Executor 2.0/executorv2.0.iso/pc/linux/extra/docs/maillist/text/archive.96/text0493.txt

Text File | 1996-07-25 | 1.6 KB | 33 lines

>
>Remember "Aladin" and "Spectre" (mac emulators running on an Atari)?
>You have to put original Mac ROMs into a ROM port module to use them.
>
I remember those boxes.  Do you remember the ROMless Apple //e clones
which were being sold all over the place in the early '80s?  Apple sued
them (and won) arguing that the only possible reason for such units was
to load them up with counterfeit ROMs.  The manufacturers of the clones
argued that this was not true, that they could be used by persons who
had canabalized the ROMs or bought them through Apple.  The problem was
that the number of units sold vs. the number of junked //e's just
didn't work and the court sided for them.  Now, if a clean ROM bios
(even a not very good one) was on the market, a different result would
probably have happened.  Similarly, if there is other operating systems
which this system can legally load and the glue makes sense for them
too, I think the results are different.

Lastly, remember that just because someone did it, doesn't mean that it
couldn't be challenged.  Often, you have to reach a certain size before
your noticed.  Franklins were around for quite a while before Apple
sued them.  Laser (which was a carefully cloned machine) clearly had
clean ROMs and Apple still tried to sue them on three continents.

This, I guess is another issue which we often ignore.  U.S. law is not
the only intellectual property law you need to worry about anymore.  In
these computer suits, we are seeing global forum shopping, (e.g. Apple
using Hong Kong law to sue Laser, Compaq going after Packard-Bell under
European trade law, etc.).

Stu