|
I see them - private e-mails reposted on KaVir's site. Not public statements on the Diku site.
What point is there in fighting for someone who, to the vast majority, doesn't seem to care at all (anymore)? At some point or another, Diku has to take an open and public stance. At least an endorsement of those of their most vocal advocates.
If the story of Matt contacting them and offering money for them to conduct a legal action is true, the sad part here is not whether they accepted or refused, but whether they bothered to even reply with Thanks but No.
I'd go even further - yes, the overall positive support the community has given the Diku team in helping protect their IP is certainly both deserved and owed (both to the Diku team and the community itself).
However, I think that the case of _any_ single derivative (starting with Merc and Godwars) which has been ripped off would be immensely helped by Diku deciding to speak up themselves. And on a certain level, the moral obligation the dikurative community has to also defend Diku's own IP also creates, in my eyes, a reciprocal moral obligation towards all of those who have spent countless years defending them.
And if nowadays they can't be bothered anymore, it would be at least decent of them to donate the original Diku code to public domain, so that the derivative coders who still feel enough motivation may finally efficiently defend their own copyrights, and not remain with tied hands because the original copyright isn't being defended by the IP holders.
'Nuff said.
|