On Sat, 16 Aug 1997, Andrew Helm wrote:
-+You're assuming everything written in the license is legally valid.
-+Although a copyright holder may be able to set down whatever terms he
-+wants, if they aren't valid then they don't mean anything (which was my
-+point). I know for a fact that just because something is written down
-+in a license/contract doesn't make it so! (eg- If you use this product,
-+you must be my slave for 5 years. If you use this product, you must dye
-+your hair green. If you accept treatment from me, you're no longer allowed
-+to sue me for malpractice). Whether the no donations part of the CircleMUD
-+license is valid is something I can't (nor did I try to) say for sure. I
-+would suggest asking a lawyer or some other equally informed person.
But he's not saying something as ludicrous as "you must be my slave for 5
years," and actually, if someone agrees with the license...It can be just as
legally binding as a contract saying that someone is, "your slave for 5
years." Their signature is use of the product after being aware of the
stipulations of the license. Hence, while it's unlikely that anyone would
become Jeremy's slave for 5 years to use CircleMUD (sorry, Jeremy :), if
we wanted to put that in the license, he *could*, and if you agreed with
the license.
-+ You must not use CircleMUD to make money or be compensated
-+ in any way.
Monetary gain. Not donations.
-+ You must not solicit or accept money or other donations in
-+ exchange for running CircleMUD. You must not accept money or other
-+ donations from your players for purposes such as hardware upgrades
-+ for running CircleMUD.
You must not solicit or accent money *or other donations*, which qualifies
again under Monetary Gain (which includes donations). Which, had you read
my prior message, you would know I *said*.
-+As I said, it's pretty clear. Especially the "CircleMUD must not be in
-+any way be used to facilitate your acceptance of fees, *donations* [my
-+emphasis], or other compensation" part. :)
EXACTLY, as I said, it forbids MONETARY GAIN, which includes "donations".
It does not say, "You cannot accept donations from anyone as long as you
use CircleMUD," as you misconstruing it. It says, "You cannot make money
from CircleMUD." Whether the money comes in the form of donation or not
is irrelevant, however, because that's the primary abuse against DIKUMUD
(aside from credits), that specific situation was covered.
--
Daniel Koepke -:- dkoepke@california.com -:- [Shadowlord/Nether]
Think.
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