Rod, at 13:52 on Apr 28 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BG> the hardware is easily (and probably quite legally) copyable,

PE> Pity no-one's done it then, which is what
PE> Rod was saying the Taiwanese should do.

RS> He's right.

I know you said that, and I happened to agree with you too, so apart from
Paul's comprehension needing some work, what's the problem?

BG> They came pretty close with the ZyXel modem though.

RS> Taint a copy of the USR hardware so close the user can use USR SDLs tho.

The comparison I'm making is that they're non-Rockwell, and used generic
components, driven purely by code, much the same as the USR.

BG> We were actually discussing copying the ROM code which
BG> controls the hardware, and that is indeed copyrighted material.

RS> Nope.

Yep.  Still got Russell's Courier?  If you type ATUSR at the prompt, you'll
see all of the credits and copyright information.

PE> And which Rod WASN'T planning on mass-producing at all.

BG> Missing the point completely.  As usual.

RS> Nope, you claimed some illegality. It certainly aint illegal to clone
RS> the hardware. 

Never said it was, Rod.

RS> It distinctly arguable if it IS actually illegal for the
RS> USER to load a USR SDL into a Taiwanese clone of the USR hardware.

The USR code is their own copyrighted intellectual material, but whilst it
probably is illegal to copy or use in non-USR modems, getting a court in
Taiwan or China to agree with them would be a tad dufficult IMO.

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20