Perspective

["mschoessow" <mikeschoessow@...>]

The recent postings here regarding Mesomorph's Four Seasons 
expansion reveal that some people obviously hold strong opinions 
regarding trademark and copyright law, and all things piecepack. 
Might I suggest that there should be room for philosophical 
differences within this forum. It is seldom judicious to view issues 
as black and white; the right way to do things, and the wrong-headed 
way. This leads to communication shut-down and the building of 
fortresses. Please, let's not go there.

Let's keep things in perspective. The copyrighting of the artwork 
and trademarking of the expansion name does not mean that another 
party may not make a similar expansion. It simply means that the 
same artwork may not be used and the same name may not be used. 
That's all. And it's not the end of the world. Once again, obviously 
people don't all see this issue from identical perspectives, and I 
hope everybody will try to appreciate that. I can see legitimate, 
debatable points on both sides of the issue. But I really don't want 
to debate them. That's not why I joined this group. 

Experience is a good thing. My experience of Mesomorph Games, and 
particularly of Karol, is that they have contributed more to 
piecepack than any one of us. From facilitating the competitions, to 
handling the rules clean-ups, to expanding the popularity of 
piecepack, which brings more games to all of us, their contribution 
has been essential to getting us where we are. I view this latest 
issue against the backdrop of, and in light of, that. 

Regarding the issue of the quoting of private e-mails on a public 
group, I will say this: I communicate frequently by e-mail, with 
friends, sometimes with businesses, at work, etc., and I have 
certainly sent e-mails that I would not like to see quoted on an 
international forum for all the world to see (I feel the same way 
about my telephone conversations). I don't know what the legalities 
are, but it would not surprise me to discover that private e-mails 
were covered under some sort of privacy law. 


-Mike