Some of these bills currently being considered are so vague that EOSERV, especially considering its focus, would likely be infringing on some portion of one of them.
Sausage has been quite clever about keeping EOSERV on neutral ground, providing only a 100% third party server emulator and requiring users to bring their own resources (that is, EOSERV does not host or provide copyrighted material), however if you look at a bill like SOPA or PIPA, which holds
website owners accountable for prohibiting the exchange of others intellectual property, EOSERV could technically be held accountable if the sharing of Endless Online files, graphics, sounds and maps are even discussed. I haven't had a chance to study ACTA in depth but I presume it too would fall
into this category.
If it comes down to it and any of these proposed bills are passed, it would be wise for EOSERV and the members of its staff to convene and discuss an alternative way of running the project, whether it means we stop discussions of any intellectual property sharing, negotiate an agreement that
allows us to use that intellectual property, develop our own variants for fair use (such as our own graphics, sounds and maps) or less likely, cease the development of EOSERV entirely, but I would be surprised if it came to that.
Of course, this doesn't just apply to EOSERV, it applies to EOSource as well, and all of the private servers currently using Endless Online data (including variants, some colour changes and a certain percentage of custom content are not sufficient to clear us of responsibility).
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EOSERV.net Academy Of Trolls, Satirists & Sarcastics
5.5 Years Former Site Administrator / Moderation Team / Member (Retired)
ACTA>>Eoserv?
