…So now it's all about Samson? You updated the FUSS releases a couple weeks ago. I had to -fix- file repository moderators just so you could approve your own updates. Also, Samson never originally request FUSS be removed. I have the original request for removal :).

In light of the evidence provided by Davion here, and more privately. This whole situation needs to reviewed from an entirely new angle.

I would ask that people let the matter rest while I get to the bottom of things, and sort out what really happened with the initial request for removal.

Please bear with me, as I take this situation very seriously, and this new evidence casts serious doubts over this entire situation, and resulting aftermath.

I have been in contact with both Davion and Kiasyn, and a solution to this situation will be worked out, and further information will be provided when everything has been sorted out between us.

I received a request to remove the SmaugFUSS derivative I released several hours ago on my site. I've complied with that request.

Interesting indeed.

In the interest of keeping this issue clear and transparent, since it clearly affects all of us fairly closely, who requested that the derivative be removed?

That's true. If it doesn't, then everyone needs to stop distributing it.

But it does, because they implicitly tell you that it's okay. There's no need to say "YOU CANNOT CHARGE MONEY FOR GIVING THIS AWAY" if people aren't allowed to give it away in the first place. As long as we put on our strict logical thinking hats, we see that in order to be forbidden to charge money for distributing it, you must first be allowed to distribute it. Rather simple, I thought.

I did, twenty lines of code of an anonymous snippet I published six years ago made it into the SmaugFUSS project, and hence as a shared copyright holder I requested the removal. j/k

I asked Tyche to take it down until I can figure out exactly what went on.

I'll tell you.

So, I'm really into Beatles: Rock Band. Totally awesome game. My 6 year old
is into it too, we hammer those drums so mercilessly I had to replace the
heads! The pads were so worned out they'd just flap around. Good thing
I still had the heads from the first drum set we broke.*

We're *so* into it that I actually downloaded all the DLC songs online,
so that we had everything available.

Anyway, one day my boy comes home and says he wants me to download
"Hey Jude". I'm like, "We downloaded everything, man. I don't think
'Hey Jude' is DLC."

He insists. He says his friend Jimmy told him he has "Hey Jude" on
their B:RB. So I'm like "Ok, let's look." We turn on the ecks bocks,
cruise around the B:RB DLC content. I'm like "See? Puchased, purchased,
purchased. There's nothing else. Jimmy made it up."

He couldn't believe his eyes. It was like he was looking at a world where
up is down, black is white. Saddened by his expression of shock and
betrayal, I try to think of something I missed.

"Hey," I say, "Maybe Jimmy has a PS3 or something, and the DLC is
different! Let's go online and see." So we check Mr. Wiki…but no.
There's no DLC "Hey Jude". Period.

Y'know what fixed his disillusionment, though? We said "OH WELL!" and
got on the drums and played like crazy.

-Crat
http://lpmuds.net

*Ok, ok, that I broke

Alright. Well, Here we go.

This entire situation was built around a misrepresented truth. The fact of the matter is simple. My request for the removal of content was based around the assumption that Samson had requested that the FUSS Bases be removed, and that the administration here had simply chosen to ignore that part of the request.

The reality of the situation is that the FUSS Bases were never included in the initial request for removal, only code strictly authored by Samson, and the AFKMud directory.

Because of these new facts, and after discussing the issue with a friend who's in the business of dealing with legal sorts of things regularly. I've decided to rescind my revocation of their license to distribute the FUSS Bases. However, because of continued bad blood between the other copyright holder of the FUSS Bases and the Administration here, the act of MudBytes physically hosting copies of the bases will not be possible. Instead, we'll be working out some sort of way for MudBytes to link to the FUSS Bases in the repository in place of having the actual files. This avoids further conflict on the issue, and provides me with the added bonus of not having to update the code in multiple places, which is always a win. It also has the added benefit of allowing MudBytes to fall under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Digital Media Copyright Act with regards to the FUSS Bases. (Credit for this solution goes to Koron, just for the record.)

Another issue of discussion with aforementioned friend was his interpretation of the Diku License. Now, he deals with this sort of thing regularly in his chosen profession, and he informed me that it was not the first time he had seen a license of this type before. His take on the license is that while incredibly ambiguous about the rights granted, which admittedly could be due to the language and cultural barriers, does indeed grant the right to distribute, modify, and alter the Diku base provided all of the conditions in the license are adhered to. He stressed several times that the ambiguous nature of the license puts the entire issue on unstable grounds from a legal standpoint. This said, I withdraw my assertions that the Diku license does not grant distribution rights based on his council (and a wonderful pasta dinner, I might add…). The one thing he did recommend on the issue though, was to attempt to contact the original authors or the University of Copenhagen and see about getting some additional information on the nature of the agreement between the authors and the school.

A lot of heated words were exchanged in the process of this entire misguided situation, and I sincerely hope that we can move past this unsightly sore, learn from the mistakes made here, and avoid messes like this in the future. I'd also like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone which might have been offended/hurt by my words, as that was not my intention, merely a side effect of my inability to adequately control myself in an emotionally charged situation.

As an aside, Thank you Crat, for that wonderfully enlightening story about your obsession with a video game. It was.. Uh.. Nevermind.

Good.

Back to the gaming!

Yes and no.

For physical media, the answer is no. There's no copying going on, and is governed under laws of sales identical to those of, say, carpets. For distribution of electronic media via download, the answer is yes. The copyright holder must indeed grant them a licence in order to do so.

I'm glad you worked it out. I've rereleased my SmaugFUSS derivative.

Again, no. The answer is no and no because EULA has nothing to do with distribution. EULA governs where you can install the program and how you can use it. Largely it covers things like, "Don't reverse engineer this," and, "Don't bitch if you break your system using this in a way we didn't indend." Certainly, official distributors like Amazon and your average retail store have to agree to distribution licensing, but that is not what the EULA is all about. There will be overlap, but it's still a different legal construct.