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Old 06-07-2005, 06:02 AM   #101
Soleil
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Nah, I didn't answer your question, as I explained earlier, because that would be Vryce's decision to make. Since I am not Vryce, I cannot answer for him. Despite the fact that he is my husband, we do not share the same mind, and sometimes not even the same opinions on things. Did you bother to email him to ask his opinion? Probably not.

In addition, I didn't answer because every single thing I (or anyone else for that matter) writes on this forum can and most likely will be used against me somewhere down the road. I don't want to state something now and come back to bite me in the butt later if something of this nature would come to light again.
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Old 06-07-2005, 09:18 AM   #102
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The most amusing thing about this is that the people who are so indignant about an alleged misconduct on the part of Medievia are not the people who are the supposed victims. Rather it is a random scattering of people who take every post with the word "Medievia" as flamebait no matter how intelligently written it is, or what it may have to contribute.
The bottom line is this. Until the issue is decided in a court of law (and according to the Diku team they don't care enough to cough up the money for that), any speculation here is just that, speculation.
I don't know about in other countries, but in the U.S. no forum can convict. No evidence posted on the Web out of context can be used as evidence in a proceeding.
Try to enjoy the boards people. Be civil and polite. Most people prefer to read posts that have intelligent dialog not nasty insult after insult after insult based on hearsay and snippets.
Everyone who posts here obviously has a lot to contribute to the community. The flames and those who are posting them are obvious to everyone no matter what side of the Medievia argument you come down on.  It's the same few people over and over again.
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Old 06-07-2005, 10:13 AM   #103
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No, the only amusing thing (in a rather sad way) is the number people who are under the false belief that those who violate other people's mud licences don't affect them personally.

Ever tried dealing with people who remove the credits from their mud who, when cornered, give the excuse "If Medievia can do it, why can't I"? I have - many times.

Ever spoken to other mud developers who are working on really amazing projects, but they tell you they've no plans to ever release their work "because of muds like Medievia"? I have - many times.

Ever played a Diku3 derivative? Do you know why not?
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Old 06-07-2005, 12:42 PM   #104
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Quote from Jeena:
"The bottom line is this. Until the issue is decided in a court of law (and according to the Diku team they don't care enough to cough up the money for that), any speculation here is just that, speculation. "

Do you even know who or what "Diku" is?  FYI: Diku refers to a university in Denmark & the Diku code that was developed by their students & was released to the public to use for free, the only stipulations were: 1. Give the Diku developers credit, & 2. Do not charge money to play the game (which includes pay for perks).  Now that university, who owns the rights, doesn't have the funds to pursue legal action in the US vs Medievia, which Medievia counts on, else they would probably lose if forced to show their code in court.  What did happen was the original Diku developers now refuse to release any future code versions due to the Medievia theft, which is what KaVir is referring to when he says "have you ever played a Diku3 derivative?"

By the way Jeena, try doing a little research before posting that there is no evidence...
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Old 06-07-2005, 02:18 PM   #105
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Well, it's Medievia IV code, as confirmed by signed statements by Michael A. Krause (Vryce):




Code comparisons prove that Medievia IV is a derivative work, created by starting with DIKU code and modifying it significantly.  (No one has claimed that Medievia V was written from scratch, or by any method other than being developed by modifying Medievia IV code.)  This makes it also a derivative work.  See the following link for the definition of a derivative work under US law:



A number of code comparisons are available here, with statistics accompanying them:



One I found particularly amusing was this comparison of a simple file:



Exactly the same, except Medievia took the time to rip out the author's names and put their own in.

How do you explain this, Soleil?
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Old 06-07-2005, 02:27 PM   #106
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Old 06-07-2005, 02:57 PM   #107
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Apparently you haven't done your own research. If you remember a while back, The_Logos posted a thread on suing Medievia. I don't have the time to search for that thread, but he basically stated that the DIKU license didn't specifically bar people from collecting revenue on it. In essence, it was a very poorly written license.

So if they were to go to court over it, then the DIKU team and the university might not necessarily prevail.

By the way, a university not having the money to pursue legal action in the U.S. is absolute hogwash.
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Old 06-07-2005, 03:30 PM   #108
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Frankly, Vryce isn't the one polluting what used to be one of my favorite discussion sites. His past actions speak for themselves - I really can't be arsed to waste any of my time on someone like that when I don't have to.

What, rip off any other university projects lately?

And in case you're feeling slightly abused that nobody seems to be taking your word for anything, well - that's the cost of selling your integrity, I guess.
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Old 06-07-2005, 04:53 PM   #109
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No offence, but you don't seem to understand anarchism. Anarchists are not opposed to society. Anarchists are not morons running around in masks on throwing rocks at windows. Those are just morons. Anarchists simply believe that the initiation of force or the threat of force is morally wrong. I agree with them.

