However, Cryptic definitely appeared like they would eventually win, and the outcome there made it pretty clear that lawsuits like this are generally a waste of time, anyway.
Maybe it was the merchandising by Axanar Productions?
Axanar Productions set up a Donor Store which sold Axanar-related merchandise, including models of the ships in the movie. This was on top of the Indiegogo and Kickstarter campaigns, which raised over a million by themselves.
That seems to be a step beyond what anyone other fan production has done, and might have been the final straw for CBS and Paramount.
Like Apple, Nintendo is primarily a hardware company that sees their games as a way to get people to invest in their hardware. They're well aware that people would buy their games if they were available on smartphones, but that would undermine their core business, which is selling consoles.
Oddly enough, it's the only song of his for which he [I]doesn't[/I] hold the copyright himself. So, while he enthusiastically supported Cmdr. Hadfield on this, and went to the publisher asking them to grant Hadfield permission, the decision to only do one- or two-year licenses falls on the publisher, not Bowie.
Is it silly? Absolutely. But let's make sure we point the finger where the blame actually falls.
It sounds like Glu is letting the contracts for existing providers lapse without giving them the option to renew, then, when gamers complain, simply saying "Hey, they let their contracts lapse!"
Also, PC games aren't immune to this: for example, Neverwinter Nights and Flight Simulator X used the same network, and Glu pulled the plug on their servers without notice in 2012.
The key here is that, when the Wii debuted in 2005, they didn't have an online network for it in place, so they licensed one. Another company, Glu, bought that company, and has since then been shutting off service for its customers. Why? No idea, as they're not talking. But presumably Nintendo's current contract is up, they're not getting an option to renew, and modifying games shipped to customers isn't an option.
So the moral of the story here is Nintendo should have better anticipated how online gaming was going to take off when they launched the Wii, and taken responsibility for their own network...but that's already been made painfully obvious to them.
So is this covered under SCORPION STARE, for use by authorized MAGINOT BLUE STARS users, as part of the preparation for CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN, as part of the remaining Special Operations Executive branch, the Laundry Service?
YET ANOTHER UPDATE (5:24 Eastern): Microsoft has confirmed to Kotaku that the "family sharing" and digital cloud library access features that were planned to be in the Xbox One are indeed gone thanks to today's policy reversal. Xbox one users will also apparently have to download a "Day One" patch to enable the offline mode.
Except that most of the free software I use isn't ad-driven. Certainly, Open Office, Paint.Net, and Inkscape aren't adware.
I was more referencing Google's own apps: GMail, Google Docs, Youtube, etc. They're free (well, unless you have a paid business account). This isn't done out of the goodness of Google's heart.
My thinking is that the real reason Android is free is because its developers wanted to use Linux as a base. That pretty much forced them to continue under the GPL.
Not necessarily. As a counter-example, think of webOS, which, while it was still active, was my preferred mobile OS: used Linux, not free, and much of it wasn't open source. Fairly open? Sure: look at how active, even today, the modding community is with webOS, and Open webOS is helping continue it. Running Linux, though, didn't force Palm or HP to give away webOS for free, though.
And quite frankly, I'm glad they did. There's been a lot of stuff that free Android has made possible that would have been a lot more difficult, if not impossible without it: stuff that has nothing to do with Google or even mobile phones.
>That's the real issue here: free software isn't always or even usually as good as the paid-for alternatives, yet people use free stuff because it's good enough.
Something I've read elsewhere springs to mind: if the product you're using was given to you for free, you're not the customer, you're the product.
That's largely been my distaste with Android in general, and ad-driven software in particular. Unfortunately, ad-driven software on smartphones is starting to become the norm, and Android has become such a "default" in the industry it's hard to go with the competitors (other than Apple's "walled garden", where the fact that you're a product is just as apparent).
It's worth than that: reading OOTB's blog while believing in copyright sanity would violate his blog's terms of service, opening you up to federal charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, unless you live under the 9th Circuit Court's jurisdiction.
Re: Re: Deja Vu
You're correct that it was settled, but trademark infringement was also one of the issues brought up as well:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-11-11-marvel-sues-over-avatars_x.htm
http://www.peterdavid.net/2004/11/14/marvel-vs-city-of-heroes/
However, Cryptic definitely appeared like they would eventually win, and the outcome there made it pretty clear that lawsuits like this are generally a waste of time, anyway.
Deja Vu
Didn't we already have this pretty much sorted out after the Marvel lawsuit vs. City of Heroes?
Re: What Makes This Project Different?
Maybe it was the merchandising by Axanar Productions?
Axanar Productions set up a Donor Store which sold Axanar-related merchandise, including models of the ships in the movie. This was on top of the Indiegogo and Kickstarter campaigns, which raised over a million by themselves.
