On Mon, 8 Jan 2001, Seyne wrote: > Is it a moral or a legal issue? Both. > CircleMUD itself, I know, is copyrighted. Everything is copyrighted unless you specifically and explicitly put it in the public domain. Putting a copyright notice on something does not make it copyrighted -- the thing is copyrighted as soon as you write it. > But what about the changes made? The new code belongs to the person that wrote it. It is, therefore, copyright to them, unless they explicitly give away those rights. > if you can access it, you can use it? No, of course not. That's the most ridiculous notion I've ever heard. Actually, and no offense, it's downright stupid. You could access my house through the window, especially if I leave it open. That does not make it legal for you to enter it and take anything from it. And it sure as hell doesn't make it moral. It might make me careless or thoughtless, but it still makes you a criminal. People, put a smidgen of thought into this. It's unqestionably immoral, and so whether or not it is legal should not even come under question. Stealing, which is what you are doing, someone else's hard work and putting it up as your own is wrong. Even if you give credit to the person, you're still doing it without their permission. In both cases, it's immoral. And, for that matter, in both cases, it's illegal. -dak -- +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | FAQ: http://qsilver.queensu.ca/~fletchra/Circle/list-faq.html | | Archives: http://post.queensu.ca/listserv/wwwarch/circle.html | +---------------------------------------------------------------+
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