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Syndicate ZMagazine Issue 120
ZMAGAZINE
August 24, 1988 Issue #120
CONTENTS
<*> Deegans Desk........News and Commentary............John Deegan
<*> Copyrights..........Part 1.......................June B. Morre
<*> CompuServe 8 Bit Filename Policy....................CompuServe
<*> Atari 8 Bit News and Comment.........................John Nagy
<*> Credits
Deegans Desk (News/Commentary)
by John Deegan (Editor)
I have found it very difficult over the last few weeks of editing this
fine publication, to comment openly about the 8 bit community. The news
of releases has been slow and looks to be a that way for awhile. The only
open commentary has been targeted at the Carina II BBS software.
At times I have felt that it would be in very poor taste to even pursue
the subject, but based on the material I have received this week, I would
say that this entire matter has really gotten out of hand.
One important note noticed was the fact that Ron Kovacs did not present
another side to the issue. After reading his original commentary in Issue
#112, I have to say the Ron detailed his personal thoughts in the article
with a few suggestions. One point was missed that I will print now.
Carina II offers a money back guarantee. So, if you are not satisified
with the product, you can always send it back.
In looking over past issues of ZMagazine, I did notice that Ron dedicated
one entire issue to Carina II and subsequent issues detailed a few help
files from the software. It seems to me that there was excellant support
from ZMagazine at the beginning, this alone should reflect the attitude
Ron Kovacs and ZMagazine felt before the problems arose.
The Carina II BBS System may still be having a few problems. This however
can only be assumed from the messages I received. If there are indeed
problems, I am sure the Carina II staff will take action accordingly to
correct them. I also noticed that there were a few helpful messages from
the concerned, with suggestions and possible cures. This alone shows the
concern of the owners and the team work required to assist the author.
If your system is a Carina II BBS and you are having problems, Please call
the Carina II support system. You can also call any Carina II BBS System
and get a quick response.
In other news, rumors abound the Michigan area and Michigan Atari
Magazine. In case you havent noticed, User Group material is buried in
the back of the issues, the price has risen a few cents, and advertising
isnt the best. From observing the recent releases, the entire flavor of
the magazine has gone from User Group newsletter, to independant
publication.
There is nothing wrong with that particular approach, but leaving the User
Groups behind is a real bad move. My understanding is that Michigan Atari
Magazine represents (8) local user groups. The question I have is where
the heck are they week to week? Is there an apparent oversight in the
publishing or editing duties? Are the User Groups NOT submitting
material? Whatever the excuse, piling the main support of the magazine in
the back, and publishing off the wall comedy as editorial feedback is very
poor thinking.
How about listing all the User Groups on the cover? On the second page?
Adding a simple line to your cover stating you are representing the
following user groups? Lets get back to how you started and not give the
impression that you dont care. I am sure there are a number of members
out there wondering what is going on. How about it?
Instead of looking into the heavens and producing a financial monster, how
about representing and reporting from your area. A lot of work goes into
publishing, but leaving the impression, which I feel others may pick-up,
that you are no longer representing a user group, leaves a sour taste in
my mouth.
In Atari news: Atari Stock UP!!! August 19, 1988
Stock Sales Last Net Chg.
DWG Corp 707,300 7 1/2 up 3/4
Wang Lab B 267,700 9 off 1/8
Hasbro Inc 262,300 14 3/4 up 1/4
NY Times 253,200 25 7/8 up 1/8
Dome Petrol 215,600 1 7-64 unch
Conquest Expl 202,200 2 1/8 up 1/8
Echo Bay Mn 189,300 18 1/4 up 1/8
Lionel Corp 181,900 4 3/8 up 1/4
Atari Corp 166,800 7 unch <-----------------
Prop Cap Tr 111,800 21 1/4 up 2 1/2
The ST-REPORT artwork contest ends August 31, 1988. If you havent sent in
your entry, please take note of the date. For more information on the ST-
Report artwork contest, Please read ST-REPORT!
Special sign-up offer appears in ST-Report. If you are interested in
signing on to CompuServe and get a special $15.00 credit as a new member,
take a look at the most recent release.
