>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Actually, I have been thinking about what DM said in regard to Eric Noah's
>site. He has the d20 logo in several places and when the license for that
>is
>finalized he would be in violation on each page if he had not followed all
>procedures (the d220STLG says web page not web site).
*only* if he uses the OGL. He doesn't, which means he's fine... but see
below.
> In addition there are
>things on his site which will eventually be released under the OGL (being
>based on the SRD) and would put him in violation if he didn't follow the
>OGL.
> (Maybe he has blanket permission in the works? and granted he doesn't
>really
>cover any other potentially competing systems).
"fan works" like what Eric hosts are "covered" under a policy--which is
legally just WotC saying "don't do any of these, or we will sue you."
>All this is because the OGL and d20STL are agreed to the minute you use (or
>download) any material covered by them.
Not really. You have to *publish* it. You aren't prohibited from using
trademarks in your home campaign, even if you use the Creature Collection.
:)
>The problem is the OGL restricts you (from what you could do anyway) in a
>manner that increases Wizards' potential success in suing you, but you gain
>little.
You call a piece of paper that effectivly keeps that 800 lbs gorilla from
sitting on you "little"?
The *only* restriction the OGL has is on trademarks--that's it. Using that
*trademark* restriction, WotC lets you tap their game's network if you do
certain things.
>You actually have to be even more careful of what you do than you
>would be under regular laws. What benefit do you gain that you would not
>already have, if you complied with the law? Why shouldn't people be free to
>make things that work with a RPG system without special permissions?
Such as?
* A game that had all the same rules as D&D, but didn't say so. Such a game
exists, and Ryan's said several times that anyone who wants to retry the
Palladium system can go right ahead.
* A game that has all the same rules, and *says* it's compatbile with D&D.
I haven't seen anyone do this, and I suspect that WotC would sue anyone who
did.
>The OGL
>basically says Wizards assures you they won't sue if you follow the law AND
>additional restrictions and people think it is a benefit because Wizards
>could crush people financially whether their case had merit or not. Iron
>fist
>in a velvet glove treatment?
You're forgetting that the OGL lets you quote the PH's rules verbatium.
>In the open source world you gain access to things you could not get
>otherwise (when you use the GPL say) but in the OGL world I do not yet see
>where you are gaining access to things you couldn't anyway.
You gain access to the various open games--the bulk of written material for
d20, which is equivalent to having access to all of the GPL'd code.
>I think the d20STL does a nice job of protecting D&D
>and Wizards, and the OGL should not be a vehicle for protecting primarily
>business interests as opposed to the general interests of fans.
Show me a fan who writes OGL material, and I'll show you an amatuer in the
gaming business.
>I can hear the keyboards reving up to defend business interests as the only
>ones that matter because fans will do what they want anyway, etc. but that
>is
>not the way to model the Open Gaming Movement. Open access is a good thing
>and there are laws to cover abuses of what is accessed.
Hmm... Do you realize that most of the open source software is written and
checked by persons who's primary duty is to write open source software?
There is an *amazing* diffrence between what a tired coder can do at night
after his regular job, and what an alert coder can do in the course of his
regular job.
DM
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
