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From: kjahds@kjahds.com (Kenneth Albanowski)
Subject: Re: Copyright question
Message-ID: <51c6fs$pfu@kjahds.com>
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References: <3236eb01.18181200@news.uni-linz.ac.at> <Pine.LNX.3.95.960911163739.11991B-100000@adamant.res.wpi.edu>
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 1996 17:43:24 GMT

In article <Pine.LNX.3.95.960911163739.11991B-100000@adamant.res.wpi.edu>,
George Caswell  <timbuktu@wpi.edu> wrote:
>On Wed, 11 Sep 1996, Werner Punz wrote:
>
>> Does anybody know about the copyright if you put any of the infocom
>> games on a web page and allows others to play them via an applet?
>> (This means of course you have a licence for the game).
[...]
>   I don't know if it would be acceptable to set up a system where
>unlicensed users (of the Infocom games) could run your copies of the
>games, even if you made sure they couldn't copy the files...  (like by
>making a SUID or SGID zip interpreter...)  According to the old licenses
>it's not--  your copy of the game is for the computer they sold it for,
>and for your eyes only.  (Meaning buying a commodore Infocom game and
>transferring the data file to IBM is against the terms of the software
>license--  you would have to play it on a commodore..  <g>)

If it were possible to do this without actually downloading the game, (say,
for example, that the interpreter was actually running on the remote
machine), then it becomes a "performance" of the work, which can be (and
usually is) restricted by the copyright.

As for the computer restriction, I'm pretty sure that is invalid. Once you
have the right to "view" the work, you have the right to view it in any way
you feel necessary.

-- 
Kenneth Albanowski (kjahds@kjahds.com)

