Re: A86: ROM Images (legal battle thread)

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Re: A86: ROM Images (legal battle thread)


At 04:39 AM 11/19/98 +0100, you wrote:
>You are putting profits ahead of principle.  You are saying that
>distributing the ROM image is OK as long as TI benefits from better games
>for their graphing calculators.  TI may like that, however its still
>illegal.  You can't justify breaking the law.  Is it OK to lie about sex
>under oath?  Hrmmmm....

No.  Again, you refuse to look at what I am replying to.  I am just
clarifying what the person said.  I am appealing both to principle and
profits.  It is just that this person seems to be aiming toward profits and
I am showing him that he agrees more with "programming research" rather
than what you said.  Also, I am keeping principle since I am NOT justifying
the breaking of the law.  I am using the copyright's exception to
distribution for "programming research" purposes.  This is perfectly legal
and doesn't break the law.

>-- 
>Bryan Rabeler <brabeler@ticalc.org>
>   File Archives, News, Features, and HTML
>   the ticalc.org project - http://www.ticalc.org/
>
>On Wed, 18 Nov 1998, Thomas J. Hruska wrote:
>
>> Seems like you agree more with me since you are either showing SCaBBy's
>> usage of "illegal" ROM images or you are supporting his usage of
>> "programming research."  It seems like you are supporting "programming
>> research" more since you say TI will not lose money because people are
>> encouraged to buy better calculators than the 30X if it doesn't bust their
>> budget.  In this example, you are saying that it is okay to use
>> "programming research" to port to cheaper platforms to encourage people to
>> buy that calculator.  However, such a port must be tested and you are
>> saying that copying ROM images to research the ported program for bugs is
>> legal.  I agree.  I like to take it one step further and say that the ROM
>> image role can be reversed and porting games for all platforms above the
>> user's ROM type, benefits those with larger budgets.  This too is perfectly
>> legal since you seem to support "programming research" as long as it
>> doesn't hurt TI's profits.
>> 
>> >Let's look at the programmer Matthew Shepcar (SCaBBy).  He only owns a
TI-86
>> >(at least as of the last time I talked to him).  Now, he wrote the awsome
>> >game Vertigo for the TI-86 and ported it to the 82, 83 and 85.  I would
>> >assume that he used an emualtor and a ROM he got from someone else to test
>> >it on these other calcualtors (or he could have borrowed them from someone
>> >else, which is essentially what copying the rom is, it is just much more
>> >convient [enough with the legal stuff about that, I know NO ONE uses their
>> >calc 24/7, you could conceivable share a calc to program like that]).
If he
>> >could not have gotten a ROM image, he would have had to buy the calcs.
But
>> >would he have?  Of course not, not for just programming a game (that would
>> >be distributed for free).  Therefore, TI did _NOT_ lose any money.
However,
>> >if someone saw me playing Vertigo on my 86 and I told them they could
get it
>> >for an 82 or 83 (which are $40 cheaper than a 86 which makes a big
>> >difference to some people and used by most math classes instead of the
86),
>> >then it might have convinced them to buy an 83 whereas they would have
>> >settled for a 30X or whatever.  So that made TI some money that they would
>> >have lost otherwise.
>> >
>> >As you can see, you can take either side from the above example.  It all
>> >depends on how you look at it.  I don't see why TI would care.  Having a
>> >copy of the ROM is not going to help a competing company to write a ROM
for
>> >a calcualtor (and if it was, they could simply dump it themselves).  No
one
>> >is going to use the emulator for a calculator instead of buying it (or if
>> >they were, then they wouldn't have bought it anyway, they would buy
>> >something like Derive or settle for the Windows Calculator [which,
>> >incidentally, is much quicker for hex, binary and decimal conversions than
>> >even the actual 86...not to mention how long it would take to use the
>> >emulator for it]).  It only helps programmers write games for the calc
that
>> >they otherwise wouldn't have.  And games sell calculators!


                 Thomas J. Hruska -- thruska@tir.com
Shining Light Productions -- "Meeting the needs of fellow programmers"
         http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/8504
                    http://shinelight.home.ml.org
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