Set Wants to be Free
In 2003 I created an online and multiplayer version of the card game Set, so that I could practice and play with people at a distance. It was one of my more successful projects and although I didn't actively advertise it many people seemed to find and enjoy it. Last September I was threatened by Set Enterprises to cease and desist infringing their trademark and copyrights. Of course I knew I had been intentionally doing this I didn't feel like I had much of a leg to stand on and took the page down. Almost a year later, I'm still receiving emails from people who enjoyed my game, who want it back, who want my program to run their own servers.
I wasn't looking to gain or profit from this. I was only providing a service where there was a demand that Set Enterprises seemed to have no desire to fill. That's a lot like I used to feel about downloading pirated mp3's, I'd procure them legally if only the copyright owners were willing to fill my demand for individual songs delivered digitally, otherwise I would fill it myself anyway I could. I don't think you should be able to stop people from provided something that is widely desired unless you're willing to propose an alternative.
The question I have is, what can I do now? I'm afraid of putting the game back up or distributing the server for someone else to serve, but I want people to be able to play it. The Set Enterprises website is unbearably crappy and hasn't changed at all. I offered to give them my version for free to let them provide it under whatever terms they liked (for pay if they needed, though it should be profitable with ad support alone, I thin) and I didn't even get a reply. A simple search or the Wikipedia page will give you a list of many other sites about or containing Set. Many have playable versions as Flash or Java applets (although not many have true multiplayer capability). How is it that they can continue to operate? If anyone has a suggestion for me, I'd really like to know what people think.
I wasn't looking to gain or profit from this. I was only providing a service where there was a demand that Set Enterprises seemed to have no desire to fill. That's a lot like I used to feel about downloading pirated mp3's, I'd procure them legally if only the copyright owners were willing to fill my demand for individual songs delivered digitally, otherwise I would fill it myself anyway I could. I don't think you should be able to stop people from provided something that is widely desired unless you're willing to propose an alternative.
The question I have is, what can I do now? I'm afraid of putting the game back up or distributing the server for someone else to serve, but I want people to be able to play it. The Set Enterprises website is unbearably crappy and hasn't changed at all. I offered to give them my version for free to let them provide it under whatever terms they liked (for pay if they needed, though it should be profitable with ad support alone, I thin) and I didn't even get a reply. A simple search or the Wikipedia page will give you a list of many other sites about or containing Set. Many have playable versions as Flash or Java applets (although not many have true multiplayer capability). How is it that they can continue to operate? If anyone has a suggestion for me, I'd really like to know what people think.