That seems to be a step beyond what anyone other fan production has done, and might have been the final straw for CBS and Paramount.
Taylor Swift may not be the savior that artists need, but she is the savior that artists deserve.
Not surprising
Like Apple, Nintendo is primarily a hardware company that sees their games as a way to get people to invest in their hardware. They're well aware that people would buy their games if they were available on smartphones, but that would undermine their core business, which is selling consoles.
Not exactly Bowie's fault..
It came up the first time through this mess, but David Bowie doesn't actually hold the copyright for "Space Oddity".
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/apology-to-david-bowie
Oddly enough, it's the only song of his for which he [I]doesn't[/I] hold the copyright himself. So, while he enthusiastically supported Cmdr. Hadfield on this, and went to the publisher asking them to grant Hadfield permission, the decision to only do one- or two-year licenses falls on the publisher, not Bowie.
Is it silly? Absolutely. But let's make sure we point the finger where the blame actually falls.
Re: Re: Re:
As per below, the reason Nintendo's doing this is because the service they used for their online services on the Wii and DS is being cut off:
http://docs.poweredbygamespy.com/wiki/How_does_GameSpy_support_the_Nintendo_Wii_%26_DS%3F
http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/12/07/2250252/gamespys-new-owners-begin-disabling-multiplayer-without-warning
http://www.poweredbygamespy.com/2012/12/11/gamespy-response-2/
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-02-27-hundreds-of-wii-ds-games-losing-online-play
It sounds like Glu is letting the contracts for existing providers lapse without giving them the option to renew, then, when gamers complain, simply saying "Hey, they let their contracts lapse!"
Re:
Also, PC games aren't immune to this: for example, Neverwinter Nights and Flight Simulator X used the same network, and Glu pulled the plug on their servers without notice in 2012.
And don't get me started on City of Heroes...
The thing is Nintendo isn't really doing this by choice:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-02-27-hundreds-of-wii-ds-games-losing-online-play
The key here is that, when the Wii debuted in 2005, they didn't have an online network for it in place, so they licensed one. Another company, Glu, bought that company, and has since then been shutting off service for its customers. Why? No idea, as they're not talking. But presumably Nintendo's current contract is up, they're not getting an option to renew, and modifying games shipped to customers isn't an option.
So the moral of the story here is Nintendo should have better anticipated how online gaming was going to take off when they launched the Wii, and taken responsibility for their own network...but that's already been made painfully obvious to them.
So is this covered under SCORPION STARE, for use by authorized MAGINOT BLUE STARS users, as part of the preparation for CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN, as part of the remaining Special Operations Executive branch, the Laundry Service?
(Too obscure?)
The mistake you're making is assuming that the UK is a free country. At this point, I'm no longer sure there is any such thing.
Some say he knows two facts about ducks, and they're both wrong.
From the Ars Technica article:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/06/rumor-microsoft-set-to-reverse-controversial-game-licensing-policies/
I can't open the Kotaku article at work, but the URL is here:
http://kotaku.com/surprise-xbox-one-drm-reversal-requires-day-one-patch-514419715?rev=1371676969
Re:
(?■_■)
Yeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh....
Re: Re: Re: Wait, what?
I had it preloaded on both my Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone and my Lenovo IdeaTab A2107 tablet. I suspect plenty of other phones had it preloaded, too.
Re: Wait, what?
Hangouts replaces Talk, which is a preloaded app, which is how AT&T is making the claim it's preloaded.
As a San Diegan, all i can say is...
"You stay classy, San Diego!"
Re: Re: Re:
Except that most of the free software I use isn't ad-driven. Certainly, Open Office, Paint.Net, and Inkscape aren't adware.
I was more referencing Google's own apps: GMail, Google Docs, Youtube, etc. They're free (well, unless you have a paid business account). This isn't done out of the goodness of Google's heart.
My thinking is that the real reason Android is free is because its developers wanted to use Linux as a base. That pretty much forced them to continue under the GPL.
Not necessarily. As a counter-example, think of webOS, which, while it was still active, was my preferred mobile OS: used Linux, not free, and much of it wasn't open source. Fairly open? Sure: look at how active, even today, the modding community is with webOS, and Open webOS is helping continue it. Running Linux, though, didn't force Palm or HP to give away webOS for free, though.
And quite frankly, I'm glad they did. There's been a lot of stuff that free Android has made possible that would have been a lot more difficult, if not impossible without it: stuff that has nothing to do with Google or even mobile phones.
I'll agree with that.
Re:
Re: Re: Re: You keep mistaking what sue-crazy lawyers do with copyright.
It's worth than that: reading OOTB's blog while believing in copyright sanity would violate his blog's terms of service, opening you up to federal charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, unless you live under the 9th Circuit Court's jurisdiction.