Re: Shrinkwrap Licenses - Reply re UCC2b

Patrice Lyons <plyons/0003432266[_at_]mcimail.com> wrote:
>
> there is no principled distinction between program and data...

That's an awful generalization.

In the computer game world, at least, games often consist of executable (DLL and EXE) files, and data files that contain art and music. Executables and data can be mixed up, but in practice they're created separately, can be infringed separately, and a license to modify and distribute one but not the other is sometimes appropriate to imply. Game data files can often be modified using general purpose editors, or special purpose editors distributed by the same companies that created the game, and whether and when such modifications are appropriate requires different analysis than whether and when similar operations on source code may be legal.

My point being that, in some situations at least, data and program code are different, and distinguishing between them is important.

• Charles

Charles Kramer
<tilyou1[_at_]aol.com> Received on Tue Sep 01 1998 - 00:58:45 GMT