Category: Politics/Government

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Geek / Technical General Linux Game Development Marketing/Business Politics/Government

GPL v3 Released

The Free Software Foundation launched GPLv3 yesterday. You can read the wording of the license in its final form.

What does it mean for software developers and indie developers in particular? I don’t know. The GPLv2 was written over a decade ago, and this new version deals with software in the face of new technologies such as the World Wide Web. I know a number of businesses participated in the discussions so any silly arguments about the license being a tool for communism can hopefully be put to rest.

“By hearing from so many different groups in a public drafting process, we have been able to write a license that successfully addresses a broad spectrum of concerns. But even more importantly, these different groups have had an opportunity to find common ground on important issues facing the free software community today, such as patents, tivoization, and Treacherous Computing,” said the Foundation’s executive director, Peter Brown.

I am sure people will be talking about what the new license means and how it is different from GPLv2 for weeks to come.

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Games Politics/Government

Research into Why We Play

Thanks to GameDaily, I learned about a British Board of Film Classification report about the reasons people play video games.

There were a number of findings that surprised me:

  • There is a sharp divide between male and female games players in their taste in games and how long they spend playing. Some of you might be saying “Duh!”, but I was sure that women played the same games that men played. Perhaps the data I had was specific to hardcore gamers.
  • Gamers appear to forget they are playing games less readily than film goers forget they are watching a film because they have to participate in the game for it to proceed. The report also goes on to say that gamers are not emotionally involved but instead are concentrating upon “making progress”. So most people really do play games mechanically and don’t care about story? Is this really why there are people who will gladly pay every month just to gain experience by doing the same thing over and over again? Are games nothing more than “I Win” buttons to most players? Disturbing.
  • A range of factors seems to make less emotionally involving than film or television. The adversaries which players have to eliminate have no personality and so are not real and their destruction is therefore not real, regardless of how violent that destruction might be. Er, did we really just say that video games are less emotionally involving BECAUSE they aren’t realistic? If we give the adversaries personality (and I am sure that there are more than a few games that do so already), does their destruction result in games that allow minors to lose their grasp on reality?

There isn’t much else in the report that we didn’t already expect. Game players generally understand the difference between video games and real life. Game players are not all children, although parents (and I may add politicians) still think that games are for children only. One of my favorite lines:

Parents should not treat video games in the same way they would board games.

Parents aren’t readily giving their children The Newlywed Game boardgame, yet they think nothing of letting them play GTA 3? There are adult and mature-themed board games, so why are video games supposed to be played exclusively by children?

You can download the full report at the BBFC website.

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Game Design Game Development Games Geek / Technical General Marketing/Business Politics/Government

Zorro, the Public Domain, and Derivative Works

The other day I was thinking about Zorro. Frankly, I love stories about Zorro and The Three Musketeers. I have only recently started playing Dungeons and Dragons, and when I created my character, I decided that he should be a fighter with high dexterity and speed. He also gets a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat. B-)

Anyway, I was thinking about the possibility of making a game based on Zorro. If Zorro was created recently, then the copyright might prevent me from making such a game, but if it was an old creation, then it might be in the public domain, which means that I would be perfectly within my rights to create a game based on the stories of the masked legend.

So I searched online and found out that the earliest copyright date for Zorro was 1919 for the pulp fiction serial called The Curse of Capistrano. Shortly afterwards, a movie adaptation followed, and the successful silent film The Mark of Zorro brought the hero to the big screen for the first time. That link will take you to a page that will let you watch the film as it is in the public domain.

So the original story and the first movie are definitely in the public domain. So, anyone has the right to make a movie, video game, or story based on Zorro, right? I would think so, but apparently I might be wrong. I found a post at derivative work which linked to a BBC News report that Sony sent a cease & desist letter to Sobini Films for trying to make a movie about Zorro. Sobini sued and I haven’t been able to find anything about it being resolved, although imdb.com does list Zorro 2110 as being in production.

And I would totally go see it, too. It would probably be like seeing the remake of Planet of the Apes for my birthday…shut up.

Anyway, the point is, how does Sony think that it has the right to tell someone NOT to make a film based on a public domain work? And where does Sobini Films get off talking as if it has aquired the rights to a book in the public domain? EVERYONE has aquired those rights. That’s what the public domain means!

But is Zorro in the public domain? Is there anything about Zorro that isn’t?

I’m not the only one who has these questions. You can’t just trust that Wikipedia has it right, but Zorro is on the list of public domain characters. But what exactly does it mean that Zorro is in the public domain, especially when Zorro Productions exists solely to license the trademarks and copyrights in the name, visual likeness, and character? How can this group exist when Zorro is in the public domain?

I learned that the character of Zorro may have been inspired by people or stories that ARE in the public domain. The Scarlet Pimpernel is an older story that pretty much set the stage for the super hero genre. The hero was a rich person hiding his true identity with disguises. Zorro, Batman, and a number of other characters, especially in comic books, would follow this archetype.

