"Lionel Elie Mamane" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Sat, Jul 29, 2006 at 12:57:11PM +1000, Andrew Donnellan wrote:
On 7/29/06, Joe Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The FSF is really not concerned about online games. That is because
there is no way to block draconian DRM restrictions while
aproviding a means to autheniticate an official game client. They
really are the same problem.
The issue is how the GPLv3 affects a service provider's right to put
restrictions on usage of a service,
I don't see how it does that; the service provider can still by
contract / terms of use / ... rule out restrictions on usage of a
service, and terminate service to people that don't respect the
contract, or sue them for damages, ...
It does make enforcing these restrictions by program (rather than by
human) more difficult, or partially impossible, yes.
Very true. The clause certainly would allow the service to have a TOS
that says: "Use of modified clients for the purpose of cheating is strictly
prohibited".
There is no freedom problem with that.
It also does not prevent online services from attempting to check that a
client is official.
It simply requires that it be possible for a modified client to look the
same to the server.
As long as some types of modifications can be made with the program
appearing identical to the server.
Other types of modifcations might not be possible without the srver
noticing. For example some cheating modifications
might be server noticable (rate of fire too high, sudden increase in money
levels, etc).
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
