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This is unfortunate for the mudding community and, IMO, short sighted on the part of the author.
It's unfortunate for the mudding community because the author's works will be limited to IRE's interpretation and implementation. I'm not saying the product will be inferior, but now the imagination and innovation applied to these works by third-parties will never be realized.
It's short-sighted of the author because, let's face it, the revenue stream generated by this text-mud enterprise isn't going to be significant - it's a niche market of a niche market of a niche market. Personally, I think it makes far more business sense to get broader exposure for his works through as many mud's as possible with the reasonable expectation that the exposure will translate in more sales of his publications.
The author need not forgoe his rights in doing so, simply by requiring and ensuring mud implementors have his permission. This is actually to his benefit as he can maintain some degree of quality control to protect his "brand".
Just my thoughts on this type of exclusive licensing.
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