CHANGES AHEAD
There are MORE changes ahead for ZMagazine. In September look for release
days to change to SATURDAY. More details will appear next week. Other
changes in the offering include:
<*> XE Game System Coverage
<*> Action Programming Series
<*> Software Reviews (1 or more every week)
<*> Extensive Commentary columns
<*> ZMAG Technique Returns with a new writer
<*> User Group Report
<*> ST-Report Update
<*> Pilot Programming (For Kids)
<*> Education on the 8 Bit
<*> Garbage On The Line returns
<*> and more..........
These are just a few of the columns we are working on for fall. If you
are interested in writing or commenting, Please call us voice between the
hours of 7pm-11pm at (201) 968-8148. Ron Kovacs will be around to answer
the phone. Please note that we cannot promise a connect since Ron may not
be available all the time. You may also send your commentary to:
Syndicate ZMagazine, Post Office Box 74, Middlesex, New Jersey, 08846-
0074.
______________________________________
Copyrights Part 1
Copyrighting Public Domain Programs
by June B. Moore, JD Member, California State Bar
There is concern about the copyright status of the programs provided by
innovative and diligent members of the CP/M Users Group to the Group with
the understanding, explicitly stated or otherwise, that the programs were
contributed to the -public domain.-
The term -public domain- means, from a legal point of view, a program or
other work that does not have copyright protection. The indiscriminate
use of the word confuses the copyright issues. A work disclosed to a
specific group of people for a limited purpose is not necessarily -public
domain- software.
A new federal copyright law went into effect on January 1, 1978, which
complicates the following discussion for that software written and/or
contributed prior to that date. I will start with a discussion of the law
as it applies now and to programs written after January 1, 1978. The new
law is Title 17, U.S. Code.
Any written material (including computer programs) fixed in a tangible
form (written somewhere, ie a printout) is considered copyrighted without
any additional action on the part of the author. Thus, it is not
necessary that a copy of the program be deposited with the Copyright
Office in Washington for the program to be protected as copyrighted.
A contribution of a program to the members of the public (CP/M Users Group)
for their noncommercial use constitutes a license for that purpose and
that purpose only. It does not destroy the programmers rights in the
copyright to the program. HOWEVER, the government does not enforce the
programmers rights. A copyright is a property right, just like the right
you have in the house you own. If someone trespasses on your property,
the cops may come and put the fellow in jail, but they will not stop him
from doing it again nor will they procure compensation for any damage the
intruder may have done to your property. You have to do that yourself by
going to court. So it is with copyrights. In order to prevent anyone
from selling your programs you must ask a court (federal) to stop him by
an injunction and to give you damages for the injury he has done to you
by selling the program.
Going to court requires that the program be registered with the Copyright
Office in Washington,D.C. The fee is $10.
The government will prosecute CRIMINAL copyright infringements, such as
where someone simply copies (as in copying an audio or videotape) for
profit, and when the government can show criminal intent (ie, knowing
violation of the law or fraud in the acts of the copier). This is not
done very frequently except in the case of wholesale audio and video
taping pirates.
The copyright law has a concept known as a -derivative work.- A
derivative work is one which is based on a work already entitled to and
protected by copyright. The original author of a work has the sole rights
to -derivative- works derived from his work. He can authorize (license)
others to prepare derivative works from his work, as in the case of a
programmer of a Users Group program who says -If anyone fixes this for a
DCHayes MM-100, let me know.- I suspect that many of the programs
contributed to the Group and their modifications fall within this category
of license - that is, users have been allowed to prepare derivative works.
However, the original author does not lose his original copyright! And all
the derivative works made using the original are dependent on the
continuation of the license except as to the parts added by the author
of the derivative works.
A simple explanation might help: A program provides for generating data
showing ratios for sales to inventory turnovers (I know the example is
silly), and the output is simply a bunch of numbers. The second programmer
decides to enhance the program by turning the numbers into some kind of
chart or graph. The program that generated the numbers is protected as
to the original author. The output formatting ONLY is protected as a
license derivative work to the second programmer.
