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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:AMIGA NOTES
Notice:Join us in the *NEW* conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:HYDRA::MOORE
Created:Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5378
Total number of notes:38326

3714.0. "Several Fish Disks Temporarily Unavailable" by BUZZER::GERBER (For more info, call: 800/555-1212) Tue Apr 24 1990 20:28

Per a request made by Fred N. Fish, the following Fish disks will be unavailable
until their status is straightened out.

The disks are 173, 221, 230, 238, 305, 324.

-----Robert

His request follows:

================================================================================
Article 54784 of comp.sys.amiga:
Path: engage.enet.dec.com!shlump.nac.dec.com!e2big.dec.com!decuac!haven!uflorida!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!mcdphx!estinc!fnf
From: fnf@estinc.UUCP (Fred Fish)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Possible disk recall
Message-ID: <279@estinc.UUCP>
Date: 24 Apr 90 03:20:09 GMT
Organization: Enhanced Software Technologies Inc., Tempe, Az
Lines: 42


This note is to alert the net that a recall of several library disks
may be necessary in the near future.  Spectrum Holobyte (spelling?)
has objected to the distribution of any public domain game that calls
itself Tetris or substantially has the look and feel of their Tetris
(trademarked) game.  There appears to be two issues here, one of
possible trademark infringement and one of "look-and-feel copyright".

I have identified the following disks as containing programs that may
fall into one or the other of the above problem areas:

	173	(Tetrix)
	221	(Steinschlag)
	230	(Quattro)
	238	(Steinschlag)
	305	(Obsess)
	324	(Tetris)

If there are any I missed, please let me know.  I am forwarding copies
of these disks to Spectrum Holobyte for their opinion on the status of
the specified programs.

I am asking all redistributors of these disks to place a temporary hold
on distribution until their status becomes clear.  Although I would be
interested in an abstract sense in any comments people might have concerning
the validity of this issue (PD clones of commercial games), such opinions
will have no effect on my decision about whether to recall any particular
disk.  I have neither the time nor resources to play consumer advocate and
press for distribution of these programs.  If Spectrum Holobyte requests
their recall I have no option but to comply, so if you have a vested
interest in seeing any of these remain freely redistributable, direct your
comments towards them.

	Spectrum Holobyte
	2061 Challenger Drive
	Alameda, CA  94501
	(415) 522-3584

-Fred
-- 
# Fred Fish, 1835 E. Belmont Drive, Tempe, AZ 85284,  USA
# 1-602-491-0048           asuvax!{nud,mcdphx}!estinc!fnf


T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
3714.1Disks will be reissued without "offending" gamesBOLTON::PLOUFFIt came from the... dessert!Thu Jun 21 1990 15:0087
    Would it be possible to get back the unavailable disk archives minus
    the offending games?  Call 'em FF173X.ZOO, etc...  This is what Fred
    Fish has indicated he will do with the official distribution.
    
    Wes
    
    Usenet announcement follows:
    
    ==========================================================================
Article        58570
From: fnf@fishpond.UUCP (Fred Fish)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Disk recall notice
Date: 6 Jun 90 03:02:23 GMT
Organization: Amiga Library Services
Lines: 70
 
This note is to inform the net that the following disks are being
recalled and should not be distributed until replacement disks are
available:
 
	173, 221, 230, 238, 305, 324
 
Each of these disks contains a tetris clone which Spectrum Holobyte
believes to be infringement on their commercial product "Tetris".
 
Below is a copy of the letter I received from Phillip Adams, president
of Spectrum Holobyte:
 
======================================================================
 
Dear Fred:
 
Thank you for your co-operation in taking the Tetris clone products out
of you disks.  I wanted to send a follow-up letter to review what took 
place and to state our position as a company.
 
I saw the Tetris name being used on one of your public domain disks. I
called the editor of Amazing Computing and they said they would have you 
give me a call, which you did.  We talked about Tetris and you agreed that
you would remove it immediately.  You also volunteered to send me six
other disks that were essentially the same.  Our testing group looked at
them and agreed that they were Tetris 2-D format with essentially the
same game play.  I subsequently let you know that information, also.
 
