On 25 Jan 01, Lynn scribbled a note about RE: Domain Abuse (was RE: [ogf-d20-:
>
> I don't think so. He is not only taking commercial advantage of copying
> someone's domain name (yes, it would be different if it was OGFfaqs.com,
Commercial advantage? How? He has links back to his website.
not extremely prominent ones from the descriptions I have heard.
Ok, I have just gone and looked at the page myself, and I am even
more to agreeing that Fuastus has done nothing wrong there. He
isn't trying to sell anything on that page. As a matter of fact,
whenever Fuastus has directed anybody to the FAQ he has always
given his Earth 1066 site's address.
> or the like -- that would not get autocompleted by the browser to
> misdirect the user away from the .org site), but also claims that he is
> using it as political leverage to help pursuade WotC to his way of doing
> business. This is heavily snipped, sorry (I dont know if there is an
Wrong again... Fuastus is NOT trying to get anybody to DO
anything. He has said (although I will admit that his wording leaves
something to be desired - but if you have been on this list for a
while, you will have learned to take what he says with a grain of
salt and to try to look beyond how he says something to get at
what he is TRYING to say) that the domain names will become the
property of the OGF once the OGF has an official legal existance
(like we were all told so long ago).
> archive for this list, but if so, go back and read) - front and end quotes
> are mine
>
> "I have made no secret of the circumstances under which I will freely
> donate all of these resources to the Open Gaming Foundation. Here we are
> a year later after tha announcement that "The Open Gaming Foundation"
> would be created as an independent organization "within the next few
> months" and several things have not happened which cause a great deal of
> alarm in some circles."
>
> So he may turn these over if WotC complies with his idea of the OGF.
> Doesnt that sound like a "bad faith domain name acquisition" to you?
Redundancy.... He is stating that he is going to give the domains
to the OGF (not to Ryan personally, nor to WOTC) oncethe OGF
exists as a legal entity.
>
> Whatever Ryan plans to do, is, well, up to him. Ive already recommended
> discussing with NSI or other legal action. The fact is, as time goes on,
> it is going to become easier and easier to exercise rights in regard to
> domain names. If Faust wants to sit on the domain until WotC decides to
> take action, that is just more time in which they can calculate
> accumulated damages.
>
WOTC will in all likelyhood never do anything. The Open Gaming
Foundation is Ryan's baby, not WOTC's. They have nothing to do
with it other than currently owning the copyrights for the licenses
and the srd. They are not the foundation.
Also, Ryan's only comment on the situation is to grumble about
how his partner messed up by not getting the domains like Ryan
had asked him to in the first place.
If I were you, I would be glad that Fuastus has them and is using
them for a benign purpose (since he is NOT selling anything on the
page to which those domains point, you cannot call it a
commercial use), rather than havign some shady company ending
up with them and actually selling products, or worse yet peddling
their own version of open gaming (such as something not really
open like the FUDGE license). If you think for a moment, you will
see that things could actually be much worse.
Now before you jump back on your moral high horse, just
remember that the OGF currently has no legal existence. It is
currently the Ryan's website, a personal website, as it is
maintained by him, for his own purposes (NOT by WOTC). As
such, there isn't really a lot that I can see that can be done other
than wait.
All this fuss is because *somebody* thinks that Faustus is being a
bad boy in keeping those domains under his control for now.
As for Ryan taking legal action, as a highly placed employee at
WOTC, don't you think he has access to lawyers to ask exactly
what his options are in the situation? If he had wanted to pursue
this, I am sure that he would have already done so in some form or
another. In other words, this is really between Ryan (who is the
OGF for all intents and purposes right now) and Faustus. The rest
of us should just drop the matter and leave it be.
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********TANSTAAFL********
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Rasyr (Tim Dugger)
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Last updated: October 6, 1999
