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An article in the LA times mentions the Lego company stance on Mindstorms fan
software development, as a counterpoint to the Sony stance. Sony is cracking
down on fans' who modify or make competing development environments for its
robotic dog, Aibo. As we all know, Lego has taken the opposite view,
encouraging fans to make their own Mindstorms environments (as long as they
follow the fair play guidelines).
Story at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-000086726nov01.story
excerpts:
"Sony Corp. is using a controversial U.S. law aimed at protecting intellectual
property to pull the plug on a Web site that helps owners of Aibo, Sony's
popular and pricey robotic pet, teach their electronic dogs new tricks."
"Last week, Sony executives sent a letter to the operator of a Web site, http://
www.aibohack.com, alleging that much of the site's contents-programs and
software tools that can modify the Aibo's behavior--was created and distributed
in ways that violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act."
"MindStorms, as the kit is called, offers users the ability to add motors and an
onboard computer to control the creation's behavior. Almost as soon as the toy
was introduced, enthusiasts rewrote the software to allow for more complex
operation. After much consideration, Lego decided to endorse such hacking,
provided that nobody turns their software into a commercial product and that
Lego trademarks aren't used."
-Alfred
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Lego Good, SONY BAD!
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| One key difference is that most (all?) Mindstorm third-party software does not include _any_ intellectual property of TLG, but is a complete rewrite of something. The Aibo mods mentioned are patched versions of Sony-owned Aibo code. This is (...) (23 years ago, 2-Nov-01, to lugnet.robotics)
| | | Re: Lego Good, SONY BAD!
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| (...) how it worked...then going on to write entirely new software based on that understanding...instead he modified one of Sony's existing programs and posted the result on his web site. Clearly that's not fair - and a clear breach of Sony's (...) (23 years ago, 2-Nov-01, to lugnet.robotics)
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