PK vs ARC - Thom Henderson Speaks
Tom Betz
Thom Henderson posted this statement on Magpie HQ (212) 420-0527.
I thought that folks here might be interested in it as well.
A little more information amidst all the noise...
------------------------- cut here --------------------------
From THOM HENDERSON Msg #25928 *COMPUTERS* (Rcvd)
To STEVE MANES Wed Sep 14, 1988 4:51am (0:19)
-----------------------------------------------------------
SEA Policy Statement on ARC Trademark and Copyrights
Many of our users have expressed concern regarding use of the ARC trademark
and copyrights. To better meet their needs we have formulated this Statement
of Policy, effective as of September 13, 1988. This policy applies to anyone
who does not already have an agreement with us.
In the interest of serving the needs of the bulletin board community and
supporting the shareware concept, we pledge to:
o Maintain the ARC file format as a stable industry standard.
o Continue to upgrade ARC for speed and efficiency.
o Continue to distribute ARC as a shareware product, and continue to
allow for its free non-commercial use.
Futhermore, we pledge to foster the ingenuity and creativity of our fellow
shareware authors, whom we are happy to support in virtually every manner.
ARC
To protect the rights of our shareware licensees, ARC may be freely copied and
distributed subject to the following conditions:
1) No fee may be charged for such copying and distribution.
2) ARC may only be distributed in its original, unmodified state.
3) ARC may not be distributed, in whole or in part, as part of any
commercial product or service without the express written
permission of SEA.
4) ARC may be made available for download by pay bulletin boards and
similar commercial services provided that no additional fee is
charged specifically for downloading ARC.
ARC TRADEMARK
Use of the ARC trademark may be licensed subject to the following terms:
1) Any use of the ARC trademark means that the product is SHAREWARE.
We need a fully functional copy of the latest version with
documentation to make available on our BBS for general download.
2) Your product must be compatible with the current version of ARC
from SEA, and must be of an acceptable level of quality and
workmanship.
3) We must have your name and address so that we can keep you
informed on any changes to ARC.
4) As the legal owner of the ARC trademark, we are bound by US
trademark laws to protect and maintain the integrity of ARC in any
program that uses the ARC trademark . To comply with this, we
must ask for fully commented source code. We will keep your
source code completely confidential if you so desire, and we will
not make use of any of your source code in any of our products
without your express, written permission.
ARC SOURCE CODE
The ARC program sources have always been available for informational purposes.
They may be used freely in the creation of shareware utilities that examine
the contents of an ARC format archive. Any other use of the ARC source code
is subject to the following terms and conditions:
1) Your product must be SHAREWARE. We need a fully functional copy
of the latest version with documentation to make available on our
BBS for general download.
2) The first $100,000 worth of revenues is yours to keep. We want
6.5% of any revenue above that in return for the use of our code.
3) For the protection of our users, your product may not produce ARC
format archives which are incompatiable with our current version
of ARC.
ARC FILE FORMAT
1) We hereby grant to the entire world and all sentient creatures in
the universe who do not already have an agreement with us to the
contrary a perpetual, unlimited, galaxy wide license to read,
extract, create, or otherwise manipulate ARC format archives.
This does not include any license to use our sources or
trademarks.
2) If you make any changes to the format such that your file is not
compatible with the current version of ARC, then the result may
not be referred to as an ARC format Archive.
We feel that this Policy Statement is a fair and workable answer to all
concerned with ARC format archives, developers and users alike. If any
developer is unable to comply with these terms, please contact us at (201)
473-5153 to discuss alternative arrangements.
---------------------------- cut here ------------------------------
Now, the most interesting part of this (to me) is the following,
emphasis mine:
1) We hereby grant to the entire world and all sentient creatures in
the universe WHO DO NOT ALREADY HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH US TO THE
CONTRARY a perpetual, unlimited, galaxy wide license to read,
extract, create, or otherwise manipulate ARC format archives.
This does not include any license to use our sources or
trademarks.
This seems to me to mean, considering what has already been posted here,
that everyone in the known universe EXCEPT Phil Katz is permitted to write
and use any program that manipulates SEA-ARC-format files. This would
seem also to mean that he may not write and distribute a program that
converts SEA-ARC-format files to whatever his new file format may be, and
he and he alone in the universe is singularly so excluded!
Wow!! Talk about spite... I hope I'm wrong in this reading. Any legal
eagles who have read what has gone before who can confirm/deny this?
Could this kind of exclusion hold up in court?
