Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 alpha 4/3/85; site ukma.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ukma!sean From: sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) Newsgroups: net.micro.atari Subject: Re: --- Copying Pac-Man --- Message-ID: <2327@ukma.UUCP> Date: Fri, 25-Oct-85 03:37:40 EDT Article-I.D.: ukma.2327 Posted: Fri Oct 25 03:37:40 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 26-Oct-85 04:14:45 EDT References: <8510230038.AA00819@UCB-VAX> <987@vax2.fluke.UUCP> Reply-To: sean@ukma.UUCP (Sean Casey) Organization: The White Tower @ The Univ. of KY Lines: 22 In article <987@vax2.fluke.UUCP> kurt@fluke.UUCP (Kurt Guntheroth) writes: >If you copied pac man and gave it away, they can still sue you and sometimes >they do. There are various precedents in the copyright laws where people >were fined substantial (c 10,000 dollar) amounts for photocopying literary >works and posting the copies on bulletin boards. (Watch out Dave Berry >posters...) I am not sure just what has happened in the software world yet. I'm not talking about photocopying or otherwise ripping off a legitimate copy. I'm talking about writing a program from scratch that behaves almost exactly like a copyrighted program and then placing my program in the public domain. Like if I wrote an MSDOS that was 100% compatable and then said hey world you can have it for free. Sean -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sean Casey UUCP: sean@ukma.UUCP or 915 Patterson Office Tower {cbosgd,anlams,hasmed}!ukma!sean University of Kentucky ARPA: ukma!sean@ANL-MCS.ARPA Lexington, Ky. 40506-0027 BITNET: sean@UKMA.BITNET -------------------------------------------------------------------------------