peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (08/22/87)
In article <4759@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, (Mike Meyer) writes: |SJG has distributed *two* versions of OGRE. They are almost identical, |with a minor change in the rules. The concepts therein are licensed |from Keith Laumer, deriving from his BOLO stories. First of all, the differences are extremely minor. If you want to pick nits replace the words "absolutely identical" with "virtually identical". Steve did not license anything from Keith Laumer... it is quite likely he never read the books (I know he never read Illuminatus before designing Illuminati). He gave Keith Laumer credit, but that's it. Secondly, it is extremely unlikely Steve gave his permission for the PD version. I've run into him a couple of times at conventions, and I got the impression that he wouldn't be happy with me doing one... so I didn't. I didn't actually bring up the subject, but his views were pretty obvious. Basically, the game OGRE is copyright be Steve Jackson, and I believe that the PD version is a violation of that copyright. There's more to copyright violation than software piracy... though you wouldn't think it on the net. If you have some facts to dispute this belief, I'd be happy to apologise. In the meantime, it'd probably be a wise move to remove the OGRE port from PD disk collections and bulletin boards. I haven't told SJ or anyone associated with them, and I'm not saying you're likely to be prosecuted. I just think that the "PD" OGRE is not consistent with the basic "rules" of PD software. |Origin Systems Inc distributed a version of OGRE under license from ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |SJG. It is now distributed by EA. The graphics are nearly identical ^^^ |to the SJG version, and the rules are nearly identical. OSI/EA has permission. The person who did the PD version doesn't. -- -- Peter da Silva `-_-' ...!seismo!soma!uhnix1!sugar!peter (I said, NO PHOTOS!)
fnf@mcdsun.UUCP (Fred Fish) (08/24/87)
In article <531@sugar.UUCP> peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes: >In the meantime, it'd probably be a wise move to remove the OGRE port >from PD disk collections and bulletin boards. I haven't told SJ or anyone >associated with them, and I'm not saying you're likely to be prosecuted. >I just think that the "PD" OGRE is not consistent with the basic "rules" >of PD software. Lest people think I am ignoring this issue with respect to my set of library disks, I have been trying (so far unsuccessfully) for the last couple of weeks to get in contact with Steve Jackson. About a week ago I sent a letter to an address provided to me by someone via email but have yet to get any response. If anyone has contact information for Steve Jackson that is known to be correct and current, I would appreciate a phone call with the information. Call (602) 921-1113 and leave a message on my answering machine. Thanks for any help. -Fred -- = Drug tests; just say *NO*! = Fred Fish Motorola Computer Division, 3013 S 52nd St, Tempe, Az 85282 USA = seismo!noao!mcdsun!fnf (602) 438-3614