[MUD-Dev] Genuinely brief intro

[Jeff Kesselman]

At 09:33 PM 6/11/97 PST8PDT, JC Lawrence wrote:
>In <199706111412.JAA22412 at matrix.eden.com>, on 06/11/97 
>   at 09:07 AM, "Dr. Cat" <cat at eden.com> said:
>
>>> There is also the other side of the coin to consider. If you learn
>>> something from this list (or from a newsgroup, for that matter), whether
>>> it is a technique or just the glimmer of an idea, it would be proper to
>>> not use it in your commercial products without the permission of the
>>> originator of the idea.
>
>If you post an idea on this list (or in a newsgroup for that matter),
>its effectively public domain.  You have lost all rights and
>ownership.  If you don't want to lose that excusivity, then don't post
>about it. 

While I agree with the sentiment I have to remind all that ideas are, by
definition, public domain.

The only ways you can protect an idea at all is through "trade secret" (a
difficult thing that requires it truly be original in full land that you
really discuss it with noone.)

Copyright only covers implementations.

Patents only cover processes, and only for which there are no prior art.

Trademark only covers your name or product name as used to identify
yourself or your product.

JK