>>> (Caveat: until someone comes forward to claim legitimate ownership.)
>> Jup, but acording to your ridiculous justice this means
>> bancrupcy for the next 3 generation to anyon of 'Us'.
> Not necessarily. I think some of this old technology could arguably be
> considered in the public domain, with companies having folded, owners
> having died, etc. Case in point: the IMSAI 8080. I think whatever
> vestiges of ownership of the IMSAI 8080 have been lost to time after the
> transformation into ComputerLand, the subsequent bankruptcy and then the
> re-birth of ComputerLand as Vanguard. This is what I gather after having
> read the book _Once Upon a Time in Computerland_.
In terms of copyright there is no thing like
'lost ownership' Copyright (and other intelectual
property) is always originated by natural persons,
And if any kind of licencee (company, temopral owner)
is closed and no legal successor is available the rights
return to the original Author/Inventor.
> Also, who owns the rights to the Altair 8800 now? Percom? ICOM? Ed
> Roberts? WHat happened after all the buyouts and bakruptcies?
Don't know, but they are not free.
Sad but true.
Gruss
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
These days, but I think 1983 is a little different. And if a book is
successfull, why wouldn't they think about a second edition. The
compelling reason to save a floppy version is that they might want
to go back and edit something.
>>if an author is proud of his book, he won't trash the manuscripts.
>
>Such grave pronouncements. You might as well argue that they
>shouldn't throw away their drafts. Fact is, they do. Once the
>book is in print, they've got a real copy. What compelling
>reason did he have to save the old floppy version? It's not
>as if he thought there was any demand for a second edition.
>Computer books come and go in six weeks these days.
>
>- John
>
>
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I said it was _like_ a model 100, not an actual 100. It's very
different, but the idea is similar.
>Yes the RS-232 is fully complient.. I use mine all the time..
>Goto www.TRS-80.com you will find out all you need there..
>Even a Model 100 user's club on the internet..
>
>Phil...
>
>Max Eskin wrote:
>>
>> I was just given one. It's a little Tand Model 100-like thing, it
>> came with a user's guide and some kind of book for learning BASIC.
>> Unfortunately, the manual is rather selective. Could someone tell me
>> if I can use the serial port on the back for RS-232 communications,
>> and what are the pin equivalents? If not, is there any kind of
>> modification that could be made? Also, does anyone have any software
>> cartridges for it they would be willing to send me? What is assembly
>> like for this processor? Does anyone have any comments about it?
>>
>> ______________________________________________________
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>
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if an author is proud of his book, he won't trash the manuscripts.
>
>On Wed, 2 Sep 1998, John Foust wrote:
>
>> who've since tossed their floppies with the original manuscript.
>> Without this, we're back to scanning and OCR and proofreading.
>> They'd thought that absolutely no one was interested. For example,
>> Sheldon Leemon, author of "Mapping the C-64", tossed his old Atari
>> floppies that had held his manuscript.
>
>This is something I hadn't considered. The authors of some of the most
>classic of computer books (I could name a bunch of Apple ones, like
>_Benath Apple DOS_ for one) should be contacted and asked to hold onto
>their original manuscripts if they still have them. While it wouldn't
be
>a total loss if they are thrown out, since at least the book survives
in
>thousands of coipies, it would be nice to have the original manuscript
>around in digital form to be preserved for millenia.
>
>I wonder if this is something we could turn into a concerted effort, a
>drive to root out old computer book authors, or if anyone is really
>interested.
>
>Sam Alternate e-mail:
dastar(a)siconic.com
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Ever onward.
>
> September 26 & 27...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
> See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
> [Last web site update: 08/25/98]
>
>
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HGC _could_ stand for Hercules Graphics Controller. I don't know.
The display... are you sure you haven't shorted anything with solder?
Have you tried using a VOM in O mode to directly stimulate the display?
Touching it to various pins should get various lines to appear.
>'fixing' my portable '286 box with LCD display (which I think is
_barely_
>classic).
>
>The cable leading to the display had had three of its wires pulled out,
>and I figured that this was the reason for the very weak and grungy
>display.
>
>I managed to solder little bits of wire into the holes and solder the
>stray wires from the cable onto those, but then I realized that I
couldn't
>plug the thing in anymore as the holes (from the underside) had filled
>with solder. :/
>
>And I also realized that my solution was a bad one because the
protruding
>wires would short against the metal frame that holds the LCD panel in
>place.
>
>So I used the connector from the C64 keyboard instead.
