[vox] Outlaws redux

[vox@lists.lugod.org]

On Tue, Nov 18, 2003 at 04:46:16PM -0800, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
> hi all,
> 
> about a week(?) ago i sent a letter to the person in charge of
> lucasarts' "outlaws" (a pretty cool first person shooter) , asking him
> if it were possible to open source this nearly 10 year old engine.
> 
> he seemed very into the idea, but had to run it by the legal department.
> 
> here is the legal department's response.  i honestly don't comprehend
> everything about their reply, but it sounds like they may be a little
> confused about what open source means.

Their confusion probably stems from a common problem lawyers not acclimated to OSS/Free legalese is that they don't realize they are not giving up copyright/trademark ownership.
 
> any suggestions on what my response should be?
> 
> would it be silly to contact someone like mad dog and ask him to take
> over "negotiations"?

Yes. He isn't a lawyer either (although he's a great spokesperson).  I do however, have a friend who may be able to give me (ergo you) some guidance.  She runs a trio of lawyers here in Silly Valley that deal a lot with open-source in the legal profession.

Gimme a few days.

z

> pete
> 
> 
> ----- Forwarded message from Daron Stinnett
> 
> Subject: RE: Outlaws
> Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 15:17:24 -0800
> From: Daron Stinnett
> To: p@dirac.org
> 
> Hi Pete, here's the response I received from our legal department:
> 
> "We would not "give away" the code in the same sense done with the Doom
> and Quake engines and we certainly would not such to be considered or
> become "open source". What we could do (and was previously proposed by
> legal with respect to the SCUMM Engine) was that we make it available
> ("it" being either the entire engine or selected executable files)
> either through our web site (subject to certain very limited terms that
> make clear we continue to own the code, do not give up any claims of
> ownership to the code and make it available entirely on an "as is" basis
> absent any kind of warranties, support or other assistance."
> 
> 
> How does that response align with your inquiry?
> 
> - Daron
> _______________________________________________
> vox mailing list
> vox@lists.lugod.org
> http://lists.lugod.org/mailman/listinfo/vox