The restriction placed on the programs in recent years limiting use to
individuals on their personal machines and denying use of a program for
commercial purposes is probably a valid restriction of the license granted
in the CP/M Users Group Library. It constitutes fair warning to all who
would lift the program and attempt to convert it to commercial purposes
that such use is not licensed. It is not clear that such restriction
applies automatically to earlier donations to the Group, unless there is
something explicit in the documentation that accompanies the work itself
when it is distributed.
In many instances, the programs donated prior to 1978 were not copy-
righted (that is, contained no copyright notice and were not registered
with the Copyright Office). The status of these programs is not clear,
although a case can be made that they were initially distributed only to
paid-up members of the CP/M Users Group. My documentation from the Users
Group, which is undated but which is postmarked June 13, 1978, states -The
material [donations of programs] is received by the Group with the
understanding that the contributor is authorized to make it available to
hobbiests for their individual non-commercial use.....Members receiving
material are free and encouraged to share it with other hobbiests for
their individual non-commercial use.-
The membership information included a request for any member's knowledge
of persons violating the non-commercial restriction on the programs
distributed. A membership fee of $4 was charged for 1978 as a
prerequisite to receiving material.
This limitation on the prospective use of a program obtained from the
group indicates that the distribution was limited to non-commercial users.
Pre-1/1/78 software that was not automatically copyrighted and did not
contain a copyright notice could be protected only under state laws in
existence at that time. The state laws varied considerably but generally
the rule is that, if the work was not distributed willy-nilly to the
public without restriction, the state law protected the work even if the
federal law niceties were not complied with.
The problem is whether the restrictions of the CP/Users Group distribution
were sufficient limitations on the -publication- of the program.
Publication destroys a state law copyright, making the work free to all.
-Publication- here means making it available to the public at large, even
though restrictions were placed on the initial disclosure of the program.
That is something only the court or jury actually hearing the case can
decide and may well turn on facts not available to me. For example, was
any real effort made to prevent computer stores from distributing the
programs to their customers who were not members of the Group? Were the
non-commercial use limitations explained to those customers? To the
computer stores?
One other concern has been expressed by some program authors, those
authors who have desired not to have their programs modified but whose
programs have nonetheless been modified. Referring to the discussion
above about the limitations on use of contributed programs, if the
limitation did not authorize anything but -use- of the program, then the
modifications constituted -derivative- works that were not authorized.
This, unfortunately, would be a very tricky thing to prove, and it would
have to be proved - how did the parties understand the authorization to
use the programs (ie, was modification prevented but noncommercial use
allowed?). If there was an implied license to modify (for example,
because the program was included with other programs in which modifications
were explicitly authorized), it might be very difficult to prove
infringement under either the state or federal law, depending on which was
applicable.
It should be clear from the above, however, that modifications of programs
entitled to copyright protection are infringements if they are not
authorized by the owner of the copyright in the original program. The
problem is in the proof of lack of authorization.
Since January 1, 1978, all programs are protected by federal copyright
laws without regard to copyright notice or registration with the Copyright
Office and the state laws no longer apply. The federal law -preempted-
the state laws on that date. But the federal rules apply across the board
ONLY to works first -fixed- or -written- after that date. However,
improvements or modifications in one's own program can qualify for federal
copyright protection under the new law and perhaps those interested or
affected by the problem should make formal registration of their works as
well as including the copyright notice somewhere in the program.
----------------------------------
It is obvious that most volunteer programmers do not have the finances
or time, or inclination for that matter, to pursue a legal remedy in the
courts. At the same time, they do not want the software they authored to
be used by others for commercial gain without some control over its use.
I suggest that microcomputer software authors nation-wide form an
organization similar to that of ASCAP or BMI, although on a smaller scale, to
monitor improper uses of software donated to the hobbiest for personal
use. Only through concentrating the efforts and power of all authors can
real protection be obtained. Otherwise, the unscrupulous vendor is going
to take his chances that the individual programmer will not or can not
defend his copyright.
