As much as I want to agree with you, there are numerous precedents in intellectual property law that make Jared's position untenable.
For starters, one problem that "damages" the Hasbro property is precisely that e-scrabble does NOT accurately mimc the game experience; indeed it is inferior in the following ways:
1. You can start the game anywhere, not just on the center square.
2. There is no "challenge" procedure.
3. Once there are no remaining letters to be drawn, ANY turn - - nonsensical, illegal or otherwise - - that uses up all your letters will end the game.
So... let's imagine that I decide to open an amusement park. No admission, and no intent to make any money whatsoever. Purely my "hobby" - - my "labor of love". And I decide to call it "Six Flags" because "I am a huge fan" of the amusement parks that operate under this brand name. I use all their logos, all their graphics, try to make it look as much like their park as I can.
But what I offer is an inferior experience. The seats are uncomfortable. The rides are boring. They're unsafe.
Does this denigrate the intellectual property of "Six Flags"? Does it infringe on their trademarks? Of course it does.
Like every other Scrabble addict, I really do WISH that this game is/was in the public domain - - like chess, or checkers, or solitaire, for example. But it's not.
It's an unfortunate situation. I wish Hasbro had left him alone. Or hired him. But they're not in the charity business.
Whatcha gonna do? (oh-oh! is that an infringement on the writers of "The Sopranos"?)
Best wishes,
Rex Bickers
Floyds Knobs, Indiana
In general, I disagree that pixie pit is better, though some flaws in e-scrabble are absent in pixie pit (noticeably, the absolutely terrible end-game flaw in e-scrabble).
It's just wishful thinking, but it seems unfortunate that there isn't any good way to have a "forum" (exclusively) for those of us who are actual, active e-scrabble players (indeed, this was a sorely lacking feature even before the current Hasbro death squash). It's not that others shouldn't be expressing their opinion... on the general intellectual property question of Hasbro vs e-scrabble (there's really nothing to argue, is there?) - - but I can't see how this is much more than an abstract issue to you, if you are not an "enthusiast" (addict) of the game.
I think there are a number of issues that might be argued among actual players of the game... for which non-players will not have an perspective. As an example... there are surely not 100,000 unique registrants to the site - - or if it means anything, it must mean a large number of people who showed up, started (and one wonders... ever finish?) one game, and never came back...
One might hope for a migration to pixie pit, and maybe even the utilization of its forum there.
Alas, e-scrabble becomes "abandonware" in a sense it never intended.
Best wishes,
Rex
rb43081@netscape.net
Slashdot Mirror
This is actually nice to have. There are good reasons to save this.
As much as I want to agree with you, there are numerous precedents in intellectual property law that make Jared's position untenable. For starters, one problem that "damages" the Hasbro property is precisely that e-scrabble does NOT accurately mimc the game experience; indeed it is inferior in the following ways: 1. You can start the game anywhere, not just on the center square. 2. There is no "challenge" procedure. 3. Once there are no remaining letters to be drawn, ANY turn - - nonsensical, illegal or otherwise - - that uses up all your letters will end the game. So... let's imagine that I decide to open an amusement park. No admission, and no intent to make any money whatsoever. Purely my "hobby" - - my "labor of love". And I decide to call it "Six Flags" because "I am a huge fan" of the amusement parks that operate under this brand name. I use all their logos, all their graphics, try to make it look as much like their park as I can. But what I offer is an inferior experience. The seats are uncomfortable. The rides are boring. They're unsafe. Does this denigrate the intellectual property of "Six Flags"? Does it infringe on their trademarks? Of course it does. Like every other Scrabble addict, I really do WISH that this game is/was in the public domain - - like chess, or checkers, or solitaire, for example. But it's not. It's an unfortunate situation. I wish Hasbro had left him alone. Or hired him. But they're not in the charity business. Whatcha gonna do? (oh-oh! is that an infringement on the writers of "The Sopranos"?) Best wishes, Rex Bickers Floyds Knobs, Indiana
In general, I disagree that pixie pit is better, though some flaws in e-scrabble are absent in pixie pit (noticeably, the absolutely terrible end-game flaw in e-scrabble). It's just wishful thinking, but it seems unfortunate that there isn't any good way to have a "forum" (exclusively) for those of us who are actual, active e-scrabble players (indeed, this was a sorely lacking feature even before the current Hasbro death squash). It's not that others shouldn't be expressing their opinion... on the general intellectual property question of Hasbro vs e-scrabble (there's really nothing to argue, is there?) - - but I can't see how this is much more than an abstract issue to you, if you are not an "enthusiast" (addict) of the game. I think there are a number of issues that might be argued among actual players of the game... for which non-players will not have an perspective. As an example... there are surely not 100,000 unique registrants to the site - - or if it means anything, it must mean a large number of people who showed up, started (and one wonders... ever finish?) one game, and never came back... One might hope for a migration to pixie pit, and maybe even the utilization of its forum there. Alas, e-scrabble becomes "abandonware" in a sense it never intended. Best wishes, Rex rb43081@netscape.net