Tetris has never been a public domain product, and has never been put on
a bulletin board by the legal owners.  While I understand that Tetris is a
simple game, it is quite a unique concept.  The seven falling blocks (the
mind remembers 7 plus or minus 2) are a very essential part of the game.
We have a contractual obligation to protect the rights of ELORG (the 
Soviet Licensor) as well as Alexey Pajitnov, to insure they are
compensated for this property.  We did file suit against another software
company to block its 2-D version of a similar game and it was taken out
of their product.  To change the colors of the blocks or have the
"Rubiks" cube made out of wood doesn't make it a different product either.
 
I am aware that some of the complaints about Tetris are compatibility and
copy protection.  Version 1.1 of Tetris Amiga is not copy protected and
people can send the earlier version disks and $3.00 (which includes
shipping) to us and we will send the upgrade.  Welltris, which will be
shipping this week, contains only pass word protection in the manual.
There is nothing on the disk to prevent backup or hard disk installation.
 
Again, thank you for your support in the matter.  You are a good person
for the Amiga community and we wish you continued success.
 
Sincerely,
 
Phillip G. Adam
President
 
======================================================================
 
I intend to deal with the recall of these disks slightly differently
than the previous disks which were recalled.  In this case, I will
simply remove the contested material and reissue the disk with the
same number but a slightly different name.  The name of disk 324 for
example will change from AmigaLibDisk324 to AmigaLibDisk324a to signify
a revised edition of the disk.  The revised disks should be available
after this weekend.
 
Please feel free to give this posting the widest possible distribution.
 
-Fred
-- 
# Fred Fish, 1835 E. Belmont Drive, Tempe, AZ 85284,  USA
# 1-602-491-0048               asuvax!mcdphx!fishpond!fnf
3714.2Disks will be modified and made available shortly....BUZZER::GERBERFor more info, call: 800/555-1212Fri Jun 22 1990 13:588
	The Fish disks with the T*tr*s clones will be fixed and made available
within a couple of days.  I have been real busy.  One of the problems is that
except for 173, the disks have to be modified, re-zoo'd and then uploaded again.

-----Robert

PS: Does anybody have disks later than 340?  There is some stuff I would like to
    get my hands on.
3714.3Do it on the VAXBOMBE::MOOREEat or be eatenFri Jun 22 1990 20:4110
    re: "the disks have to be modified, re-zoo'd and then uploaded again."
    
    Huh?  VMS Zoo can remove the unwanted files from the archive, right in
    place...
    
    Use
    	$ ZOO "D" zoo_file [.dir]*
    then
    	$ ZOO "P" zoo_file
    to pack the archive.
3714.4Did do it in the VAX...BUZZER::GERBERFor more info, call: 800/555-1212Tue Jun 26 1990 18:3916
Fish disks 173, 221, 230, 238, 305, 324 are now available again.
The "offending" software was removed from the archives.

	173 - Tetrix
	221 - Steinschlag
	230 - Quattro
	238 - Steinschlag
	305 - Obsess
	324 - Tetris

The reference to these programs is still in the contents file include with the
zoo or arc files.

Your local tank maintainer.....

-----Robert
3714.5Yet another Fish disk (395) recalled...BOMBE::MOOREAmiga: Real computing on a PC budgetThu Nov 22 1990 00:1236
Article 37706 of comp.sys.amiga:
Path: sousa.enet.dec.com!shlump.nac.dec.com!decuac!haven!udel!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!mcdphx!fishpond!fnf
From: fnf@fishpond.uucp (Fred Fish)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Dragon Cave on disk 395
Message-ID: <1990Nov14.031208.457@fishpond.uucp>
Date: 14 Nov 90 03:12:08 GMT
Organization: Amiga Library Services
Lines: 24


Over the weekend, I received a report that DragonCave, on disk 395,
has graphics that appear to possibly be ripped off directly from
Dragon Master by FTL Games.  Having never seen or played Dragon
Master, I naturally didn't know this when I included it in the
library.  Now that I've seen a copy, I tend to agree that there
is a remarkable similarity, at least in the startup screen.