Such a group might be formed with the support of an active computer group
like the NJ Amateur Computer Group or the Homebrew Computer Club in
California. Or it could be established independently if there were
sufficient interest and an organizer could be found to do the necessary
paperwork, collect the dues needed to provide a war chest, and hire the
attorneys and other persons necessary. It wouldn't have to be a full
time job for anyone but it would have to be more than volunteer activity.
My suggestion appeared (anonymously) in an article in the July 1982
Microcomputing. I am not interested in doing it, although I would
cooperate with any efforts along these lines with counsel and advice.
I suggest, however, that an early attack, which might include programmers
for profit whose programs are slightly modified by fly-by-night vendors
without compensation, will establish the principles necessary to deter
future invasions of your copyrights.
June B. Moore, JD
Member, California State Bar
______________________________________
CompuServe Atari 8-Bit Forum Filename Policy
Since February, 1987, SIG*ATARI has been accepting files with 'standard'
Atari filename extenders. The right choice of an extender makes things
MUCH easier for those who will be downloading your contributions from the
libraries.
Please include an extender in the name of every file you upload! And
remember, CompuServe filenames are only SIX characters long with a
3-character extender. If you specify a longer name, the extra characters
will be ignored.
Here's the official suggested filename extenders:
OBJ - Machine Language object file
EXE - 'Load and Go' Object file
COM - SpartaDOS COMmand file
BAS - SAVEd Atari BASIC program
LST - LISTed BASIC program
BXL - SAVEd BASIC XL program
BXE - SAVEd BASIC XE Program
TUR - SAVEd TURBO BASIC Program
PIC - Picture Data file
AMS - Atari Music System song file
DOC - Documentation file
TXT - Text file
ASM - LISTed assember source code
M65 - SAVEd MAC65 source code file
ACT - Action! source code file
PAS - Pascal source code file
CTB - Compiled Turbo BASIC program
ARC - ARChived file (see below)
ALF - ALF CRUNCH file (see below)
DCM - DISKCOM file (see below)
BIN - CIS 'A-protocol' files ONLY
We ask that you do not use .XMO for an XMODEM file; using a standard
extender helps to identify a file's contents more easily.
Also, we strongly request that you do not use CompuServe's 'A' protocol
when uploading new files. Please use Xmodem or CompuServe 'B' protocol
when uploading files. If you have no choice but to use 'A', PLEASE be
sure to use the .BIN extender in the filename and CLEARLY state in your
file's description that it was uploaded using CompuServe 'A' protocol.
Please note that some files uploading before February, 1987 may still
have the .XMO and .BIN filename extenders.
A Word About File Types...
As you have undoubtedly noticed, many of the files in the libraries are
listed with -/binary- appended to the filename. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THESE
FILES NEED TO BE BINARY LOADED!!
CompuServe classifies each file as one of the following:
ASCII -- Standard 7-bit ASCII text file that can be 'captured' or <R>ead
online
BINARY -- 8-bit program or data file that MUST be downloaded using an
error-checking protocol such as Xmodem or CompuServe 'B' protocol.
RLE -- Run Length Encoded picture file (can be viewed online using
VIDTEX or TSCOPE)
GIF -- Graphics Interchange Format picture file (can be viewed offline
using the 8 bit GIF viewer)
CompuServe appends -/binary- next to the names of 8-bit files, -/rle- next
to RLE picture filenames, and -/gif- next to GIF picture filenames. All
other files are ASCII text.
Files that contain 8-bit data (any character with an ASCII value greater
than 127) MUST be uploaded as a 'binary' file! This includes SAVEd BASIC
programs, object ('load') files, ARC files, etc. When uploading, you can
choose this option by specifying 'TYPE:binary', or selecting the '8 bit'
Menu Choice.
=== ARC, ALF, DISKCOM ===
If you want to upload a number of related files to the Library, we
suggest you use one or the other of these 'file compaction' programs. All
are available in Library 3. There are many similar programs around, but
we'd like to standardize on the following:
ARC is used to archive a number of related files into a single compressed
file. ARC uses a sophisticated scheme to compress these files - an ARChive
may end up only half the size of the original files, or even less in some
cases. That translates into less time (and $$$) to download the ARChive.
