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Dulan, I realize that you're not big on reasoning vs. flaming, but it's only insulting if you consider using IP you don't have permission to use wrong. I'm not addressing that question as I have come to recognize that there are a plethora of legitimate different opinions on the validity of the very idea of intellectual property to begin with. If you notice, I have not condemned the use of other people's IP on this thread. I don't care, as long as it doesn't involve any of Iron Realms' IP or any of Feist's IP. I, personally, would take immediate action against someone using IP I own or control without permission, but that's my choice and certainly not an imperative.
I was merely pointing out that Molly should clean her own house before acting like Medievia is doing something she's not. Brody, you'll notice, isn't slighting Medievia. (and my god, name-calling is so juvenile. "Mercthievia." Grow up.)
I understand the arguments about fan fiction, etc, but from my own POV, it doesn't matter whether someone is making money off the IP or not. I think you could also look at it from the perspective of the value of the IP being taken. The DIKU IP has very little value. Even the owners don't care enough to make an effort to protect it. If someone wants to steal a rock out of my front yard and somehow turn around and make some money out of it, I don't really care. It doesn't hurt me, except perhaps my ego. On the other hand, if someone steals my car, which has a lot of value, I'm going to be quite upset. Yes, of course these analogies (like all analogies) are not perfect. Someone using someone's IP doesn't prevent the owner from also using it, unlike stealing a car.
At the end of the day, the DIKU owners have sent a very clear message that the IP isn't worth enough to bother protecting. Lucas has sent a similar message, though probably more along the lines of, "As long as they gain no public profile they can't really damage the brand very much, so who cares." If Brody's star wars MUD became super-popular, with a couple thousand people online, you can bet Lucas would take note, regardless of whether it's non-commercial "fan fiction" or not. (And as we've already pointed out, Lucas already prohibits the use of his IP except in a private, non-commercial venue, so there's no question that MUDs using his IP are in violation of the Lucas license. Whether violating licenses is a big deal is another question.)
I don't really expect those of you who use terms like "Mercthievia" to read this with anything approaching an open mind though, as you're on a crusade and any other point of view is heresy that must be crushed. I'm willing to look at Medievia as a mud that entertains a LOT of people. I don't like seeing them ostracized, because they clearly have a fair amount of knowledge and skill at running a MUD. (and let's face it, the code, which has, no doubt, been hugely altered by now, does not make the MUD. A MUD is as much about the service you provide as the code you have. That's why the Ultima Online emulators never even approached a fraction of the playerbase of the commercial service.)
--matt
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