But history also has some influence on the character of Zorro. Joaquin Murrieta was considered the Robin Hood (another legendary hero in the public domain) of Mexico, and “the fictional character of Zorro was in part inspired by the stories about Murrieta”. Now, Murrieta the person may have existed, but the legend surrounding him may be more fiction than fact. His story resembles Batman’s in that circumstances in his life charge him with fighting back against what he considered evil and protecting others from those same evils.

Can I create a game based on the original story of Zorro which is known to be in the public domain? I obviously can’t make a game that was inspired with recently created films, but couldn’t I make my own interpretation of the original story? Couldn’t Sobini Films create a Zorro of the future without a Sony coming after them? Why does Sony believe it has this ability, or specifically why does Zorro Productions believe it has exclusive rights to Zorro?

I did find this San Francisco Business Times article detailing the family behind Zorro Productions. It seems that if they control nothing else other than the trademarks for merchandising, movies, books, games, slot machines, etc, then they pretty much control new creations based on Zorro, even if the copyright status of older works has expired. I had emailed the company, and President and CEO John Gertz responded to say that even if some works are public domain in the United States, the copyright may still be valid in other nations. Interestingly, I learned that a number of the trademarks for things such as video games, board games, role playing games, candy, and all sorts of merchandising were registered fairly recently. Some trademarks have expired, but others have apparently replaced them. Trademark searches are definitely not for those with weak hearts.

So, what’s the status of Zorro? Is he in the public domain, or does some company actually have the exclusive rights to him? It seems that an indie game developer might be taking on a lot of legal liability by trying to make a game based on Zorro. Besides the existing trademarks, the copyright status in the country of a customer might turn that sale into an infringement that costs you big. Unless you are prepared to discuss the matter with a lawyer (and pay for such a discussion!), it might be easier creating your own characters and building up a following. I imagine it might be possible to create your own version of a character like Zorro, but then you would have to step around trademarks that simply use the text “ZORRO” on a video game. Batman is pretty much a Zorro-like character, but he is different enough that he can become his own trademark. No one really owns Robin Hood as far as I know. And there are plenty of other famous legends that are probably not locked away from the public through exclusive rights such as copyright and trademark.

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Marketing/Business Politics/Government

LLC Annual Reports

It has been about a year since I first formed my LLC, and I have already submitted my tax return. Without going into specifics, GBGames, LLC posted losses in its first year. Looking back, I can say that one of my problems was that I didn’t do a very good job of managing my business (or myself!), but I can write about production and self-management in another post.

Last week I submitted my annual report to the Secretary of State, and it was easy.

In Forming an LLC in Illinois, I described the steps necessary to create a limited liability company for yourself. The initial payment of $500 required something other than a regular check, and I used a cashier’s check when I created GBGames, LLC. I was not sure if I would need to go through the trouble of getting another cashier’s check to pay the $250 annual fee, but it turns out that you could send a regular check.

Filing the report was pretty simple. The state sends you a form with your important information: business name, the primary contact, and principal business location. If nothing has changed, sign it, enclose the check, and mail it off.

The most confusing thing about the process was the difference between the address on the provided envelope and the form itself. I imagine it eventually gets to the same place, but why provide an envelope with a different address from the one that the form says it should go to?

In any case, GBGames, LLC will be going into its second year on March 22nd. Hopefully it will be a profitable one. B-)

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Game Development General Marketing/Business Politics/Government

An Indie Guide to Copyright Law

I recently finished writing an article called What an Indie Needs to Know About Copyright.

I wrote it because it still amazes me how many independent game developers do not know about copyright. Either they overestimate what it is that copyright does for them, or they underestimate what it does for other people. The entire purpose of copyright is sometimes confused! What can you do with public domain works? What about fair use? What IS copyright actually protecting?

I don’t pretend that I know everything about copyright law, but I have done a fair amount of research, and I hope I have condensed that knowledge into something useful and easy to read for other indie developers. In the end, there are a few resources you could consult for more details, and of course you should consult a lawyer about anything you aren’t sure about. It’s your business to know, after all, and the expense may be worth it.

I want to thank Keith “Uhfgood” Weatherby II and Kelli Lydon for proof reading and providing some great feedback.

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Game Development Games Geek / Technical Linux Game Development Politics/Government

Second Life Client Source Code Released as Open Source

I found this bit of news on LinuxGames.com. Second Life, the virtual world created by the players, has had its client code open sourced. Linden Labs released the client code under the GPL.

I’m excited by this news because it means that progress on the GNU/Linux client might actually move forward, putting it on par with the Windows and Mac clients.

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Games Marketing/Business Politics/Government

Inconvenient Copy Protection or Inconvenient Copy Protection?

I just got the latest issue of PC Gamer, and I was reading the letters to the editor when I came across the complaint of Jon Ferrell. Jon wrote about the annoyance and pain involved in needing to have a CD in the drive for no other reason but copy protection. Besides being inconvenient to have all of your game CDs available if you ever want to play any of them, if any of them break due to constantly being on the move, guess who replaces them? Not the manufacturer!

