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Gizmodo says Tris getting pulled from the App Store
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I was wondering when this was going to come up. Anyone claiming having any more "rights" to this particular game than anyone else is full of sh*t. Thieves standing on the shoulders of thieves. It's thieves all the way down. The only reason anyone is able to say squat about anything is because of the unbelievable amount of money that suddenly appeared when it took off. Like Alexanders The Great's kingdom, it's history ever since has been a case of worthless idiots fighting over slices of the pie the originator never got to taste.
Ethics are out the window on this one. Still, you'd need a ton of money to fight it. Downloaded now. I won't be DL'ing any of EA's titles after this total d*ck move.
I agree. And this wouldn't be the first time EA's made a d!ck move either, this is one of many and as such it has been years since i purchased anything from EA.
Wow, did either of you even READ the article? The Tetris Company is NOT EA Games. EA Games just has a license from the Tetris Company to use the name Tetris and the two seconds of Tetris music in the beginning. I don't think EA Games appears ANYWHERE in the article. What you're doing is like if Microsoft decided that HP can't use Windows, then you go rip on Dell. Just cause EA Games has Tetris in the App Store, doesn't mean it was them (especially since the article doesn't mention them at all and explicitly says the Tetris Company).
I believe that the best reason not to is that it's against the iPhone SDK NDA (at least that's what I understood when I agreed to it...besides...that's also why Adium can't release yet...cause it uses GNU which requires source code to be public but the NDA prevents that).
The reason we're ripping EA is because almost undoubtedly, EA had something to do with this. They know their own official App is losing large amounts of potential sales to Tris, and likely went to TTC to prompt them to threaten the Tris developer.
The exact same thing happened with Scrabulous + Facebook, of which EA had an officially-licensed Scrabble game that debuted on Facebook and whaddya know, on the same day EA's version drops, Hasbro/Mattel drops a C&D order on the makers of Scrabulous. Coincidence? Of course not, it's much easier to profit and gain in popularity when only a single company has a monopoly on a particular game....Irregardless, if you knew of EA's company practices and the way they treat customers and their competition, you'd probably hate them as well.
The exact same thing happened with Scrabulous + Facebook, of which EA had an officially-licensed Scrabble game that debuted on Facebook and whaddya know, on the same day EA's version drops, Hasbro/Mattel drops a C&D order on the makers of Scrabulous. Coincidence? Of course not, it's much easier to profit and gain in popularity when only a single company has a monopoly on a particular game....Irregardless, if you knew of EA's company practices and the way they treat customers and their competition, you'd probably hate them as well.
That may be true, even if it was 99% possible...but it doesn't mean they did. Then again, I haven't had to deal with EA Games at all. Their desktop games worked perfectly for me, and I didn't have to contact them.
But like I said, even if it was 99% true, it's kind of unfair to rip on them especially if this might be the time where they didn't (then again, life's unfair :/).
When does the intellectual property protection expire?
When does the copyright, trademark, whatever, expire? They don't last forever.
When does the copyright, trademark, whatever, expire? They don't last forever.
I just thought I would chime in, and mention something that nobody seems to be mentioning - Tetris has a very interesting legal history.
I think they're mainly using that to deactivate malicious applications.
Technically NetShare is worse than Tris (considering if the developer had the time, he could win...if the US Library of Congress says that a game can't be copyrighted, only patented, then he'll win). And yet it still works.
So I doubt that deactivation will even flutter by Steve Job's mind.
I knew this was going to get pulled as soon as I saw it. It just reeks or scrabulus/scrabble.
But thank you MR for letting us know this kind of info. I really appreciate it.
But thank you MR for letting us know this kind of info. I really appreciate it.
It's the original Tetris that is truly worthy of praise. I could see the argument about 'principle' if this particular fake/copy/version had significant additional features that go beyond just simple variations, but otherwise, in principle the developer really is in no position to say much of principles. It's not his baby to be upset about. I totally sympathize with the 'little guy' and admire his efforts, but even if there was a court battle, I would want him to lose -- on matter of principle. Of course, it's not really EA's baby either, but the argument still holds.
Actually, no. Copyright does not cover the entire game, in particular the idea for a game. At least, according to the U.S Copyright Office. See here.
this is why i like Cydia. (just about) everything is free and we dont have to deal with this copyright garbage....
You won't think it's garbage the day YOU create something and copyright keeps some big corporation from copying YOUR idea. But oh no, don't let a big corporation come down on the little guy.
Copyright really protects the little guy. The person that invents something. It would be so easy for a big company to see something somewhere and immediately put it into mass production.
But hey, if you don't have any goals or aspirations then maybe copyright IS just a hassle.
I looked for the EA version of Tetris and cannot find it on the UK store. Is it USA only?
I think it would be odd if EA owned the rights to the game that they would only sell it in one market.
I think it would be odd if EA owned the rights to the game that they would only sell it in one market.
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your right it's not in the UK. Crazy ain't it. I don't really like tris. Would much prefer to pay a few pounds for the proper version.
And where's eBay ? Still not in the uk ??
your right it's not in the UK. Crazy ain't it. I don't really like tris. Would much prefer to pay a few pounds for the proper version.
And where's eBay ? Still not in the uk ??
The *concept* of a game cannot be copyrighted, and has not been copyrighted. The only way copyright could be used against him is if he copied the code/artwork/music from another implementation of Tetris.
The word 'Tetris' can also be trademarked, and the concept of a game can sometimes be patented, but patents don't last anywhere near as long as copyright.
Of course, since he doesn't have the money to fight this, it doesn't matter. A big company can force him into submission even if there is no case. A sad state of affairs.
The word 'Tetris' can also be trademarked, and the concept of a game can sometimes be patented, but patents don't last anywhere near as long as copyright.
Of course, since he doesn't have the money to fight this, it doesn't matter. A big company can force him into submission even if there is no case. A sad state of affairs.
Considering EA paid money for the rights to distribute copies of those games is it any surprise that they are trying to protect that investment from people creating and distributing unauthorized clones? For once I don't think EA has done anything unreasonable. If the makers of Tris and Scrabulous paid to license those games and EA came in later and paid more for an exclusive license (like they did w/the NFL in order to kill the NFL2K Series) that would be a different story. But I really can't feel for people distributing unauthorized copies/clones when they get shut down by the people who do own the rights to the games. Pay for the rights or come up w/some original content of your own.
Lethal