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- Readers comments
-
-
- Hi Nigel,
- Just a note regarding your CMD
- comments. Firstly, there are a few
- enthusiasts who are working on devices
- that should supercede CMD devices such
- as the 1541 Ultimate here:
-
- http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.
- php?t=25622
-
- Indeed, the Lemon64 forums have become
- a hotbed of discussion on this very
- topic. For instance, general feelings
- towards Maurice can be found at
-
- http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.
- php?t=25371
-
- and FD2000 cloning is currently being
- discussed over at
-
- http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.
- php?t=26098
-
- For my own part, I'd be willing to loan
- out my spare SuperCPU 128 + SuperRAM
- card to anyone with the relevant
- knowledge and skill set to reverse
- engineer it for the purposes of
- creating a clone. Obviously, I'll need
- the unit back once finished. I could,
- of course sell the spare, but that way
- no one will benefit.
-
- People may contact me by email at
- retrobytespr@mail.com which is also my
- MSN Live Messenger address. Perhaps
- the future isn't so bleak after all?
-
- Regards,
- Shaun.
-
- COMMODORE FREE
- Hi Shaun yes I know there are some
- projects being looked at, I was hoping
- to generate some emails and comments
- and it seemed to work, many users have
- contacted me to tell me about projects,
- I still feel we need to pool resources
- together rather than people going off
- designing hardware we need to have some
- sort of central system so people know
- what is being worked on and don't go an
- redesign the same or similar thing
-
-
- Hi,
-
- In issue 16 you state an untruth,
- "Maurice owns the rights to Geos."
- Well, he does NOT. He just tells
- people this. I live in Michigan and so
- does Maurice. There I filed a
- COPYRIGHT lawsuit against Maurice, and
- his company (Click Here Software Co).
- He lost that suit by way of failing to
- respond.
-
- So let's get this right for all C64
- readers. Berkeley Software (the
- publishers of GEOS and copyright
- holder) NEVER gave up their copyrights
- to CMD. What CMD got from Berkeley was
- a right to DISTRIBUTE. That is, a right
- to make copies and sell them. This is
- NOT the same as a copyright.
-
- Your local Coke-a-Cola bottler has the
- RIGHT to produce the softdrink, but NO
- right to sell the formula to others.
- Maurice likes to TELL people the he is
- the copyright owner. But what he
- purchased was the right to distribute
- that CMD had. However, the ORIGINAL
- COPYRIGHT never changed hands.
-
- Here are my proofs:
- 1) This link is the search at the US
- Copyright office for "GEOS"
-
- http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgibin/
- Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=geos&Search
- _Code=TALL&PID=23966&SEQ=200802261
- 31716&CNT=25&HIST=1
-
- You'll not find CMD or ClickHere-
- Software listed on ANY copyright.
-
- 2) Here is the link for businesses
- registered in the state of Michigan:
-
- http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/
- sr_corp.asp
-
- You will NOT find any business listing
- for "Click Here Software" or "cmdrkey."
- Try it your self, here are the links:
- http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/rs
- _corp.asp?s_button=sname&v_search=
- cmdrkey&hiddenField=&search=Search
-
- http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/
- rs_corp.asp?s_button=sname&v_
- search=Click+Here+Software&
- hiddenField=&search=Search
-
- 3) IF Maurice has a copyright, all he
- needs to do is file it with the
- copyright office and pay $45. You'd
- think that a guy would spend that much
- to secure his rights. But that would
- mean that he would have to prove to
- the copyright office that the copyright
- was transferred to him. But I think he
- has NO DOCUMENTATION to prove any such
- transfer.
-
- 4) On Wikipedia I found: "The Apple II
- version of GEOS was released as
- freeware in August 2003. The Commodore
- 64/128 versions followed in FEB 04."
-
- Copyright law makes it clear, that
- once a copyright is given to another
- party, that the new party has the same
- rights as the originator. That is,
- once the Apple version was released
- into freeware, so to was the Commodore
- versions because they share the same
- codebase, screens and even logic.
-
- 5) On eBay, I was selling the C128
- Geos boot rom. Maurice tried to block
- that sale, by claiming that he was the
- copyright holder. That is when I
- demanded that he produce documentation
- of his claim. He did not produce ANY
- SUCH DOCUMENTATION. So I filled a
- lawsuit and formally requested his
- proof of copyright. He did not produce
- any such documentation. Maurice
- abandoned his claim with eBay.
