you bothered by the fact that he's making money off someone else's effort, and not even giving them credit for it??
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Alvarin
Enlightened
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He's mostly making money of his own effort, I think.
Adding credits info would be good and maybe moral thing to do, but not extremely necessary.
The new player's enjoyment of the game, I think, is good enough a reward.
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Death 22
Zebranky food
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Also, how much credit do you think the engineers of your cell phone got? Or your computer? Isn't the manufacturer making money off of their efforts without giving them credit?
I don't think that is the best analogy - they were paid for their work, and probably in licensing fees too.
IMO, the recent attempts at 100% perfect credits for games and movies have gone overboard. Once they begin crediting their kindergarten teachers... well, then it will be complete. But this is not the thread for philosophical IP discussions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not some IP enforcement fanatic. But I feel disgusted when I see someone trying to make a profit (it might only be a few bucks a DVD, but it's still a profit) off other people's work. To put it in a different way: You chose to give it to the world for free, how dare he try and charge folks for it?!
Anyway, since I'm not a dev I don't have a right to enforce anything if the actual contributors couldn't care less about it. But I know of a number of free emulation projects (MAME, for example) that quite proactively shut down eBay sellers using their work for commercial gain, which is why I brought this to your attention in the first place...
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fossil
Core Team
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Anyway, since I'm not a dev I don't have a right to enforce anything if the actual contributors couldn't care less about it. But I know of a number of free emulation projects (MAME, for example) that quite proactively shut down eBay sellers using their work for commercial gain, which is why I brought this to your attention in the first place...
And I appreciate it, thank you. I also only speak for myself here, not the entire dev team.
To put it in a different way: You chose to give it to the world for free, how dare he try and charge folks for it?!
This is where the misunderstanding of software "freedom" comes in. "Free software" does not necessarily mean "free of charge", it means you have the freedom to use the software in many different ways, not all of which are free of charge. "Open source" does not equal "free" or "free of charge" either. I could give you the complete source code to a program and still charge you for a license to use it. The OSS philosophy has nothing to do with non-commercialism.
I beg everyone, please actually read the GPL sometime. It gives us and you the rights to copy, modify and distribute the work. It does not explicitly give you the right to use the work. Funny how that is, eh?
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oldlaptop
*Smell* controller
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You may convey verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice; keep intact all notices stating that this License and any non-permissive terms added in accord with section 7 apply to the code; keep intact all notices of the absence of any warranty; and give all recipients a copy of this License along with the Program.
You may convey a covered work in object code form under the terms of sections 4 and 5, provided that you also convey the machine-readable Corresponding Source under the terms of this License, in one of these ways:
* a) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product (including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by the Corresponding Source fixed on a durable physical medium customarily used for software interchange.
* b) Convey the object code in, or embodied in, a physical product (including a physical distribution medium), accompanied by a written offer, valid for at least three years and valid for as long as you offer spare parts or customer support for that product model, to give anyone who possesses the object code either (1) a copy of the Corresponding Source for all the software in the product that is covered by this License, on a durable physical medium customarily used for software interchange, for a price no more than your reasonable cost of physically performing this conveying of source, or (2) access to copy the Corresponding Source from a network server at no charge.
* c) Convey individual copies of the object code with a copy of the written offer to provide the Corresponding Source. This alternative is allowed only occasionally and noncommercially, and only if you received the object code with such an offer, in accord with subsection 6b.
* d) Convey the object code by offering access from a designated place (gratis or for a charge), and offer equivalent access to the Corresponding Source in the same way through the same place at no further charge. You need not require recipients to copy the Corresponding Source along with the object code. If the place to copy the object code is a network server, the Corresponding Source may be on a different server (operated by you or a third party) that supports equivalent copying facilities, provided you maintain clear directions next to the object code saying where to find the Corresponding Source. Regardless of what server hosts the Corresponding Source, you remain obligated to ensure that it is available for as long as needed to satisfy these requirements.
* e) Convey the object code using peer-to-peer transmission, provided you inform other peers where the object code and Corresponding Source of the work are being offered to the general public at no charge under subsection 6d.
So not only does he need to attribute it, he also needs to either include the source tarball on his disc, or provide a written offer to give any customer a copy of the source.
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« Last Edit: August 14, 2010, 03:27:45 am by oldlaptop »
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up turned crafish
Zebranky food
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Posts: 26
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this guy is in Massachusetts i could track him down for you guys.
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