Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!dogie.macc.wisc.edu!vms.macc.wisc.edu
From: keir@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Rick Keir, MACC)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Becoming a Professional Programmer
Message-ID: <2718@dogie.macc.wisc.edu>
Date: 22 Nov 89 18:29:20 GMT
Sender: news@dogie.macc.wisc.edu
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Wisconsin Academic Computing Center
Lines: 21


>This message is on behalf of a talented high school student.
>He has written a very nice version of PENTE for the Mac and 

Sad but true:  the first thing he should do is find out whether
PENTE is owned by someone else, and if so, whether just the
name is owned, or the actual rules.  (For example, although
I can't copyright a game based on Nim, I could certainly
trademark a name for my distribution.)  I believe PENTE is
protected for both name and rules, as it doesn't seem to
be in any "boardgames of the world" type anthology I've seen.

People writing computer versions of "Risk" and "OGRE" have 
had troubles, in the past.  Anyone attempting a version of
Monopoly or Scrabble would have great trouble, as the owners
of these two games have a long history of successfully suing
anyone who makes a version of them that isn't authorized.

On the other hand, maybe the owners of "PENTE" will decide
to make money selling a computer version, and will pay your
friend for his implementation.  One can always hope.