I don't believe that the validity of ethical or moral matters has anything to do with agreeing with the majority. Being part of the majority doesn't make you any more or less Right.

Anyway, you do realize much of the world pretty clearly doesn't respect intellectual property at all. Much of Asia, for instance, where in some places 90%+ of all software is pirated, 90%+ of all DVDs are pirated, etc.

--matt
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Old 06-07-2005, 04:58 PM   #110
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Whoops, I had written this post before realizing PinkFloyd said everything I wanted to say. Deleted!

--matt
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Old 06-07-2005, 05:18 PM   #111
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But it's not, really.

It's pretty obvious to anyone with a decent knowledge of code who's seen some of the code in question (I believe the links are elsewhere on this page) that Medevia is a DIKU derivative. This isn't an opinion.

Whether or not the DIKU license holds up in court, it clearly communicates the intent of the DIKUMUD team in this regard. They had fairly generous intentions about how their work was used, and these intentions were not respected.

Whether or not any of this stood up in court, Vryce (and anyone associated with Med as accomplices) did something wrong and aren't willing to admit to it.

Saying that people can't judge those actions as wrong and react based on them unless a court makes a judgement is like saying if you molest my sister I'm not allowed to shun you and generally treat you like trash unless you get convicted for it.
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Old 06-07-2005, 05:22 PM   #112
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Although you should really keep in mind that what Medievia did/is doing really isn't on the level of sexual molestation.
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Old 06-07-2005, 05:34 PM   #113
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from PinkFloyd:
"Apparently you haven't done your own research.  If you remember a while back, The_Logos posted a thread on suing Medievia.  I don't have the time to search for that thread, but he basically stated that the DIKU license didn't specifically bar people from collecting revenue on it.  In essence, it was a very poorly written license."

Sorry, but the day I take The_Logos word on anything re Medievia & code theft is the same day winged monkeys start flyin' out of my butt!!
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Old 06-07-2005, 06:46 PM   #114
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Wait, this sounds familiar. Some malicious coder illegally stealing the codebase of Medievia. No, don't tell me. I have this strong sense of deja-vu...didn't the coder start his own game with it?
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Old 06-07-2005, 07:13 PM   #115
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I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that you previously misunderstood those links, because anyone who did understand their content would logically conclude that Medievia is a DIKU derivative, as per US law as cited.

Elsewhere on these boards you have claimed that Medievia was not a derviative because you've made many changes to the DIKU codebase, but the definition clearly shows that such a claim is insufficient, and that you are still a DIKU derivative and subject to their license. Also, that you owe the authors public recognition via the 'credits' command (as required by the license you are thusly bound by), and should cease referring to Medievia's code as an original work.

Are you willing to publically concede that you and your husband are guilty of plagiarism, Soleil? (You may not feel it's very important, but owning up to that much would be a nice start.) If not, could you explain how what you are doing is not plagiarism?
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Old 06-07-2005, 07:33 PM   #116
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Odd that you clearly haven't read the license yet are castigating other people for not doing their research.

--matt
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Old 06-07-2005, 08:40 PM   #117
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You know, honestly, unless someone from the DIKU team (or the school for that matter) signs a Power of Attorney to a local US resident to take up the matter of the license and operating breech against Medievia, their actions are going to continue.

If you want to make a case about it, everyone here should contact the DIKU team or even perhaps the College (), see about what it takes for getting a Power of Attorney letter or statement and finally finding a US lawyer to take up the matter.

-- Michael
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Old 06-07-2005, 11:26 PM   #118
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While, in the past I have been vocal against my ire for Med. I want to make a couple of comments.

The DIKU Group set a precedent when they decided to Initiate a Lawsuit against SOE, over Everquest. It seems that they are more then happy to relinquish legal rights to a lawsuit, with simple sworn statements stating that it's not based on the code. It's no longer an issue of whether the DIKU creators have the money to sue. They no longer have the will to deal with the community. Do a simple google search for any of them. Most of them have moved on to far greater things.

There are many gauges of character in this community. And there are many people who have upheld and encouraged an ethical code to the community. As these people left the community (Many taking the hobby to the next step and becoming professional) the Hobbyist were left behind. There was a time, when unsolicited contribution of thoughts and ideas, self policing, add proven ability were the gauges. (MUD-DEV)

Raph Koster, Richard Bartle, and Jessica Mulligan just to name a few. Yui and Eiz, have pointed out that part of their decision over at Mudlab was Signal to Noise ratios. Not to speak for them, but it's that concept that contribution is the core to the community, and when members do not contribute selfishlessly, but take from the community they cause harm. It Angers people. No one on either side has extended an olive branch that the other is willing to consider. And they refuse to budge until the otherside does.

