Sebastian, I don't think you understand the DMCA or my argument that embed does not violate it. I suggest reading the law (http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/17usc1201.htm) and making your argument in terms of that. For example, you say that manually changing these flags would be legal, but the very act of circumvention is in fact illegal, just as trafficking in circumvention devices is. The DMCA is a dumb law, but spreading misinformation about it makes the situation even worse.
My best argument that embed is not a circumvention device (other than the ones about embedding bits not being real "technological measures", which I think are pretty strong) is that circumvention only occurs when it is done without the authority of the copyright holder. Since embed was primarily designed for the purpose of changing MY OWN fonts, that is clearly done with the authority of the copyright owner, and since this problem is more widespread than merely my own fonts (due in part to a bug in some versions of Fontographer), there exists a substantial non-infringing use. Such devices are not circumvention devices under the DMCA.
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On the contrary, I'm looking forward to more levels from you, K! |
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Anon: Yes, but I think you mean "trademark."
Andrew: I'd recommend flash, since you don't need to do hardly any graphics programming, but then again, you have to program in actionscript. |
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"Tower of Goo" is pretty sweet. |
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i have an suggestion:
Do an block in the embed tool that dont allow embed changing on fonts you dont have created.
Then have some sort of an "authorization list", where people submits screenshots of their fonts when they are open in the font list, and if you admit that fonts with that tag is created by the person submitting, he is added to the authorization list. This authorization list is updated every month via internet.
This will make embed an legal tool, since it CANNOT then be used to violate copyrights. |
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Embed violates DMCA.
case:
Even renaming a copyrighted picture from .jpg to .gif, that is an copy protection. Making a tool that renames these files from .gif to .jpg it is an violation of DMCA.
No matter how simply the copy protection is to break. The copy protection has a legally power since it is an authorization flag.
And no matter how small a program is. It can be one character, and if it is able to circumvent the EASIEST copy protection, its illegal against DMCA.
But descrambling/decrypting/changing flags is not illegal if you do it manually. Because of that, Windows is not that type of tool, like the FontGrapher is not a violation of DMCA.
But embed is able to do it on hundreds of files in no time. Its serves an automatic tool to circumvent a copy protection, even if the copy protection is a "silly flag".
(Its like you are walking in to the door saying "staff only", even if the door is unlocked, you do something illegal when entering the staff room without authorization)
Its enough with an SIGN to have legal power in the real world.
But not in computer world. Its too many newbies out there that can break the law by a mistake. So the DMCA has stated that it must be some sort of protection. An "embed flag" is an protection, since the windows and MS-word is reading that flag like it was an sign, and prohibits automatic copying preformed when saving a .doc file.
(the copy flag is like an sign: "COPYING FORBIDDEN?" YES/NO)
If the sign says "YES" (an one) its illegal to make a tool that is able to change the sign's text to "NO".) |
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I saw some kind of "24-hour game contest", too. I'd be vaguely interested in kicking out a small game like this (not in a competition, just on my own), but I have 0 graphics knowledge. So oh well. |
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Would you mind if I file copyrights on your four examples above. Might bring in some extra cash while our language and culture crum
b
l
e. |
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Andrew: Yes, this is sweet. I think these guys are pretty slow, though. 7 days? Gimme a break.
Jason and Adam and I want to throw a "weekend game programming competition" some time soon, the main obstacle is that we want to rig the rules so that we can enter it too. ;) |
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No, of course it's not a big deal, but I gotta find something to post about, right? I just love to get fired up about little things. |
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Have you seen this "Experimental Gameplay Project" some people at CMU in the ETC are doing? It seems like it would be right up your alley.
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051026/gabler_01.shtml |
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It's very unfortunate that the dollar sign looks like an S.
I don't think it's a big deal, though. A style argument could be made. The letters in your font sample reflect the name; "Potassium Scandal," for example. The dollar sign serves the same purpose. That said, it should probably be kept out of the actually name, and instead just used in logos or something. Or maybe we should stop resisting the coming fusion of ASCII and alphabet. |
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Man that would be awesome: WARNING: THE LEVEL YOU ARE UPLOADING IS PROBABLY LAME |
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3052. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-206.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) –
25 Oct 2005 22:58:08
[ UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
Hah. I have thought of trying to automatically detect certain kinds of common lame levels and warn the user upon uploading... but fortunately there hasn't been much trouble with that recently. |
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And look on the bright side, at least they're not *teleporter levels*. |
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3050. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-206.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) –
25 Oct 2005 21:33:37
[ UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
Kirima: I want everyone to be able to feel comfortable playing this game, and part of that is making levels. I hope that others can make it a welcome environment for new players, too, even if their levels are pretty unsophisticated.
As for making a "children's corner", I think it is a good idea, except for the fact that it will be pretty hard to determine who is actually a child. It could be quite insulting to have one's levels sent to the children's corner if not actually a child!
I tried this kind of level segregation already with the "Sophomoric" category. But it's too hard, and too mean, to put levels in there unless they were made by people who have clearly stopped playing the game.
I welcome suggestions, or comments about whether this is even really a problem. It can be mildly fun to speedrun these "beginner" levels, anyway... |
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3049. Kirima (231.158.76.83.cust.bluewin.ch) –
25 Oct 2005 18:43:19
[ UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
Geraldine seems to be a cute and very clever little girl.
What do you think about a folder called "Children's Corner"?
Her levels are just innocent - I think this should be honnored and kids would need to have their own homepage and stuff and so on.
I love the way Geraldine tries to connect to who- or whatever.
She seems to be a smart girl!
Hey guys, will you be capable to handle this kind of not expected variation of the game?
?
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Yeah, it's deterministic, but makes certain totally reasonable programming styles impossible to use. |
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3047. Tom 7 (h-67-100-132-206.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) –
25 Oct 2005 10:57:25
[ UPD: Escape Beta 3 ]
That's a good idea, max. I'll have to think about whether they should be bots or not. (Note to self: "Bomberman" style mines might be neat, too.) |
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I think bombs beg the introduction of "mines", just like bombs except they have no fuse so you can move them around wherever without them exploding. These will allow for more exciting chain reactions... |
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Well, at least it's deterministic. Unless it isn't. In which case, nevermind.
Ugh, that makes me wonder how bad threads (would be/are) in this. |
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3044. Tom 7 (gs82.sp.cs.cmu.edu) –
24 Oct 2005 19:04:47
[ Quake 3 Done! ]
You could figure this out by looking at the Quake III (game) source code, which is available. If I recall correctly they do not cheat (this might be impossible, anyway, since I think that bots connect to the server just like regular players). On the other hand, it was definitely the case in Quake I that the enemies took and dealt more damage on the harder skill levels, so it wouldn't be that surprising if true. |
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3043. laura~ann (hlfxns0149w-142177088176.ns.aliant.net) –
24 Oct 2005 17:34:17
[ FLAMING TEXT ]
anybody wanna char wit a gurl from nova scotia!.. add me
hershy_kiss911@hotmail.com~~ |
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At least it has a really cool-sounding name. |
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