Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!mcdphx!fishpond!fnf
From: fnf@fishpond.UUCP (Fred Fish)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Disk recall notice
Message-ID: <113@fishpond.UUCP>
Date: 6 Jun 90 03:02:23 GMT
Organization: Amiga Library Services
Lines: 70

This note is to inform the net that the following disks are being
recalled and should not be distributed until replacement disks are
available:

	173, 221, 230, 238, 305, 324

Each of these disks contains a tetris clone which Spectrum Holobyte
believes to be infringement on their commercial product "Tetris".

Below is a copy of the letter I received from Phillip Adams, president
of Spectrum Holobyte:

======================================================================

Dear Fred:

Thank you for your co-operation in taking the Tetris clone products out
of you disks.  I wanted to send a follow-up letter to review what took 
place and to state our position as a company.

I saw the Tetris name being used on one of your public domain disks. I
called the editor of Amazing Computing and they said they would have you 
give me a call, which you did.  We talked about Tetris and you agreed that
you would remove it immediately.  You also volunteered to send me six
other disks that were essentially the same.  Our testing group looked at
them and agreed that they were Tetris 2-D format with essentially the
same game play.  I subsequently let you know that information, also.

Tetris has never been a public domain product, and has never been put on
a bulletin board by the legal owners.  While I understand that Tetris is a
simple game, it is quite a unique concept.  The seven falling blocks (the
mind remembers 7 plus or minus 2) are a very essential part of the game.
We have a contractual obligation to protect the rights of ELORG (the 
Soviet Licensor) as well as Alexey Pajitnov, to insure they are
compensated for this property.  We did file suit against another software
company to block its 2-D version of a similar game and it was taken out
of their product.  To change the colors of the blocks or have the
"Rubiks" cube made out of wood doesn't make it a different product either.

I am aware that some of the complaints about Tetris are compatibility and
copy protection.  Version 1.1 of Tetris Amiga is not copy protected and
people can send the earlier version disks and $3.00 (which includes
shipping) to us and we will send the upgrade.  Welltris, which will be
shipping this week, contains only pass word protection in the manual.
There is nothing on the disk to prevent backup or hard disk installation.

Again, thank you for your support in the matter.  You are a good person
for the Amiga community and we wish you continued success.

Sincerely,

Phillip G. Adam
President

======================================================================

I intend to deal with the recall of these disks slightly differently
than the previous disks which were recalled.  In this case, I will
simply remove the contested material and reissue the disk with the
same number but a slightly different name.  The name of disk 324 for
example will change from AmigaLibDisk324 to AmigaLibDisk324a to signify
a revised edition of the disk.  The revised disks should be available
after this weekend.

Please feel free to give this posting the widest possible distribution.

-Fred
-- 
# Fred Fish, 1835 E. Belmont Drive, Tempe, AZ 85284,  USA
# 1-602-491-0048               asuvax!mcdphx!fishpond!fnf