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That's largely because this thread touches on "What is proper?", as opposed to "What can I get away with?" Once that comes into play, the whole thread might as well be written in Swahili as far as the_logos is concerned. He's basically Unfrozen Caveman Ethical Expert. The ways of your people confuse and frighten him.
So yes, the_logos, one could probably pay a lawyer or three, create enough paperwork to overwhelm the desire of the original DIKU team to defend their creation from it all (in a foreign country, even), and browbeat one's way into getting what one wants. Some lawyers base their careers on this sort of thing. It's legal to do so.
Nonetheless, I'll stick with Plan B: The people who created the codebase requested that it be handled a certain way, and since I benefit from it (admittedly in a very tortuous and distant way), I'm willing to respect those wishes.
If I thought of MUDing as my job and not as my hobby, I'd take the time to write my own codebase and profit from it, rather than weasel someone else's away from them. I'm also pleased that the TMS staff and the other members of the MUD community act responsibly and actively discourage people from that sort of weaseling. The MUD community as a whole benefits when independent coders feel comfortable releasing their creations, and that benefit disappears when you encourage people to violate their intent.
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