Meh, those are just my attempts to insert my opinions in a way that attempts to be non-accusatory to either side.

This is not meant as a dig, but as a serious question:

Soliel, if you are not able to or willing to explain certain actions (that have or could have happened) that your company may take in regards to Stolen Code (Whether you stole code, or someone stole your code), why when I follow the link to the How Med got started, it directs us to email you if we have questions regarding the issues on the page? Which are obviously meant to try and clarify the companies stance on the issues? And why does Vryce continue his silence? If you say he is willing to clarify facts, I'm sure he could see the benefit in stepping foward and being pro-active.
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Old 06-08-2005, 01:55 AM   #119
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I realize this. However, that point is a bit of a red herring here: this debate is not about the moral propriety of intellectual property. It's about the propriety of theft and misrepresentation. Simply because some societies don't recognize ownership of intellectual property, or even any ownership at all, does not invalidate or lessen the moral impropriety of theft in those, like ours, that do.

The simple fact is, we live in a society that recognizes private ownership of private property. The evidence is overwhelming that Soleil and Vryce have committed theft, or at the very least systemic and long-standing misrepresentation, and have profited from these doings.

I am getting the impression that we're really in agreement, save when it comes to the threshold issue of being convinced that the theft actually took place - based on the evidence I've seen I'm quite convinced (the code that underwent the code audit may have been obtained illegally, but Vryce issued a signed statement under penalty of perjury claiming that it was indeed Medievia IV code in order to effect the takedown). You're certainly free to be a bit more skeptical - but you aren't actually arguing that if they did what they're accused of they haven't done anything wrong, are you?
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Old 06-08-2005, 07:22 AM   #120
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Ok, let me try and answer as much in this post as possible.  This thread is way too long as it is, so this will most likely be my last post in it.

No, and no.  As I stated earlier many many times now, this is Vryce's "thing" so to speak.  Yes I stand by him in his decisions and his stance, but no I will not speak for him.  I've provided the link to our webpage that explains his stance, and I've provided his email address to which you can write.  I doubt anyone has or will.

They simply don't care.  They've told Vryce that many times, even back in 1992 when he sent them many fixes to their code and they told him they didn't care to have them.

He doesn't visit these forums, nor does he care to.  He is much too busy developing and running the game.  He knows I visit here frequently and usually doesn't understand why I even take part.  If you were to email him, you would get a response.  Most likely not something you want to read or that you will like reading, but he simply does not have the time to spend on the forums.  He does not care about being pro-active.  Medievia is successful, it will continue to be successful, despite the handful of people on this forum who would like it to be otherwise.  He does not feel he needs to answer to the audience of this forum.  If you want a response from him, email him.  Enough said about that.

As for me... I like this forum, I visit it regularly just like all of you do.  I like reading the posts and responding and defending Medievia.  I like the ever-continuing race for votes.  However, unfortunately, I don't always have the knowledge to answer your questions without getting myself in over my head.  I've explained to you all over and over that I cannot answer your questions as I am not Vryce.  You may see that as weak or playing hard to get, but that's the way it is.  I do not want to speak out of my realm of experience.

Everyone that is involved in the "Mudworld" so to speak plays their part in the game.  The players of our games play the games, the gods/imps play the roles of running, developing and managing the games and some of the head imps play the game of competition against other MUDs and acquiring new players.  I love my part in the world of Medievia.  I love being the marketing director and getting our game new players.  I love speaking to new players on the game and finding out their backgrounds in gaming/MUDs.  More and more they are coming to Medievia from topmudsites, despite all the negativity surrounding the game.  So, I think I lost my point, but basically even though you all hound on Medievia and our background, I still love being a part of it all.

And, you can think and believe what you will about Medievia, Vryce, me, our integrity and so forth.  Nothing is going to change your feelings, ever.  Even if we were sued and DIKU won and you all got what you want, you would still hate Medievia.  Even if the DIKU team publically stated they don't care what we are doing, you would still hate Medievia.  We will always be the ugly duckling of the Mud world.  So be it.  I know who I am and you think you know who I am, but in the end the feelings of a few posters on an Internet forum are not going to ruin my life nor change the fact that there is much more to life than the beliefs of a handful of MUD admins posted on a MUD forum.

So, again, I'm sorry I couldnt answer your questions.  Hopefully you will take the time to write to Vryce if you are so interested in knowing his stance.
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