Therefore, I am temporarily suspending shipments of this disk
until I can send a copy to FTL Games for their review and comments.
I would like to ask all archive sites to also make this disk
unaccessible until the matter is resolved.

In the next couple of days I will be mailing letters to all
those who received a copy of this disk directly from me, notifying
them of the situation.

Please feel free to give this message the widest possible
distribution.  Thank you for your cooperation.

-Fred
-- 
# Fred Fish, 1835 E. Belmont Drive, Tempe, AZ 85284,  USA
# 1-602-491-0048               asuvax!mcdphx!fishpond!fnf


3714.6Searching for #218ULTRA::BURGESSMad man across the waterFri Dec 14 1990 11:399
	It seems that #218 is also unavailable - I was looking for the 
PCUtil patch so that I could read a 3.5 inch I*M floppy;  though this 
morning I'm unable to recall if I was looking on WJG or TAPE - it must 
have been pretty late (-:,   seriously, there's a gap between 217 and 
219 on WJG at least.

	Reg

3714.7Try TAPE...VMSNET::WOODBURYFri Dec 14 1990 13:118
Re .6:

	A quick DIR shows that there is at least a directory entry for it
   at TAPE::USER2:[AMIGA.FISH.Z200].  It wasn't that long ago that I pulled
   that part of the Fish Series for the LUG library in my area and I don't 
   remember any problems.

					Max
3714.8Some small number of sub directories deep.ULTRA::BURGESSMad man across the waterFri Dec 14 1990 13:196
re .6 and .7

	OK, I found it at TAPE::USER2:[AMIGA.FISH.Z200]FF218.ZOO

	R

3714.9TAPE:: missing fish disksPAMSRC::63643::BARRETTKeith Barrett; DECmessageQ Expertise CntrSun Aug 11 1991 12:5312
    Since I now have a SCSI tape drive, I had decided to build a complete
    Fish library. However, the following fish disks are missing from tape::
    
    13, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 40, 47, 57, 88
    
    (There may be more, I'm still processing the 101-299 range).
    Can someone upload them, or tell me an alternate location where they
    are? As far as I know these are "real" disks.
    
    Thanks!
    
    Keith
3714.10TENAYA::MWMTue Aug 13 1991 17:069
I've put all the missing disks in tape::amiga:[upload] as ff##.lzh. Except
for 57, that is - my copy has developed a bad spot.

I also put ff521.lzh-ff530.lzh there. At least, I think I did - the
copy seems to have terminated abnormally, and I can't get back to tape.
Would someone let me know if something didn't get there properly.

	Thanx,
	<mike
3714.11Hold onARRODS::GOLDSTEINSteve G DTN: 847-5416/5455Tue Aug 13 1991 18:3410
    
    	Hold on a minute ...
    
    weren't some fish disk recalled due to a copyrite problem...
    
    
    	I forget the no but they had something to do with tetris ??!!(or
    was it)
    
    	Steve  
3714.12PAMSRC::XHOST::BARRETTKeith Barrett; DECmessageQ Expertise CntrTue Aug 13 1991 18:546
RE: -.1

You don't really think that the problem you remember was in disks below #100,
did you? :-).

None of the disks in question were pulled - I checked.
3714.13It's morpe than that...TENAYA::MWMTue Aug 13 1991 22:507
Actually, a number of fish disks have been recalled. The Tetris incident
was the only case of more than one being recalled at a time. They all
involved proprietary software the woundup on a disk by accident.

If anyone has a list of the recalled disks, I'd appreciate it...

	<mike
3714.14Gaps in numbering system only below 100?TLE::RMEYERSRandy MeyersWed Aug 14 1991 00:2017
Re: .13

>If anyone has a list of the recalled disks, I'd appreciate it...

I believe that the only gaps in fish disk numbers are below 100.

