User talk:RobKohr

NASA text -- public domain?

I see that you put a note that NASA text is public domain. How did you find out the terms under which NASA permits use of its text? I have not been able to find this information. Like -- can we grab a page or paragraph and edit it up any way we like it? Are there certain invariant parts? How are we supposed to credit NASA?

Thanks for the information. --SV Resolution 18:00, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

The definitive reference should probably be the NASA copyright template at Wikimedia Commons. Probably the best detailed explanation is at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/policies.html#Guidelines. In short, NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted:

NASA generally has no objection to the reproduction and use of NASA material (e.g., audio transmissions and recordings; video transmission or recordings including NASA TV; still or motion picture photography; or World Wide Web pages), for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits and Internet Web pages, subject to the following conditions:

• You should acknowledge NASA as the source of the material.
• You may not use a NASA logo or seal
• You may not state or imply NASA's endorsement of a commercial product, service, or activity.
• You may not claim copyright or other rights in NASA material.
• NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted. If not copyrighted, it can be used without further permission from NASA.
  • If copyrighted, permission should be obtained from the copyright owner prior to use.
  • If a NASA image includes an identifiable person, using the image for commercial purposes may infringe that person's right of privacy or publicity, and permission should be obtained from the person.
  • Use of a portion or segment of audio or video, such as talent, narration or music, may infringe a right of publicity or copyright and permission should be obtained from the source.

(NOT a lawyer) EHartwell 17:53, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Emulation Wikibook

This is just a heads up about this Wikibook and a contribution that you made there. I posted a VfD discussion about aquiring ROMs for different game consoles, and the overwhelming concensus was to delete this content from Wikibooks. I want to thank you for your contributions, but I hope you understand that we can't condone illegal activity here on Wikibooks, even indirectly. The unauthorized distribution of copyrighted content is illegal and could potentially shut this whole project down if we didn't act swiftly on things of this nature. I hope you understand and don't take this as a personal insult. --Rob Horning 17:44, 29 October 2005 (UTC)

In reply to this:

Thats too bad, but I understand your decision. I don't really think emulation is illegal, just the same as it is perfectly legal to rip cds and into mp3s play them on your computer. There are plenty of legal ways to buy roms today and run them on your platform of choice. I more wanted a single good source here for information on how to play those roms on whatever platform you liked. --Rob Kohr 24 December 2005

I want you to know that I agree completely that it is legal to do emulation, and I for one am completely opposed politically to software patents on stuff like mp3s and other so-called intellectual property B.S. that unfortunately many people in the computer industry are involved with. The problem here is not that you showed how to make a ROM, but that it was largely a list of rom sources with absolutely no attribution or listing of where you got permission to redistribute those copyrighted images. As both an author (dead tree plain english) as well as a software engineer, I take it seriously that the content I have written is protected under copyright laws, and seek to protect the works of other authors as well. I seriously doubt that you had permission for the lists of ROMs that were displayed earlier in that Emulation Wikibook. Prove me wrong, please. As for a simple how-to duplicate ROMs or import them into emulation software, I don't have any problems with that... as long as you advocate the legal and legitimate aquisition of those ROMs.

BTW, the reason you can legally rip mp3s and DVDs (even over the supposed objections of the MPAA) is because of the "first sale" doctrine, that doesn't prohibit how you transfer the content from one media to another as long as you own the first copy legally. You are however prohibited from distributing that content, generally to another household (which also has a legal definition). On the other hand, if you have content that is under a copyleft license, you don't have to be so worried about this first sale doctrine and can send copies to your friends as well. There is plenty of software available, even for older ROM-based game architechtures, that you don't need to be paranoid about copyright. Unfortunately, many of those older game consoles had stuff written for them by companies that are no longer in business and it is hard to trace copyright permissions down. --Rob Horning 15:14, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

hallelujah i've found ya look i need your help

you know your website editthis.com well i'm using it and i'm having some problems with it:how do you upload images?, how do you make templates?, how do you change user status and could you edit my site as i'm not having much luck with it and I can't upload images here it is:ultipedia --Ace10000 (discuss • contribs) 11:24, 4 September 2011 (UTC)