Re: New Apple II SuperSite Online

[smentzer@pacbell.net (Steve Mentzer)]

>
>The story goes back several years.  But it essentially started with Dr. Tom
>doing some sector editing to make someone else's work out as his own.  A lot 
of
>developers were extremely offended by that, and even though Dr. Tom has been
>pretty much on the up and up in recent times, they haven't forgotten it.  Nor 
I
>doubt they will ever forgive him for it, or anyone who associates themselves
>with him.
>


I agree that Tom pulled off some pretty shady deals in the past. I think Tom 
will even admit to that. But the fact is that he has been rather helpful over 
the last couple of years (at least as long as nathan has been gone).

The anti-Tom zealots have *some* right to be upset. But they have no right to 
demonize people who they "feel" have wronged them in some way.

I am a perfect example of this. There was a time when I got sick of the CSA2 
flamewars, and decided to spoof on Nathan & Joe. I set up a simple FTP site (on 
a 28.8k modem) running on a newly created earthlink account, using dynamic-ip 
redirection.

Not owning an Apple II at that point (and having no software to provide), I put 
a copy of the Quake II demo, some apple II disk images. *someone* (anonymous 
FTP) placed a couple of "inappropriate" titles on the site. Namely, some stuff 
that brutal deluxe had developed. I cannot remember the actual title in 
question.

Wanting to "stir the pot", i posted the address of this "pirate" FTP site on 
CSA2 and proceeded to watch Joe, Nathan and earthlink security log on. 
Earthlink quickly shut down my account.

The whole FTP site was up for less than a day. Nothing was stolen (I have the 
logs to prove it), and I had no way of knowing that any commercial software was 
being distributed (I had no Apple II at that point).

On CSA2, there were posts of "Steve Mentzer Is A Pirate Scumbag" etc etc etc. 
The whole thing was a joke. The posts didn't bother me.

But to this day, Brutal Deluxe still references me in a web page dedicated to 
Dr.Tom, insisting that I am an unrepentant pirate. This is clearly in 
contradiction with my views regarding the downloading and use of 
non-commercially-available titles.

Some of the factions will go to any length to demonize people, for doing little 
or nothing wrong :(

That is why they have no credibility with me. If they chose to make me (the 
perpetrator of a bad joke) such an example of illegal action, what are they 
going to do to someone else? You could be next, if you don't do exactly as they 
say.


>That aside, regarding your file libraries, the issue within this group has
>generally been divided into two camps.  One camp is of the opinion that
>anything that's not in production is fair game and should be available to
>anyone until the copyright holder says to pull it.  The other one's opinion is
>that nothing should be posted until the author or copyright holder gives
>permission first.
>
>Both groups are committed (in their own way) to keeping the Apple II alive and
>.  The difference is the first group doesn't really care how they do it (or 
who
>they step on), and the latter group cares enough (and patient enough) to take
>all the proper steps first.
>


This is not a black-and-white issue. If it was, there would be a billion 
lawsuits flying around as we speak. The bottom line is that there are two 
camps. Both sides have some good points....

However, my belief is that the downloading and use of 
non-commercially-available titles should be permitted, unless the copyright
holder objects.

To expect people to track down the copyright holders (which is nearly 
impossible at times) and persuade them to relinquish their legal rights to the 
software is simply unrealistic.

Often times, corporations with legal teams are involved. In addition, these 
large companies often don't even recall the fact that they own the copyrights 
to these titles. In the off chance that you do locate the copyright holder, and 
you establish dialog with a legal team, what is the likeliehood that they will 
actually take the time (which equals $$$) to release a title to the public that 
they will not make any money from. It isn't going to happen. And this has been 
proven over and over.

So, yes. There are two camps. Like I said, both sides have merit in their 
views.

However, I believe in the preservation of the vast wealth of knowledge that the 
classic Apple II/IIgs software titles provide. I don't want to see disk images 
go into the bit bucket, to be lost forever becuase a few folks with rather 
altruistic views decided to follow a pragmatic (and destructive) path of 
exclusion regarding Apple II software..

I agree that my view isn't 100% legal or "moral". But I see a bigger picture 
here. It isn't about piracy. It is about the preservation of knowledge and 
history. Hell, I don't even play choplifter or Wizardry or Bards Tale or Aztec. 

Then why do I spend so much effort defending our rights to obtain them? Makes 
you wonder...

Just my 2 cents...











>The question to ask is which camp do you want to be in?
>
>