On 11/18/2012 3:31 AM, Snowcrash Short wrote:
I have given some thought about an "opt-in" policy and I am not really
convinced. It is my feeling that unless there exists a binding
agreement limiting the use rights of assets in the users inventory
e.g. an accepted TOS, then the user should be afforded the rights
granted to him or her by law.
This reasoning seems designed only to shift responsibility for
respecting a creator's rights from yourself onto everyone else. And...
see, this is one of the reasons you're seeing as much resistance as you
are. It's a fine thing to stand up for and allow the exercise of user's
rights. But these don't exist in a vacuum, and nor do you or your tool.
The question here is, is it _reasonable_ to expect every grid and
standalone (there's literally hundreds of grids out there in one form or
another, even without standalones) out there to contact you and make
their policies known to you? Is that even something you can reasonably
promise to handle in a practical manner, before users begin using your
tool on their grids?
Some of those publicly accessible little hobby grids out there don't
have a TOS because they're, well, a hobby. These people don't tend to
have a legal team on hand. They live in jurisdictions where, even with a
TOS, they're open to the possibility of a lawsuit, even if they're
completely innocent of any actual liability. So when they hear about a
tool like yours, that will default to letting users assume they can take
copies of their inventories anywhere they please, I don't think it's any
wonder that they respond to you more than a little fear and even
vitriol. A hobby they love dearly, have invested probably a great deal
of time and effort in, suddenly feels threatened.
Is this your problem? Well, no. It isn't. Objectively, that's not your
problem at all, and so long as you're 100% certain that you have the
lack of legal liability you think you do[1], there's nothing stopping
you from plowing ahead. But don't be surprised when people react
negatively to your decision not to let other people's problems matter.
Marcus
[1] It has been no rare thing to have seen someone in a position not at
all dissimilar to yours say, "In my country, I can do this," only to
find out later that the the rights and protections that they thought
they had weren't as simple or unfettered as they thought they were.
You're stepping out of the realm of exercising your personal rights into
one that rams head on into the rights (both use rights and copyrights)
of _other_ people on a large scale, a situation with a whole set of
nuances and ramifications of its own. For laymen like you and I, this
can get really complicated really quickly. You're probably sick of
seeing it by now, so I won't say this again. In a spirit of amicability
and true concern, I encourage you to, if you can, consult legal counsel
about the rights you keep asserting and how they may or may not apply to
your tool, for your own protection.
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