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Old 05-31-2003, 12:30 AM   #28
the_logos
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Mill Valley, California
Posts: 2,305
the_logos will become famous soon enough
Yes, I don't believe the law deserves to be respected merely because it is the law. Laws that "protect" me from myself (anti-drug laws, seatbelt laws, laws against suicide, etc) I feel no compunction to uphold. Laws that involve harming others, I generally do (though I have little problem with vigilantism, for instance).

I'm firmly on the side of believing that infringing on someone else's copyright is wrong. I don't care if it's a mud codebase, Tolkien, or music, software or movies via Kazaa. I even sent a check to Microsoft once due to the fact that 2 years previously I had ripped them off with an illegal copy of Word.

The fact is, it would make me a complete hypocrite to feel or do otherwise (and happily I have no inclination to forgive that kind of behavior, so no danger there). Our players have created quite a few fansites, of course, and occasionally I've granted some of them the right to duplicate some of our help files or whatnot. But man does it **** me off when I find someone stealing our stuff without having gotten permission first. I don't care if they're doing it in homage. Common courtesy demands you obtain permission first, if nothing else. If you can't, shrug, don't do it. You have no right to it.

--matt
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