It's a Trap!

apapadimoulis

This is the license agreement for a freely downloadable version of RailRoad Tycoon (http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/9853/Railroad+Tycoon+-+Free+Game).

Item e) in the list of things you are not allowed to do is interesting for a downloaded version.

(from Shawn D'Alimonte)

http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/9853/Railroad+Tycoon+-+Free+Game).

Item e) in the list of things you are not allowed to do is interesting for a downloaded version.

(from Shawn D'Alimonte)

kuroshin

So the software itself violates the license that the intended users must agree to ?

WTF!

PS: I hope the paper pushers dont come up with something like this - all encryption algorithms should run from a hard disk placed in a tungsten steel vault, and not from a CPU.

themagni

[quote user="kuroshin"]

So the software itself violates the license that the intended users must agree to ?

WTF!

PS: I hope the paper pushers dont come up with something like this - all encryption algorithms should run from a hard disk placed in a tungsten steel vault, and not from a CPU.

[/quote]

There's one regulation where an encryption module can't be left in an unattended area.

That includes radio repeaters that use encryption.

Think about that for a minute.

m0ffx

Well just put the repeater on the roof of a building that's occupied 24-7. Repeaters should always have someone responsible for them reasonably close by in any case, in case they start malfunctioning.

The WTF isn't that the software breaks the terms of it's own license; I suspect the law would in any case distinguish between actions carried out deliberately by the user, and spontaneously by the software with no user intervention.

It's that the license agreement hasn't been updated to take account of the fact that this is a download not a CD version. As the agreement stands, you've broken the law before having had the chance to read it, which would make that portion unenforcable in any cases.

However, this looks suspiciously like pirate or abandonware. In which case it's not remotely surprising that the license still refers to a non-existent CD-ROM, and that having made the download is illegal.

kuroshin

Ooops. Seems like I spoke too soon.

@__m0ffx: __I was just wondering on how the courts would determine whether the copying of the data from the CD to the hard disk was done by "The Software" or not.

Certainly there is no foolproof way to determine that, especially in the case of a "cheap" game. Proof of the game data files being copied to the disk can be spoofed by the game itself or can be erased by the "offender". Would there be any financial incentive in developing such a restrictive technology for a game. As of now, I dont think so.

@themagni: Yes, I get your point. But you see, there are people I know of, who think that locking the safe key blueprints inside the very safe it is designed to protect, makes the safe secure. Ok, bad analogy. Compromising the encryption algorithm shouldn't compromise anything, not even the key. But some people think otherwise and they could be practicing law somewhere.

versatilia

wtf indeed... "location-based site" ?!

I must check the word-based meaning of that with my carbon-based lawyer who works in a building-based room on an electricity-based PC connected using cable-based wires to the communications-based Internet...

[quote user="m0ffx"]

However, this looks suspiciously like pirate or abandonware. In which case it's not remotely surprising that the license still refers to a non-existent CD-ROM, and that having made the download is illegal.

[/quote]

No, the original Railroad Tycoon Deluxe has been released for free by Sid Meier as a promotion for the new Railroads game. If you want to try it:

http://www.2kgames.com/railroads/railroads.html

Apparently ripped direct from cd to server, but it does come with Dosbox to play it on!