dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) (07/06/89)
Someone here at the U of I has adapted the Internet webster server, which
does dictionary queries over a network, to run on the NeXT machine, using
the supplied Webster's dictionary.
My question is, if we run this server, are we violating copyright on the
Digital Webster? The copyright notice in Webster is not very helpful.
--
Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office
Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu UUCP: {convex,uunet}!uiucuxc!dorner
IfUMust: (217) 244-1765dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) (08/15/89)
I asked a while back about the copyright status of the Dictionary on the
NeXT. I have received a definitive answer from one of our NeXT reps.
The information in the Webster must be processed and displayed
ONLY on NeXT machines. Using it as a basis for a webster server is NOT
ok, unless ALL the clients are NeXT machines.
If you must flame somebody over this, don't flame NeXT, flame Merriam Webster.
They are the ones insisting on their copyright rights (personally, I
don't blame them, but that's just my opinion).
--
Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office
Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu UUCP: {convex,uunet}!uiucuxc!dorner
IfUMust: (217) 244-1765mccoy@accuvax.nwu.edu (Jim McCoy ) (08/26/89)
WRT Webster claiming to be able to control the output device of the dictionary. This claim by Webster is both frightening and not backed up by law. Webster is claiming that you can only use the NeXT as the output device of their ditionary and this seems to be on thin legal ice. Is Webster then saying that I cannot print out a copy of a definition onto a laserprinter that is connected to another network? While i am no great expert on law pertaining to information and intellectual prop rights, et al., this seems to cross the line as to what Webster can claim as far as their rights. I signed no agreement with Webster concerning use of the dictionary on the Next (shrink wrap claims are untested in the courts), what claim can Webster make over my actions? If i were to use a program that connects to a server running on a NeXT, I have only used the dictionary residing on a NeXT. I have not copied the dictionary to another machine, only redirected the output to another screen. Am i the only one who finds this action repulsive? Should I actually shell out $$ for this machine (currently using the one at work, but thinking about a future purchase), i intend to use the resources that are provided to me (without cost or restrictions that i agree to) as i damn well please. It seems to me that this is akin to NeXT selling me the Tech Docs, but saying that I can only read them in the same room that houses my NeXT. jim ------------------------------< Jim McCoy >------------------------------------ mccoy@acns.nwu.edu | "...far too many notes for my taste" #include <disclaimer.h> | -Phantom of the Opera "To thine own self be true"