>
>Anyway, I got the cable rebuilt. I've tested it with the multimeter
and
>all the wires make contact and go to the right places.
>
>But now I can't get any kind of display from the LCD panel. It doesn't
>light up at all. It looks like it's totally dead.
>
>I put a monochrome display adapter card in the machine, and it will
boot
>up with that and display fine on a monochrome monitor. So the machine
is
>_mostly_ OK.
>
>I'm not sure the power supply is OK, though. It squeals now.
>
>So basically, I've turned an ill-looking display into a dead display,
and
>for some reason a healthy power supply is now sounding sick.
>
>Bleah!
>
>Anyway, the machine has a special card in it for driving the LCD panel.
>It is labeled "LCD & HGC CARD". What is "HGC"? It has an external
9-pin
>port on it and I tried plugging the monochrome display into it, but the
>picture was all distorted so I figured it was using a different
frequency
>or something. The cursor comes out about an inch wide, and none of the
>craracters are recognizable, possibly just from overwritten numerous
times
>in the same scanline.
>
>I don't know where I'll go from here. I'm just taking a breather
>before continuing. I wanted to be rebuilding the TS1016 RAM pack by
now
>instead of still messing with this damn PC. <s>
>
>Oh, and BTW, I electrocuted myself last night when I touched some
exposed
>wiring going to the LCD panel. It surprised me that there was that
much
>juice going through there. My thumb and forefinger are still tender.
But
>the display was still working at that point, and looking much sharper
than
>it had been. But the machine wouldn't close up properly because the
>connector was too thick and that's why I went back in today, just to
>reverse the cable so that the big fat Commodore connector was on the
>inside instead of on the LCD panel end. (Which meant pulling the
connector
>apart and rebuilding it the other way, just so it would fit in.)
>
>I haven't crossed any wires, I haven't plugged anything in backwards,
and
>I haven't dropped anything into the machine, so I don't know what I've
>done wrong.
>
><s>
>
>
>Doug Spence
>ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
>http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
>
>
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>Also, who owns the rights to the Altair 8800 now? Percom? ICOM? Ed
>Roberts? WHat happened after all the buyouts and bakruptcies?
Which rights? The name? The design? The PC board layouts? The
documentation?
I would think the only things left to worry about are the name and
any copyrights that might exist on the PC artwork. I doubt the
actual design is protected at all - it's almost exactly what you'd get
if you just took one of the Intel 8080A databooks and copied the CPU
implementation. Why would anybody want to
make an exact clone of the original design anyway? A couple
months after the introduction of the Altair there were hundreds
of garage-based businesses selling much better designed S-100
CPU's and peripherals!
-----
Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com
Trailing Edge Technology Voice: 301-767-5917
7328 Bradley Blvd Fax: 301-767-5927
Bethesda, MD, USA 2081
I also have a TI-74, with all of the rom cartridges, and the
PC interface... I have not yet bought the printer for it...
If you use AltaVista search for "TI-74", you should get the TI
web site, which will point you to another site, which is where
I actually purchased the stuff from. I also got some manuals on
the TI-74... they have RAM cartridges, ROM cartridges, the
printer, the TI->PC interface (and software) and some other
stuff as well. They also have stuff for the TI-95 (ProCalc)
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
>>>Us.
>>>(Caveat: until someone comes forward to claim legitimate ownership.)
> There are one possible way, but it isn't very safe - see below.
Addendum: I'm not a lawyer - just some publishing knowledge.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
>>Us.
>>(Caveat: until someone comes forward to claim legitimate ownership.)
> I wonder if there is legal precedent that might establish a reasonable
> level of due diligence to determine that a copyright asset has indeed
> been abandoned, and a legitimate method by which someone else could
> be considered at least allowed to reproduce it but perhaps not claim
> ownership of it. In short, a process to follow that would establish
> that something is on its way to becoming public domain. Without
> preservation now, the asset might be truly lost.
There are one possible way, but it isn't very safe - see below.
> For example, I've contacted several authors of early computer books
> who've since tossed their floppies with the original manuscript.
> Without this, we're back to scanning and OCR and proofreading.
> They'd thought that absolutely no one was interested. For example,
> Sheldon Leemon, author of "Mapping the C-64", tossed his old Atari
> floppies that had held his manuscript.
Just loosing _one_ media doesn't mean loosing copyright.
If one wants to get rid of his rights, he has to proclam
this in a prominent and usefull manner - like anouncing
it in a state publication or any kind of aprobiate publication.
