«

> Chris Wilkinson scribbled:
> It seems MS are going hell bent for leather buying up tech rights to
> all kinds of insignificant stuff that nowadays is no longer a
> commercial viability...
> What next? Product activation keys for ****ing wristwatches?...

You/anyone cant buy rights if they're *not for sale.....*

I dont see anything wrong with anyone (including Microsoft) buying those
rights (and anything else for that matter) when they're for sale.
Got a link we can look at?


--

Replace the obvious with paradise.net to email me
Found Images
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/~mlvburke

Chris Wilkinson wrote:
> It seems MS are going hell bent for leather buying up tech rights to all
> kinds of insignificant stuff that nowadays is no longer a commercial
> viability...
>
> What next? Product activation keys for ****ing wristwatches?...

No, next is buying up old masterpieces and artifacts, then they'll extend
the monopoly to arts and sciences.

But don't blame Microsoft, they are just part of this intellectual
land-grab. Check out the arguments taking place over software patents in
EU. Basically it is a battle between the corporates (who want to lock up
IP so they collect monopoly rent and shut out newcomers) and those who want
individual liberty and freedom of information.

We saw a bit of it last year with DE Tech and their phoney patent scheme
http://www.fightthepatent.co.nz/
and this is just the start of it.

Peter

"Chris Wilkinson" <> wrote in message news:...
> Hi there,
>
> I just grabbed a Sinclair Spectrum emulator for linux from the net. Once
> upon a time there were hundreds of well-known old Spectrum classic games
> available for download from the net in the form of RAM snapshots. After
> installing my new emulator I searched for some old faves to play...games
> like Atic Atac, Alien 8, Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Jetpac, and others
> written by Ashby Computer Graphics (aka ULTIMATE Play the game, nowadays
> known as Rare) were the ones I was looking for. They were available once
> but now it seems a certain Redmond based cartel has taken the rights to
> these once freely available old classics, and prevented them from being
> distributed on the net...

When did Rare/Ultimate ~ever~ make those games freely available?

Tony.

--
Free the North Koreans from their socialist oppressors! Give the
people Linux, NOW!

Linux=Freedom!

Chris Wilkinson wrote:
> After
> installing my new emulator I searched for some old faves to play...games
> like Atic Atac, Alien 8, Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Jetpac, and others
> written by Ashby Computer Graphics (aka ULTIMATE Play the game, nowadays
> known as Rare) were the ones I was looking for.

Yeah, Microsoft would have picked them up when they bought the rest of
Rare's assets. Bizarre to think that they're the same company. Anyway,
there's an increasing likelihood that these old games are about to have
immense value when ported to mobile phones - it may yet prove to be the
most valuable part of their purchase.

Dave

In article <>,
says...
> Hi there,
>
> I just grabbed a Sinclair Spectrum emulator for linux from the net. Once
> upon a time there were hundreds of well-known old Spectrum classic games
> available for download from the net in the form of RAM snapshots. After
> installing my new emulator I searched for some old faves to play...games
> like Atic Atac, Alien 8, Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Jetpac, and others
> written by Ashby Computer Graphics (aka ULTIMATE Play the game, nowadays
> known as Rare) were the ones I was looking for. They were available once
> but now it seems a certain Redmond based cartel has taken the rights to
> these once freely available old classics, and prevented them from being
> distributed on the net...
>
> It seems MS are going hell bent for leather buying up tech rights to all
> kinds of insignificant stuff that nowadays is no longer a commercial
> viability...
>
> What next? Product activation keys for ****ing wristwatches?...

So why did the people who owned the rights sell them to MS? Maybe this is
just an urban legend!

In article <Ti8Dc.4655$>,
"The Black Wibble" <> wrote:
>
>When did Rare/Ultimate ~ever~ make those games freely available?

They didn't. Check out the World Of Spectrum website:
http://www.worldofspectrum.org

Specifically:
http://www.worldofspectrum.org/permits/

(I realise you may well know about WOS, but Chris could benefit from it and
this was the most appropriate part of the thread to attach to...)

--
Don Hills (dmhills at attglobaldotnet) Wellington, New Zealand

Chris Wilkinson wrote:

> What next? Product activation keys for ****ing wristwatches?...

Don't laugh.....

The conversion of everything into potential intellectual "property"
represents a significant change from the way people have always lived.

Don't buy products from such people if you can help it. It only encourages
them to carry on and make it worse.

They don't innovate. They frustrate innovation by locking ideas up for many
decades.

Hi there,

I just grabbed a Sinclair Spectrum emulator for linux from the net. Once
upon a time there were hundreds of well-known old Spectrum classic games
available for download from the net in the form of RAM snapshots. After
installing my new emulator I searched for some old faves to play...games
like Atic Atac, Alien 8, Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde, Jetpac, and others
written by Ashby Computer Graphics (aka ULTIMATE Play the game, nowadays
known as Rare) were the ones I was looking for. They were available once
but now it seems a certain Redmond based cartel has taken the rights to
these once freely available old classics, and prevented them from being
distributed on the net...

It seems MS are going hell bent for leather buying up tech rights to all
kinds of insignificant stuff that nowadays is no longer a commercial
viability...

What next? Product activation keys for ****ing wristwatches?...

--
Kind regards,

Chris Wilkinson, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Canterbury Horse Taxis. http://www.horsetaxis.co.nz/
Remove spamblocker to send replies direct to my email...

Patrick Dunford wrote:
> So why did the people who owned the rights sell them to MS?

It's part of a bigger deal for US$375M.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sc...00/2283354.stm

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't let the rights to Atic Atac
derail me and my mates getting a half billion NZ.

Dave

NZPA-Reuters News Flash:

WARNING This News Item Embargoed until April 1, 2005

Microsoft NZ Ltd and Sky Digital Ltd closes a $7 million deal with the NZRU to
provide exclusive live coverage of all All Black games. Future telecasts will be
via Sky Digital exclusively to the new limited availability Xbox Sky Digital
Decoder.

More details to follow....