His letter continues, pointing out that the advent of hard drives eliminated the need for floppies to run all of your software, but then we regressed for the sake of copy protection. In fact, it got worse as we now have automatic, online checks for compliance.

So what is the PC Gamer response? “As much as digital rights management inconveniences paying customers, we find it difficult to criticize game makers for taking reasonable steps to protect themselves from widespread piracy.”

The editor goes on to say that now with systems like Steam, online checks make your CD-swapping days a memory…of course, some people don’t appreciate the fact that their limited bandwidth or their privacy are compromised in the name of copy protection. My favorite quote:

“If only someone would come up with an either/or scheme, where you could insert the disk or check in online, then we’d get the best of both worlds.”

WTF? Best of both worlds? Both worlds are pretty messed up, if you ask me, and it is pretty messed up to think that they are reasonable measures to take. It wasn’t too long ago when Stardock made the news for not using copy protection in Galactic Civilizations 2, and I seem to remember reading about it in PC Gamer, too. In fact, around that time, PC Gamer had an entire article dedicated to the problems with Starforce and rootkits. Best of both worlds? I’ll take the world of Stardock’s creation over draconian measures to protect companies from their paying customers , thank you very much.

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Games Politics/Government

Space Invaders and Politics

I have been looking into Space Invaders and how it was like to play the original. I played Love Invaders, which has an amusing intro (1978 was all just a big misunderstanding), and Invasion 3D, which actually had some interesting game mechanics, such as exploding UFOs that also destroyed nearby aliens and aliens that drop down to replace dead allies in the front lines.

During my research, I also found the Wikipedia entry on Space Invaders, and I learned that when it was first introduced in America, it apparently sparked outrage even that many years ago. I thought that the public rallying against video games was a fairly new phenomenon.

From Wikipedia:

This phenomenon led to the first outcries against video games by groups of concerned adults, who felt that the content of video games was a corrupting influence on children. In the case of Space Invaders, the issue was not usually the highly abstract and stylized violence, but with the fact that the game could not be “won” in any familiar sense. As framed by the critics, the player is powerless to do more than to delay an inevitable defeat. They suggested that the game taught an unwholesome life lesson, inculcated defeatism, and possibly was intended to put the United States at a disadvantage in its economic rivalry with Japan by undermining the competitive spirit of American youth.

Space Invaders taught defeatism? So is Grand Theft Auto sending a better message by actually allowing you to overcome the odds and win?

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Games Marketing/Business Politics/Government

Michigan Ordered to Pay Back Video Game Industry

A Michigan judge ordered the state to pay $182,349 to pay for legal fees the ESA incurred to challenge an unconstitutional law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. Governments now owe or have paid over $1,500,000 in legal fees trying to pass unconstitutional laws, including the more than $500,000 owed by the state of Illinois.

You can read the ESA press release.

In his decision declaring the law unconstitutional, the judge dismissed the state’s claim that the interactive nature of video games makes them less entitled to First Amendment protection. “The interactive, or functional aspect, in video games can be said to enhance the expressive elements even more than other media by drawing the player closer to the characters and becoming more involved in the plot of the game than by simply watching a movie or television show. It would be impossible to separate the functional aspects of a video game from the expressive, inasmuch as they are so closely intertwined and dependent on each other in creating the virtual experience. Not only does the Act not materially advance the state’s stated interest, but it appears to discriminate against a disfavored ‘newcomer’ in the world of entertainment media. Thus, ‘singling out’ the video game industry does not advance the state’s alleged goal.”

Eventually taxpayers have to notice this waste, right? I mean, maybe the first time a government official authorizes an unconstitutional law, he/she made a mistake, but after so many end up failing for the exact same reasons, it has to be obvious that these officials are purposefully wasting our money and our time, right?

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Game Development Games Marketing/Business Politics/Government

Illinois Anti-Video Game Law Appeal Rejected, Still Costing Taxpayers

According to Game Politics, Governor Blagojevich’s administration has not paid the ESA’s legal fees in the court fight over “Safe Games Illinois”, the law that the governor managed to pass last year before it was ruled unconstitutional. Since the payment of over half a million dollars has not been made, the ESA is now asking for almost $8,000 in interest.

Also reported at Game Politics, apparently Blagojevich appealed portions of the unconstitutional law, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has affirmed the initial ruling.

You can read the entire ruling at Game Politics.

And you can see why I voted third party in this last election. If not, let me point you to one of my earlier posts where I dissected the arguments used to support the unconstitutional laws. Statistics were used in a blatantly deceptive way, and the video game industry was targetted even though the same “supporting” arguments and evidence would have shown that the movie industry was even more of a danger to the children the law was supposed to be protecting. I personally became convinced that this law was just an example of opportunism and politics, and it showed me that I can’t trust this administration.