Re: Piecepack Pyramids

[Ron Hale-Evans <rwhe@...>]

On Tue, Jun 04, 2002 at 04:42:03PM -0400, Dale Newfield wrote:
> 
> There's a basic disconnect that I see and you appear to look right past:
> Information can be free, but stuff (with exceptions--public water
> fountains for example) cannot.
> 
> When you talk about something being free or not, are you talking about the
> games (the instructions for playing) which *are* free and posted on lots
> of websites, or the stuff used to play?  If you're talking about the
> former, quit yer yappin'--you're wrong.  If you're talking about the
> latter, please send me a copy of the piecepak.

First, you misunderstand the way I am using the word "free".  I mean
it in the sense of "free speech", not "free beer".  Thus, as most of
the rulesets I have seen for Icehouse games (at least the core games
in _Playing With Pyramids_) are copyrighted, they are not free,
because I could not legally take them, reprint them, and sell them.
Remember, "free" has two meanings in English; one means
"unrestricted", and the other means "at no cost".  Just because I can
obtain rules at no cost off the web does not mean they are free in the
way I am using the word.

Second, when I talk about Icehouse being non-free, I am not referring
either to the rules for the games, or to the little plastic pyramids
themselves.  I am referring to the _specifications_ for the little
plastic pyramids.  Andy claims a patent on the Icehouse set, therefore
it would be non-free even if he had Lab Rabbits handing out sets on
every street corner.  The piecepack specification is in the public
domain, therefore it would be free even if Mesomorph Games charged a
billion dollars for every set they manufactured.

Ron H-E

-- 
         Ron Hale-Evans ... rwhe@... & rwhe@...
           Center for Ludic Synergy, Seattle Cosmic Game Night, 
Kennexions Glass Bead Game &  Positive Revolution FAQ: http://www.ludism.org/
Home page & Hexagram-8 I Ching Mailing List: http://www.apocalypse.org/~rwhe/