ALF is similar to ARC, but usually yields more compact files, and works
faster. However, unlike ARC, which is also used on other computers (e.g.,
ST, IBM), ALF files can ONLY be extracted on an Atari 8-bit.
DISKCOM compacts an ENTIRE DISK into one file for easy uploading and
downloading.
Experimentation is encouraged before you upload to see which method yields
the most efficient results for your application.
Whichever method you choose, remember:
Don't include 'standard' files that most people already have. For
example, don't include DOS 2.5, RAMDISK.COM, or the Turbo Basic
interpreter. These just make your file take up more space and cost more
time and money to download. If one of these 'standard' files is needed,
just mention the fact in the file description; those who don't already
have the necessary file can download it separately.
Do choose 'binary' as the file TYPE when you upload an ARC, ALF, or
DISKCOM file! These all contain 8-bit data, and any other choice will
make the file unusable.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask any of the SYSOPs
for more info!!
______________________________________
Atari 8 Bit News Update
by John Nagy
Atari's former User Group Coordinator Sandy Austin was apparently only
one of many faces that have changed in the administrative revolving door
we call ATARI. CINDY CLAVERAN was appointed as new User Group Coordinator
by Sig Hartmann, Atari President of Software (at least a few familiar
names remain!). Cindy will be working on the User Group News, under the
ATARI COMPUTER banner, along with new editor Elizabeth Shook.. You can
contact her at Atari Corp (408) 745-2569, or on GEnie by her address
-Cindy.C-.
User group officers in the Los Angeles area who had met with the momentary
officials are stunned, but not surprized. -It seems that every time ATARI
gets someone who knows what they are doing and seems like a positive mover,
they fire them,- said LA-ACE President Bill Lurie. He referred to the
growing list of Breifly Employed Atarians like Jerry Brown, who brought
his APPLE marketing expertise to ATARI for about 60 days last year.
The departed officers who have been willing to say anything about their
experiences at Sunnyvale agree: it's not easy working with the Tramiels.
Lets hope that the -rugged individualist- attitude at ATARI will
eventually allow SOMEONE to bring proven and fresh marketing and sales
ideas into the seemingly drifting ATARI.
Loose ends: Last time I mentioned that NEWSROOM for the 8-bit Atari was
finally released but had a bug preventing use with the standard Atari 850
Interface. I got several -Newsrooomed- letters demonstrating that I was
wrong, and several more thanking me for telling them why they couldn't get
anywhere with their copy. This means one or more of the following:
1) Springboard Software (Not SPINNAKER as I mistakenly called them last
time) may have fixed the bug in some later copies of NEWSROOM;
2) the bug report was false and many people simply can't follow
directions; or
3) there are SOME 850's it will work on and SOME that it won't. I favor
the last possibility.
There are at least two distinctly different 850's... and they are different
enough that some DOS packages even offer two different handlers for the
R: modem port. If I find out for sure, I'll pass it along. Notice,
however, that no other interface has had the problem reported.
Also updating an older story, here's more on keyboard repairs for the
Atari 8-bits. The -resistor addition- console key repair for the XE
series suggested 3,000 ohm resistors jumperig the START, SELECT, and
OPTION key connections at the keyboard connector socket. Some users have
found that for their particular machine, 3,000 was too low, causing TOO
sensitive a touch or even uncontrolled repeating of the console key press.
If this happens, try 5,000 or even higher. At about 18 cents per resistor,
you can afford to try several until you like the result.
TIDBITS:
Can you believe it? The Atari IBM PC clone lineup is still -coming-,
according to recent Company objections to stories awarding it the
-ultimate vaporware-.
Also still coming is ADOS, now re-dubbed -DOS XE- or -XEDOS- depending on
when you ask. It is the new Disk Operating System from Atari that will
support the XF551 disk drive in its double sided mode. Although there is
a version of SpartaDos (from ICD/OSS Corp.) that accomplishes this now,
and I beleive that MYDOS can be persuaded to support it as well, ADOS was
supposed to be a public domain inclusion with the drives. When the drives
were ready and the DOS was not, the decision to ship with DOS 2.5 (ugh!)
was made, with ADOS to follow in the public domain. Now, it appears that
DOS XE will be sold commercially by Atari, although probably with a low
price, and user redistribution may or may not be permitted. It should be
noted that the new DOS requires 64K or more (an XL or an XE) and will not
operate on the old 800 series of computers.