I'm continuing to ask Thom for clarification in other matters (having
presented him with what has gone before here, which he seems not to have
seen until this morning) and will pass along whatever he tells us.
--
"But Mister Swann, this is for ladies!!!" |Tom Betz
<zzzzzzzzZIP!> |ZCNY, Yonkers, NY 10701-2509
"So is this, marm, but every so often |UUCP: tb...@dasys1.UUCP or
I must run a little water through it." | ...!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!tbetz
James Deibele
>In the process of trying to sort out the SEA vs. PK situation,
>Thom Henderson posted this statement on Magpie HQ (212) 420-0527.
There is an active "boycott SEA" movement both on usenet and FidoNet <tm>,
which undoubtedly cost SEA money and will cost them more in the future.
SEA spent $40,000 in legal costs laying the groundwork to take PKware to
court, money which they might have lost. SEA offered to license PKware for
"non-commercial" (i.e. shareware), but PKware turned it down. If you were
being called an asshole across the world, wouldn't you feel spite towards
the people that lead to that? Particularly if you were right?
The complete text of the communication between PKware and SEA that was filed
in the appropriate court was typed in by someone who favored PKware. After
reading the letters between attorneys, I favor SEA. And that, boys and girls,
is why we have courts. It's interesting to me that PKware was able to cough
up $62,500 ($40,000 in legal fees, $22,500 in damages) to pay to SEA to settle
the case out of court. The text is available upon request, if there's enough
interest, I'll post (it probably runs 20K or more).
--
James S. Deibele jamesd@qiclab or jamesd@percival
TECHBooks: The Computer Book Specialists (800) TECH-BKS
3646 SE Division Portland, OR 97202 (503) 238-1005
TECHBooks One BBS (#1:105/4.0); 3/12/24 (503) 760-1473
Robert Lee Bailey
Yes, please post the documents!
Gregory Martin Amaya Tormo
You may want to direct your attention to COMP.ORG.FIDONET in two
weeks for a special dedicated FIDONEWS issue on the PKWARE/SEA situation.
Articles from both P.K. and T.H. will be in it, as well as any and all
submissions to the FIDONEWS editor. If you write an article in standard
text and either post it to FIDONEWS via fido (ask your sysop how), or post
it to COMP.ORG.FIDONET with the request to Tim Pozar that it be forwarded to
FIDONEWS, I am sure he would not mind (I have not asked him). We should bear
in mind that both sides have good points in some areas, and that both have
made mistakes in other areas. My personal opinion is that we should develope
translational programs (not based on any copyrighted source) between PKPAK,
ARC, and ZOO.
David Deitch
Bob_BobR...@cup.portal.com
>interest, I'll post (it probably runs 20K or more).
influence the course of other "shareware" situations in the future...
BobR
Tim Pozar
>
> You may want to direct your attention to COMP.ORG.FIDONET in two
>weeks for a special dedicated FIDONEWS issue on the PKWARE/SEA situation.
>Articles from both P.K. and T.H. will be in it, as well as any and all
>submissions to the FIDONEWS editor. If you write an article in standard
>text and either post it to FIDONEWS via fido (ask your sysop how), or post
>it to COMP.ORG.FIDONET with the request to Tim Pozar that it be forwarded to
>FIDONEWS, I am sure he would not mind (I have not asked him).
I would be happy to. Feel free to submit any opinions on
this or any Fido or Computer (or for that matter, any thing
else) topics.
Tim
--
...sun!hoptoad!\ Tim Pozar
>fidogate!pozar Fido: 1:125/406
...lll-winken!/ PaBell: (415) 788-3904
USNail: KKSF / 77 Maiden Lane / San Francisco CA 94108
Frotz
>ARC, and ZOO.
>
> David Deitch
It seems to me that the Rahul's ATOZ program model is the one to think
about. (Thanks for thinking of this Rahul!) ATOZ supports moving any
foriegn archive into zoo archive format. Those who feel that zoo is not
the best archiver (personal bias showing through here;-) should request
that the archive author of choice create a utility to make archive porting
easier on the rest of the world.
I am not suggesting that you should bother Rahul about source to ATOZ (not
sure it's available). I am suggesting that you email Phil Katz, Tom Henderson,
and all of the others about creating a similar utility.
#include <std_disclaimer.h> /* "I'm just a zoo fanatic!" */
--Frotz @Digital Research, Incorporated amdahl!drivax!frotz
70 Garden Court, B15 (408) 649-3896
Monterey, California 93940 Ask for John Fa'atuai