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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeff Wilder" data-source="post: 4679406" data-attributes="member: 5122">(I am a lawyer.  I'm not an IP lawyer.  Please keep that in mind.)I stopped reading this thread at page 19.  If anybody's covered my points below since, I apologize.If people are really interested in why it's a bad idea to allow the violation of copyright, beyond the diminishment of the IP's value, look up "estoppel," "waiver, implied," and "adverse possession" in a decent legal dictionary or good legal website.These are very compelling legal arguments in nearly any context -- the first two especially, though the latter is particularly applicable to property concepts -- and while I can't say for certain that they apply to copyright enforcement, I'd be surprised if arguing for one or all wouldn't make a good case, in the event that WotC knowingly allowed copyright violations.One other thing I'll mention just as a point of interest:The thing about copyright law (and other facets of intellectual property law) is that it always lags behind technology.  Up until 15 or 20 years ago, that wasn't a huge deal ... being 10 years behind technology didn't mean much.  But now?  Being 10 years behind technology is immense.  You really never know, in IP litigation, when a judge is going to finally recognize that the gap between "how technology is actually used" and "how IP law assumes technology will be used" is -- relatively speaking -- getting wider and wider, and try to shrink it.That's not a risk that the holder of a valuable IP is going to relish taking.  (What are the implications of this in practice?  Well, trying to figure out the answer to that is what makes it interesting ... )Anyway, I agree with the people that say WotC is just making a smart business decision.  I also agree with the people for whom this behavior diminishes WotC in their eyes.  It surprises me how many people -- on both sides -- don't seem to recognize that these aren't mutually exclusive positions.WotC is not the White Knight it used to be.  Folks can make their purchasing decisions with that in mind.</blockquote>

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