Another delayed software item is now making its way to dealer shelves.
The EXPRESS! terminal program specially made for the Atari SX212 1200 baud
modem is available at last, with a SIO daisy-chain cable for the 8-bit
Atari. The price is $19.95. Of course, most SX212 owners already have
a copy of the Keith Ledbetter's modified EXPRESS! program that has been
available for some time... and won't need another cable either. But for
those who do, it's now available. Atari has had to defend itself for not
including the cable and software in the original package. Their very
reasonable response has been that the modem is useable on any brand of
computer, and is being marketed as an all purpose unit (and a very good
buy at under $100). To lose (and charge for) an SIO cable and 8-bit
disk in every package, regardless of the buyer's brand of machine, would
indeed be foolish.
By the way, XF551 owners report that some older commercial program copy
protection schemes are keeping them from using their new drives. The
latest reports say M.U.L.E. and Pinball Construction set won't load,
while ARCHON actually loads better than from a 1050.
Of course a new set of cartridge format games, both new and revisited,
are coming soon. Look for an adventure game, bases on the old calssic
-ADVENTURE-, but with 26 levels, called DARK CHAMBERS. It will be
available on all three game formats, 2600, 7800, and XEGS.
And by January there may be another game machine in the Atari stable.
Based on the ST. -STGS-? Computer users hope the ST name won't be used
and thus diluted, but software compatibility would be welcomed.
FLASH!
Atari mail order DOES still exist... direct from ATARI (retail prices
of course). You can get a price list from Customer Relations, (408)
745-2367, or by mail at Atari Corporation, P.O. Box 61657, Sunnyvale,
CA 94088, Attention Customer Services.
Mail-order repairs and replacements for almost anything with ATARI's name
on it are also available direct from the company. Remember the stories
about trade-ups of 400's and 600XL's to 800XL's? It still is in effect,
althought he price has risen. Now, $50 and any ATARI 8-bit computer in
any condition will get you an 800XL by return mail.
Trades are also available for the wiz-bang ATARI 1027 letter-quality
printer. $75 and your 1027 clunker gets you up to the new and surprizingly
good quality but slow XDM121. It is a tank of a printer and weighs a ton,
but the true Daisy-Wheel print (a Silver-Reed clone, according to a
salesman at Federated) is reasonably quiet, solid, and outstanding to
look at. It should let you interchange font wheels, and a tractor feed
is supposedly planned (yes, it is only friction feed at this point).
Like the 1027, it requires no interface for use on the 8-bit Atari's.
Retailing alone at $249, it is a terrible deal, but for $75 and
somebodies junk for trade, it is a bargain.
CREDITS
Syndicate ZMagazine is published weekly by American Publishing Enterprises
Inc. Opinions presented in this magazine are those of the original author
and does not reflect the opinions of ZMagazine, APEInc or the editor.
Oposing points of view are welcome and encouraged. You may send any reply
to the following address:
American Publishing Enterprises, Inc.
Post Office Box 74
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074
Attn: Issue #120
Syndicate ZMagazine Issue #120 is Copyright (c)1988 APEInc. All Rights
Reserved. Reprint permission granted as long as Syndicate ZMag and the
author are credited at the top of the article. Restrictive reprints are
noted in any article.
PUBLISHER: Ron Kovacs
MANAGING EDITOR: R.F. Mariano
ZMAG EDITOR: John Deegan
ASSISTANT: Lisa Kovacs
The following bulletin board systems are registered headquarter systems
for distribution of ZMagazine.
ZMAG NORTH (Launch Pad BBS)
(201) 343-1426
ZMAG MIDWEST (Stairway To Heaven)
(216) 784-0574
ZMAG SOUTH (Bounty Atari)
(904) 786-4176
ZMAG WEST (Shadow Haven)
(916) 962-2566
The Online Services have dedicated areas for distribution of ZMagazine.
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