> Okay, so is it okay for persons/players to donate money for use for a
> internet connection (that should be okay) that is used for a mud?
>
> So, they're not donating money for the mud itself, but it will aid the mud
> in it's connection and status (ie: up and running).
>
> Is that acceptable? The donations are not a money generating thing, but are
> used to keep the system alive for the mud to run on.
Go to http://www.circlemud.org/~jelson/circle/license.html and read it.
In particular there is a line that reads:
If you are a CircleMUD administrator, You must not accept
any type of reimbursement for money spent out of pocket for
running CircleMUD, i.e., for equipment expenses or fees
incurred from service providers.
It's pretty clear. :)
However, whether it's legally valid is another matter. I've once
heard someone say that it's beyond the license's powers to prevent
a person from sending money by his/her own free will (ie- donations).
The law is always a tricky thing. Laws in the US are weird, for instance,
churches can offer "free" donuts after mass and have a donation can
sitting right next to them or offer "free" items over the phone while
requesting a donation at the same time.
The legal validity of parts of the license aside, I would not try to
accept donations for running a CircleMUD if I were you. The author's
intentions are clear, and it would be damned rude to go against them.
If you really want to have the community help support your mud there
are three options you can take: find a free server, write your own
mud, or send e-mail to Jeremy and talk it over with him.
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