Could this eventually spell trouble for free shards?

[Wak]

Mythic is actually supposedly developing an official UO classic shard. But they have offered no sort of clarity as to what that would entail. http://uoherald.com/node/327

[SJane3384]

only reason they are enforcing copyright of U4 is cause they are going to try and resell it as an updated somwthign or other.

GJ reading and comprehending, buddy


My thought was that because of the changes in perception of virtual property, as well as the EULA (which states something like you cannot connect to an unauthorized server), it could cause problems for some of the "newer version" shards. While T2A predates the DMCA and possibly the wording of the EULA, those shards use content from expansions that were added afterward. Which means, if the courts want to consider that content it's own software, they'd be in violation. The illegal action is technically on the user end and not the shard, but considering what happened to Limewire (etc etc), I can see them trying to shut down a free shard based on that. EA is a pretty powerful company, and while they're not as big as say the RIAA, I can see other private interests jumping on the bandwagon and politically swaying the case.

[Panthor the Hated]

when i think of trammel it looks a lot like hell

[Pixelclicker]

The DMCA laws didn't go into effect until 1999. UO came about in 1997 (when it was first released to the public). This gives enthusiasts a little bit more leeway than if they were to try and develop a free shard system for modern MMORPGs, which would be against the law as the DMCA does not apply to Ultima Online. There is some discrepency as to why this applies to only software works and not media such as movies or music.

Braden, the DMCA is directed to levying penalties for circumventing copy protection on digital works, not the mere use of material (such as software) under copyright.

Regular copyright laws apply to the use of a work (such as software) under copyright, which has been under protection since the 1970's as "original works."

Here's a decent summary of the copyright law in the U.S. as it applies to software:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_copyright

[BlackFoot]

stop lookin gup facts and start talking stuff that soudn like facts

[Pixelclicker]

"Facts are meaningless. You can use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true. Facts, schmacts.” -Homer Simpson