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Getting Creative With Crippleware | 26 comments (26 topical) | Post A Comment
sigh[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#15)
by Anonymous User on Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 08:07:14 AM PDT

I must have missed the part where Creative is a state actor, as well as the part in #8 where derivatives of a copyrighted work are allowed without the copyright owner's approval. Good old legal ignorance rides again.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


What he should have done......[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#16)
by Anonymous User on Sat Apr 12, 2008 at 04:31:44 PM PDT

If he wanted to sell something, it should have been a program that took the original Creative XP drivers, the original Creative Vista drivers, and applied modifications to the files to create a set of drivers that were actually fully functional.

And that, possibly, could be legally flat-out sold. I am not a lawyer, but it seems at least possible.

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Same laws, ignorant judges[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#24)
by kamnet on Fri Apr 18, 2008 at 11:17:21 PM PDT

Well, there's the law, and then there is the interpretation of the law. Judges, for the most part, are not tech-savvy people. A tech-savvy lawyer can throw up enough BS to convince a judge of nearly anything.

Nontheless, I think Creative made the right argument here: when this ugy started to ask for money for a product that he did not create himself, he infringed on Creative's right to earn (or not earn) profits from their products, and he infringed on Creative's right to release (or not release) certain features for certain products on certain OSes.

Yeah it's ugly, and yes it shows that Creative is not really thinking of their customers, but guess what? THAT IS THEIR RIGHT. If this guy wants to be better than Creative, then he has all the right in the world himself to go start-up as a competitor and use Creative's shortfalls to gain customer confidence. The fair market WILL make the right decision in the long run.

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WTF?![ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#25)
by Anonymous User on Sun Apr 20, 2008 at 11:56:34 AM PDT

"Creative's right to earn (or not earn) profits from their products"

There is no "right to earn profits". There is certainly no entitlement to a cut of all revenue generated downstream. If I drive my car to work, is Ford entitled to a cut of my salary? If I sell the car used, or sell a used book or whatever else, is the company that originally produced it entitled to a cut? No.

"Creative's right to release (or not release) certain features for certain products on certain OSes"

That exists but was never infringed. What you seem to be thinking is that Creative actually has a right to stop others from releasing the features too, which they obviously do not (or at least should not) have.

"The fair market WILL make the right decision in the long run."

I don't see how this last remark is even relevant. Perhaps if there were a fair market, without any state-enforced monopolies, involved here then it would be, but that does not seem to be the case.

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Getting Creative With Crippleware | 26 comments (26 topical) | Post A Comment
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