-
- 6) This link shows that Breadbox owns
- the copyright to GEOS on ALL hardware
- platforms.
-
- http://www.breadbox.com/newsdetail.asp?
- id=40
-
- Breadbox Pens GEOS Exclusive License
- and Ownership Rights Agreement with
- Geoworks, Port Richey, Fla, 29 APR 03.
-
- Under the terms of an amended
- licensing agreement with Geoworks of
- Emeryville, California, effective
- April 1, 2003, Breadbox Computer
- Company, LLC of Port Richey, Florida,
- has obtained the worldwide exclusive
- and perpetual rights to the patented
- GEOS operating system for all hardware
- platforms. As part of the agreement
- and in addition to undisclosed
- financial and other terms, Breadbox
- has agreed to take on certain of
- Geoworks' technical support
- liabilities to third parties. In
- addition, under the terms of the
- agreement, all ownership rights of the
- Geos operating system will pass to
- Breadbox at an undisclosed date. Prior
- to the ownership transfer, Breadbox
- has the right to bring claims against
- third parties for violations of
- Geoworks' intellectual property rights
- in the licensed technology.
-
- "We are very pleased to have reached
- an amicable agreement with Geoworks
- and we look forward to our continuing
- role as the keeper of the GEOS flame.
- With a little luck and our continued
- perseverance and talented Breadbox
- team, we aim to put GEOS back on the
- map as a viable alternative. GEOS has
- a long standing history of being on
- the cutting edge and of being the
- software of choice for the first PDA,
- the Casio Zoomer, and later the
- Hewlett Packard OmniGo and the Sharp
- PT-9000 PDA; the Canon StarWriter Pro
- 5000 personal publishing system;
- Brother Ensemble Word Processors; the
- first PDN, the Brother GeoBook; the
- first wireless Communicator, the Nokia
- 9000; the GlobalPC; the award winning
- PC desktop software that still runs
- nicely on a 386 and was selected for
- IBM's Eduquest educational computer
- platform; and much, much more. We will
- revive and continue this legacy into
- the future" stated Frank S. Fischer,
- President & CEO of Breadbox.
-
-
- Which begs the question, can Maurice
- legally offer GEOS as his website as
- freeware?
-
- My conclusion is that neither he, nor
- his company, has ever been granted any
- GEOS copyright. He only has a
- distribution right. The difference is
- significant. A right to distribute
- means that Berkeley Software cannot
- win a suit against Maurice. But it
- does not mean that Maurice can file a
- lawsuit against anyone else that is
- selling GEOS. Only the copyright
- holder can do that - which Maurice is
- not.
-
- This was my argument in my case
- against Maurice. Maurice did not even
- file an answer.
-
- *** One note, it is NOT illegal to run
- a business in Michigan without filing
- with the state. I am not saying that
- Maurice has done anything illegal. I
- just think that he either lied or has
- deluded himself into thinking that a
- distribution right means that he has
- the copyright.
-
- Eric
-
- COMMODORE FREE
- Hi Eric, I think you are correct with
- your comments, and it looks like you
- have had experience of the problem, I
- did report about the Breadbox company
- in an earlier issue of Commodore Free
- magazine under the title ?What
- happened to Geos? as a matter of fact
- I was quite tempted to purchase a copy
- to run on an old laptop as it looked
- quite slick it seemed to have been
- updated to something called ensamble
- Geos is still available for mobile
- devices:
- http://www.breadbox.com/geos.asp
-
- Nigel,
-
- The sad part is that IF Maurice would
- just reach out to the community, I am
- sure that others would help him build
- the CMD hardware and he would MAKE
- money. One person that has the stuff
- to do PCB would makes them. Another
- person would do the next part and so
- on. Here in Michigan we have a HUGE
- number of skilled auto workers who know
- how to manufacture stuff.
-
- Anyway, it is too bad that people are
- loosing their money.
-
- Eric
- COMMODORE FREE
- AGREE it seems Maurce has been offered
- help on numerous occasions but every-
- time turns the helpers down or doesn't
- respond
-
- COMMODORE FREE
- I was trying to find a good guide on
- updating Geos, I never found this and
- didn't have time to create it,
- Although a reader did send in this
- information so I included it the
- Readers section as information (if
- that makes sense. Remember though
- Maurice still has lots of outstanding,
- orders and ordering items may take a
- long time?
-
-