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- From: sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu (Timothy F. Sipples)
- Subject: Re: Tetris gripe
- Message-ID: <1992Jul24.165919.16653@midway.uchicago.edu>
- Followup-To: comp.os.os2.advocacy
- Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System)
- Reply-To: sip1@midway.uchicago.edu
- Organization: Dept. of Econ., Univ. of Chicago
- References: <1992Jul24.021611.12788@panix.com>
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 16:59:19 GMT
- Lines: 52
-
- In article <1992Jul24.021611.12788@panix.com> os2man@panix.com (Larry Salomon Jr.) writes:
- >I have a major gripe to express tonight:
- >Whilest browsing through one of the trade mags, I noticed a review of
- >Desqview/X, while mentioned how it came with the requisite version of
- >Tetris.
- >Time out - didn't OS/2 2.0 beta have a version of Tetris? Yes, it did;
- >I know because I wrote it. IBM Corporate had a problem with paying money
- >to Spectrum Holobyte (the holder of the copyright) to license the concept
- >of Tetris so that it can distribute the game with OS/2. However, Microsoft
- >never had a problem and now it seems that Desqview's creators (whomever
- >they are; I never was a Desqview fan) didn't either.
- >Although I didn't assist in the transformation from its (very humble-looking)
- >beginnings to what it was in its final distributed form, I was quite proud
- >to have played a part in its writing mostly because so many people enjoyed
- >playing it. Hell, even IBM Legal expressed extreme sorrow when they told me
- >the final decision, for they played it too and found it highly enjoyable.
- >Sure, it sounds like I'm griping about losing this simply because I wrote
- >it, but I'm not really. What I'm griping about is how this is another
- >example of IBM playing against itself in the development of OS/2 2.0.
- >This goes in the catalog of screw ups along with the initial lack of
- >marketing thrust and other such nonsense that always seem to show up.
- >To qualm any forays against my integrity, I did not receive any compensation
- >at all for any of my other contributions to the OS/2 2.0 product. Thus,
- >there is/was no financial interest in having Blox/Tetris included.
-
- I do not know what Microsoft or Quarterdeck Office Systems agreed to,
- but it is possible they have not reached any agreement with Spectrum
- Holobyte, in which case they could face possible legal action. I
- would not jump to the conclusion that both these companies even
- bothered to talk with Spectrum Holobyte.
-
- Now, if that is the case, I really do not know how I would react. On
- the one hand you have a company (IBM) which is trying as hard as
- possible not to infringe on Spectrum Holobyte's intellectual property,
- and, in discussions with them, they could not agree on royalties. On
- the other hand you may have two companies which feel (1) they won't
- get sued; and/or (2) the Tetris concept is not protectable under law;
- and/or (3) their lawyers can keep the case tied up in court forever,
- at tremendous legal expense, driving the company out of business
- and/or deterring a lawsuit in the first place. Do I laud IBM's
- principled stand or Microsoft/Quarterdeck's ruthless competitive
- spirit (positive spin given here to both)?
-
- Anyway, the point is mostly moot. You can retrieve at least two
- versions of Tetris for OS/2 via anonymous ftp from ftp-os2.nmsu.edu.
- It isn't as though you are not able to play Tetris under OS/2.
-
- --
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