Tetris Company Cracks Down Again
The giganto-uberblog (worship them!) Boing Boing has posted a story on The Tetris Company cracking down on a Mac shareware version of Tetris, and horror scandal horror has ensued.
According to correspondent Kirk: "Quinn, probably the most attractive of all tetris clones, got a nastygram from The Tetris Company. This program, which has been around for years, but which recently got enough publicity to draw it to the attention of the Tetris Company, is no longer being distributed. I don't know the legal basis for this nastygram - after all, there are dozens if not hundreds of tetris clones - but the developer certainly has no resources to fight the big magilla."
The official Quinn website has a note from the developers in question: "While both Simon and I (Chris Wells) feel that Quinn does not violate any trademark or copyright law international or otherwise, we have decided to cease distribution while we explore our position and where we can go from here."
Not sure if BB is trying to paint this as 'big guy vs. little guy' scandal - there's been plenty of vitriol directed in the direction of The Tetris Company before - but if it's got identical tetrominos in an identical gameplay style to Tetris, then I think The Tetris Company has a point. Not so keen on their evolving 'Tetris Guidelines', mind you, but that's a whole other kettle of blocks.
Comments
i admit i have not read up on this particular issue in detail, but i tend to agree with you: the tetris company may have a point. and just because there are hundreds of tetris clones doesn't make it right...
Posted by: bunnyhero | July 10, 2006 9:35 AM
i think the "uproar" is that Quinn has been around since 2002 and has had online play since 2004.
Yet it's only when Tetris Co have online plans themselves that they decide to crack down. Shame on them.
Posted by: matt | July 10, 2006 11:40 AM
I thought that concepts couldn't be copyrighted, though, only actual data. That's why it's legal to release an album covering copyrighted songs as long as you're not reproducing the actual audio data of the original work...no?
Posted by: Shih Tzu | July 10, 2006 1:54 PM
The Wikipedia article says that The Tetris Company apparently holds no patents on Tetris. They only have a trademark on the name. But the little guys don't have the resources to fight a lawsuit.
Posted by: C | July 10, 2006 1:59 PM
Hmmm, seems the 'little guys' don't have the resources to come up with a game design of their own either.
Honestly, do you think when they developed it they were unaware of tetris? and yet they still went ahead and (the important bit) made a business out of it. I wouldnt shed a tear for someone who bases their business on that kind of practice.
Here's another travesty:
http://www.bubble-bobble-games.com/
I can't believe that site is still up and running.
Posted by: Fader Gladiator | July 11, 2006 3:06 AM
I also wonder how Popcap can get away with ripping of Japanese classics such as Puzzloop (they call their version Zuma) and Guru Logi Champ (they call their version Pixelus). Maybe because they think small Japanese developers won't have the power to take legal action, either?
Posted by: matt | July 11, 2006 6:21 AM
That BoingBoing post is exactly the kind of shit that made me stop reading it. Doctorow once again finding an excuse to RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and be all GRR THE MAN IS KEEPING US DOWN and all that nonsense.
Posted by: Tetsuo | July 12, 2006 12:14 AM