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From: mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (Don't have strength to leave) Meyer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Tiny clock program (my own rewrite)
Message-ID: <1936@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Mon, 15-Dec-86 04:20:46 EST
Article-I.D.: jade.1936
Posted: Mon Dec 15 04:20:46 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Dec-86 05:29:56 EST
References: <6914@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Sender: usenet@jade.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (Don't have strength to leave) Meyer)
Organization: Missionaria Phonibalonica
Lines: 82

In article <6914@decwrl.DEC.COM> wecker@cookie.dec.com (DAVE  CUM GRANO SALIS  WECKER) writes:
>I thought people might like this... it is a repost of Mike Meyer's clock
>program with the following goodies:

I don't like it - in fact, I'm royally P.O.'d about it. Dave, in one
posting, you've managed to:

	1) Break the law.
	2) Put *false* words in my mouth, and in so doing
	3) Misrepresent my position on PD software.
	4) Place my code in the public domain, when I hadn't done so.

Let me quote from the initial comment of *MY* version of that program:

/*
 * clock - a dumb, digital clock in the upper right-hand corner. Designed
 *	to be small, not flexible!
 *
 * Copyright (c) 1986, Mike Meyer
 *
 * Permission is hereby granted to distribute this program for any purposes
 * whatsoever, so long as this notice, including the above copyright, is
 * included with the distribution. Unlike other people, I don't care if you
 * make money off of this, so long as I get credit for having written it.
 */


Now, let's see what's left of this in the version Dave posted:

>/* clock - a dumb, digital clock in its own window
> *
> * original: Mike Meyer	    - public domain, not for sale
> * v1.1:     Dave Wecker    - under Manx, auto change of timings, no printf
> *
> */

Firstly, my copyright notice has disappeared. Since permission to
redistribute was granted ON THE CONDITION that it not disappear,
you've broken the law. I'll concede that this is a shaky copyright
notice, but that's not a good reason for doing what you did.

Second, the words "public domain" and "not for resale" are
incompatable. If something is not for resale, it can't be in the
public domain. Likewise, if it's in the public domain, anyone can do
whatever they wish with it, including compile it and sell the binaries
as their own.

Third, I specifically said that I don't care if other people resell
the thing. You attached the "not for sale" to my name, implying that I
said it. I would never say any such thing, as 1) it's not legally
possible to do that, and 2) I disagree with the sentiments expressed.

Finally, since you left off the copyright notice, failed to add your
own, and distributed the code on a public network, you've placed it in
the public domain. Thus anyone who wants to can legally compile it and
sell the binaries, without every mentioning my name - or yours, for
that matter.

You obviously did a significant (compared to the work I originally put
into it) amount of work on the code (you also left a construct in it
that's illegal under ANSI C). There's a way to indicate this, and have
your wish that it not be resold indicated, that is both legally and
morally correct. Namely, you add your own copyright line, and then say
"May not be sold, or included as part of any package which is sold."
or words to that affect. We'd both hold copyright on the resulting
program, and anyone who wished to do something with it under
conditions other than those in the copyright notice would have to get
in touch with both of us.

Dave, this action is, as far as I'm concerned, indistinguishable from
that of people who sell code that's marked "public domain, not for
sale." True, you haven't made any money; but they haven't broken the
law. The important thing in both cases is that you've violated the
express wishes of the authors of the code. It's that kind of thing
that makes people stop making programs publicly available.

Dave, if you got a copy of the program from someone else who had
stripped my copyright notice off, I apologize. I'm still P.O.'d, but
don't know who did it. In that case, I'd appreciate help in finding
the culprit, so I can properly vent my wrath at them.