Like puting an anouncement in a sourcefile.
It's exactly the reverse way as claiming an title for a book
or movie - If you want to avoide that someone else will
use a title of a planned book, you have to anounce it in a
aprobiate manner - i.e. in Germay you till put an add in the
'Boersenblatt des Deutschen Buchhandels' - a 'news'paper
for publishing companies and book traders.
For this case (reprinting a book), there are two and a half
steps to perform:
First try to get knowledge of the holder of rights. Basicly
easy, since book rights are always originated by the author.
Find the author, and ask if there are current licences. Apply
for a licence. If he has no futher interest, he may offer it
exclusive and unlimited for just a beer or two. Try to get a
written statement.
Geting licence doesn't include source material like disks
or scripts - if they are lost, you still have to key in
every letter again ...
Second if you can't locate the author, or any other people
possible owning actual licences or able to legitimate their
rights, you are free to copy and redistribute the work.
The hard term is 'unable to locate the owner' - judges
(at least in Europe and especialy the US) put up very
high bars to cross. You have to show that you did anything
possible (Adds, writing to former publishers, companies,
familie, friends, etc. searching directories).
Now you can start to reproduce the book - BUT in your best
interest you should take step twoandahalf: Opening a closed
account (I don't know the exact US term - its an account
where yo ujust put in money, but never take it back - possibly
managed by a lawyer) for the author/owner of rights. Now
'just' pay the royalities into this account.
If a beliveable owner of rights shows up, you just have to
grant him access to this account. A possible 'new' royality
agreement has to be made at this point. If the owner of
rights disagrees with the summ (you have to open your books
for double check sales and business regarding this licence)
don't grant the access and wait for his court move.
As long as your amount of saved royalities is reasonable
any court decision inf favour or the owner wouldn't grant
more, so be aware and don't put the royalities to low,
becaus if the judge thinks so, the summs can be enormous -
at leat within the strange US system.
This method (step twoandahalf) can (and will) be used on
any matter regarding intelectual properies - books, music
('legal' bootlegs use this to avoid geting dumped in the US)
or patents (If company A won't give company B a licence, B
could try it via twoandahalf - as long as they are able
without support from A :)
The trick is that you are NOT stealing the property - you
are willing to pay, but some strange thing might hinder you.
(This is even at wartime true, which leads to the very strange
fact where Germany took a way more civilizated position than
the US - Germany payed royalities even during the war for
tecnologie used - including weapon tecnologie - while the
US just declared any German patent or Trademark non existent.
Some things can caus dizziness when thinking about)
Ok, back to our book project: If you get the permission
>from the author (like Sheldon Leemon) you're fine - don't
forgett to ask if theres still a licence, maybe even a
exclusive one for a publishing company, since in this
case you still have to look for the (original) publisher.
But regarding the KIM, with his chaotic past, a simple
solution isn't available.
Gruss
H.
Oh, and don't forgett: Even a non profit copying action
is forbidden. so if a C= group, for example, make copies
of the C64 ROM to distrimute within their group and friends
FOR FREE, they are subject to pay royalieties.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
I decided to run a number of different tapes to try to determine whether
my TK50Z drive was defective or the tapes were not bootable. Below are
the results of the tests. Since in each case the results are somewhat
different, I conclude that the drive reads OK, and that the tapes are
suspect. Does anyone have a different perspective?
- don
=======================
ULTRIX APPLICATION TAPE
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>> b mu
-MUA0
%VMB-F-SCBINT2, PC = 00007000, PSL = 041F0008
83 BOOT SYS
-DUA0
-MUA0
%VMB-F-SCBINT2, PC = 00007000, PSL = 041F0008
83 BOOT SYS
?02 EXT HLT **** Infinite loop without the halt ****
PC = 00002704
>>>
>>>
>>> VMS APP TAPE
^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>> b mu
-MUA0
%VMB-F-ERR, PC = 00000765
%VMB-I-STS, R0 = 000008C2
84 FAIL
>>>
>>>
>>> DEGAUSSED TAPE
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-MUA0
%VMB-F-ERR, PC = 00000765
%VMB-I-STS, R0 = 000001F6
84 FAIL
>>>
>>>
>>> VMS 5.5 BIN TAPE
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>
>>> b mu
-MUA0
%VMB-F-ERR, PC = 00000765
%VMB-I-STS, R0 = 000008C2
84 FAIL
>>>
Thats all folks!
