From: Frank Gruendel (newtontalk_at_pda-soft.de)
Date: Sun Jan 22 2006 - 11:52:31 PST
> Unless you can get Apple to release the ROM then
> you will need to own a Newton, for legal reasons.
> It doesn't need to work (though how you'll get the
> image off without it working is anyones
> guess) but you do need to own it.
Although I'm pretty sure that Apple couldn't care less,
I strongly doubt that the mere fact that you have a
ROM in your drawer would entitle you to use any Newton
OS on any device other than a Newton.
You'd maybe be on the safe side if Einstein only
worked if a ROM card was plugged in somewhere. But sucking
the software from the card and making it run on other
devices is almost certainly something that isn't covered
by the license you have accepted when you switched the
Newton on for the first time. Nobody would be happy
about someone buying his competitor's product because his
intellectual property happens to have been adjusted to
work on said product, and rightfully so.
I'm perfectly aware that "competitor" isn't quite the
right word here because there's no competition for a Newton
in the first place and since the Newton isn't sold anymore, there
can't be any real competition, but I think you get the picture.
Apart from that: Even if you DO have a Newton with an OS
2.1 ROM, who guarantees that the Newton will be disabled
in a way that ensures that the contents of your "licensed ROM"
can never run on two machines at the same time?
Let's face the facts. The majority out there would not buy
a Newton to make this work. Not even a dead one for cheap.
Not if they can download the ROM
image from next door's warez site. It'll pop up on sites
like this in an instant if there are enough people who want it.
Some dubious sites will even try to sell it.
And as for those that DO have a Newton, I doubt that they'd
run it over with their car after removing the ROM board.
Quite frankly I strongly doubt that they'd remove the ROM
board at all. Or that they'd stop using their Newton just
because its OS happens to run on their cell phone, too.
I admit I'm not a lawyer, and as I said I'm sure Apple
couldn't care less, but common sense and long experience
both with software vendors and software users make me think
that Apple's lawyers, if they made up their
minds to take action, would not accept the mere fact that
I own a ROM as sufficient legitimation to use its content
on any device not built by Apple.
Please be aware that this isn't said to discredit Einstein.
I consider it an amazing, almost unbelievable achievement,
and I have the deepest respect for those who pulled it off.
But I firmly believe that once Einstein is as fast
and as reliable as it need be to be an alternative for a
Newton (and I've no doubt that I'll see this day), we either
will have to accept the fact that we are running this without
having a license, or we will have to get in touch with Apple
and try to work something out.
Frank
-- Newton software and hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de
-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
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