OK, so after checking Wikipedia my memory was flawed... though there were massive copyright fights over Tetris that dragged on for years, the original author ended up making very little. But a quick scan of the "History" part of the entry should convince anyone pretty quick that they don't want to fight The Tetris Company.
On Apr 13, 12:49 pm, Sundog <[email protected]> wrote: > Again, you both might want to review a little history... in particular > the (if memory serves, pretty successful and pretty savage) fight of > the author of Tetris to protect his intellectual property over the > last 20 years or so. And as I think someone else pointed out, your > understanding of the issues involved is not complete, as one would > think was self evident in the Google action... game ideas are most > certainly protectable. Try writing a Monopoly clone and see what > happens, real quick. Are you unaware of the recent Scrabble issue on > the iPhone? > > I don't think you see my point, which is that an operating system/ > community/environment that openly disregards intellectual property > rights is, in my humble opinion, doomed to failure from the get-go > from the inability to form a viable business model for anyone > involved. > > On Apr 13, 11:44 am, Ikon <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Your contention that "grown up operating systems" should not allow you > > to copy ideas is totally unfounded. You can never patent abstracty > > ideas. Game ideas cannot be patented. Whether they should be is a > > different discussion. You can go right and now, and make a game on > > Windows with a story very similar to fallout, and write all your own > > code, and use all your own graphics/sound assets and you will not be > > infringing on that IP in any way. A company may come and try to sue > > you, but that has no relevance to a maturity of an operating system. > > > On Apr 13, 10:43 am, Sundog <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Anyone who is surprised by this must be very, very new to the > > > programming game. I've been waiting for this since the store opened. > > > > IMHO, to the extent that the Android community becomes a proxy for > > > those that think All Ideas Should Be Free And Stealable, that is the > > > extent to which Android will never be a real grown-up operating > > > system. > > > > On Apr 7, 8:43 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > > > wrote: > > > > > On Saturday April 4th, I received a message from google saying that my > > > > game "Robotic Space Rock" was pulled from the android market after a > > > > request made by a legal firm representing an entity known as Tetris > > > > Company. My application was removed from the android market together > > > > with Blocks, Cubik, Net Tetris, Netblocks and Tetroid (6 apps in > > > > total) under claim that it violates the DMCA and more specifically > > > > trademarks and copyrighted material owned by the Tetris Company. > > > > However, none of the trademarks or copyrighted material (music, > > > > graphics and sound effects) are present in my game. Sound effects and > > > > music were created by me specifically for the game. There is no > > > > reference to the word tetris in the game. Additionally, all the game > > > > code, graphics and sound effects were created by me and published on > > > > the code sitehttp://code.google.com/p/monolithandroid > > > > > Additionally, I am not aware of a software patent covering the game > > > > mechanics of Tetris, so I cannot see how I could violate something > > > > that is not protected by a software patent. Also, even if the game was > > > > protected by a patent, the patent would have expired, since the > > > > original game, Tetris, was created 23 years ago. However game > > > > mechanics cannot be covered by patents. > > > > > I would also like to point out that my game is available completely > > > > free of charge to every user of the android market. > > > > > I wrote those concerns to Google and I sent an email to the EFF. The > > > > bottom line is that for my application to be restored on the android > > > > market, I have to send a DMCA counter-notification. And then the > > > > Tetris Company can sue and take the case to Court. > > > > > When games were pulled from the iPhone App store, they blamed apple, > > > > but it is not hard to see that behind application removals we can find > > > > companies like the Tetris Company, that demand application removals > > > > claiming copyright infringement and trademarks. However, it is not > > > > easy to battle these companies as individual developers. I, for > > > > example, am a Greek citizen living in Greece, so it is difficult for > > > > me to file a counter-notification, because then the Tetris company > > > > will probably sue me and I will have to defend my case in court. Why > > > > should I bother? Am I making money out of the game? No! But even if I > > > > did you can see how easy it is for corporations to neutralize > > > > developers like that. I think that something should be done. > > > > Independent developers should get together to battle against such > > > > misuse of the law by corporations. > > > > And to those that want more facts, you can find more details on my > > > > blog:http://tkcodesharing.blogspot.com-Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
