[locke]

I imagine your Texas accent "Da signawl is bein' sent lawd and cler" -- this is not at all like the case of Medievia and Vryce. Medievia was "60% original", NiMUD is probably around 90% original. Also, you forget that Diku did borrow its ideas from TSR and Infocom, and the Bartle MUD. There was a rumor that it was built from talker, but that was just a rumor. No one lives in true isolation. Also, NiMUD is not being charged for. So, it's not at all the same or similar.

Also, I have never seen a single court document requiring Vryce to do anything. Does anyone know where that is? All I've seen is anecdotal evidence that there even was a problem. Granted, I know it curled some toes, but, years later, does that perspective really hold true today? At the time, though, I had heard there was a court case. Was that a rumor or is there really an official judgement about that?

Regardless, if it happened or not (and I tend to believe it did) it's not exactly relevant. That case occurred a long time ago and would have happened on a lower level, so there is little doubt it is not in the current "zeitgeist" of caselaw. Anyway, it certainly wasn't something that I felt I was repeating.