	Disk 57 was reissued as Disk 97
	Disk 80 was reissued as Disk 90
	Disk 88 was reissued as Disk 89

Fred eventually adopted the policy (when the Tetris incident occurred)
of reusing the  disk number, but adding a suffix "a" to indicate the
disk was reissued with some material deleted.  For example, AmigaLibDisk600
would become AmigaLibDisk600a, if it was reissued because of copyright
problems.

I don't have the numbers for disks that we reissued.
3714.15That's not correctPAMSRC::63643::BARRETTKeith Barrett; DECmessageQ Expertise CntrWed Aug 14 1991 02:4623
    Re: -.1
    
    This does not match the information I have. There's nothing on #57
    that's isn't PD. #87 either. The info I have is that the following
    were pulled (This is from Fred's actual notice - I kept it):
    
    88, 173, 221, 230, 238, 305, and 324. All but #88 were for tetris
    reasons.
    
    Look at note .0 of this very topic for the warning of the tetris disks.
    
    I apologize for asking for #88 to get re-uploaded. Please feel free to
    delete it, I don't want to promote the pulled disks. All the others I
    listed were OK and really were missing.
    
    
    Thanks for uploading them. I will have #57 in my posession tomorrow
    and will upload it when I get it. That should complete the entire set
    on TAPE.
    
    
    Keith
    
3714.16Tetris wasn't the only problem...TLE::RMEYERSRandy MeyersThu Aug 15 1991 04:4844
Re: .15

Since I didn't remember the details, I checked out my master list of
all the fish disk contents (a normal text file, available for copying
from tle""::uport$:[rmeyers.trade.amiga]fish.txt).

What follows is what Fred put in the "contents" file on the actual
replacement disks.


CONTENTS OF DISK 89
-------------------

This disk replaces disk number 88, which was pulled from circulation
due to the redistribution status of files in the directory "snap".
If you encounter a disk number 88 in circulation, please advise all
parties concerned that the disk should be erased immediately.

...

CONTENTS OF DISK 90
-------------------

This disk replaces disk number 80, which was pulled from circulation
due to the redistribution status of files in the directory "tools".
If you encounter a disk number 80 in circulation, please advise all
parties concerned that the disk should be erased immediately.

....

CONTENTS OF DISK 97
-------------------

This disk replaces disk number 57, which was pulled from circulation
because of questions about the redistribution status of material in
the "Ogre" subdirectory (replaced with "shm").  If you encounter a disk
number 57 in circulation, please advise all parties concerned that the
disk should be erased immediately.


The phrase "This disk replaces" doesn't appear anywhere else in my
collection of all the contents files.  So, I believe that this is
all of the disks that caused disk gaps, as opposed to version "a"
disks being re-issued.
3714.17TENAYA::MWMThu Aug 15 1991 16:097
How about putting a .TEXT file in place of each missing .LZH file that
explains why that disk is missing? That will stop people from asking about
them in the future. It will also avoid people like me (who have the complete
collection, but don't normally distribute them) from "replacing" those
disks.

	<mike
3714.18Disk 140 is also missingPAMSRC::XHOST::BARRETTKeith Barrett; DECmessageQ Expertise CntrFri Aug 16 1991 15:249
Fish Disk 140 is also missing from TAPE, and as far as I know it wasn't a pulled
disk.

Could someone upload this disk (or correct me if I'm wrong)?


Thanks in advance

Keith
3714.19Disk #173 is badPAMSRC::63643::BARRETTKeith Barrett; DECmessageQ Expertise CntrSun Aug 18 1991 12:357
    I addition to disk #140 missing, disk #173 is only composed of
    the upper level directory. It's missing all the sub-directories and
    their contents.
    
    Could someone upload #140 and #173? If I get them first, I'll upload
    them myself.
    
3714.20140 & 173 in eot::amiga:[upload]TENAYA::MWMFri Aug 23 1991 16:573
Note that these are fixed block files.

	<mike
3714.21ff481 and ff482 have been reuploadedTENAYA::MWMWed Aug 28 1991 18:146
I can't find the original note asking for them, but this is as good a place
as any.

Once again, these are fixed block files.

	<mike