[imp] What is JAWmail? How ot related to IMP?

[Roger B.A. Klorese]

Michael M Slusarz wrote:

>Quoting "Roger B.A. Klorese" <rogerk@queernet.org>:
>
>| UI design is a technical skill and an intellectual invention, just as 
>| much as coding; if you make your product look like someone else's, even 
>| if you don't use a line of their code, you're exploiting their work -- 
>| after all, you didn't have to make those decisions from scratch -- and 
>| you should credit them for it.   Is it really that hard to understamnd?
>
>Not necessarily, at least under U.S. law.  A case in the 80's (I believe 
>Lotus and Borland were the parties) stated that UI's are not per se 
>copyrightbale/protectable - in that case, either Borland or Lotus directly 
>copied the menubar layout from the other program in order to make a users 
>switch from one program to another less painful. 
>
We're talking about ethics here, not law.  I'm interested in shaming, 
not suing.

I said their work was being exploited, not that any copyrights or 
trademarks were being violated.

>Unless there is something completly earthshattering about the design, or 
>the UI _is_ essentially the program, copying UI elements alone is not 
>enough.  It is the direct copying of code that must be analyzed, not 
>the "look" or "feel" of a program.
>  
>
For copyright, yes.  For civility, wrong, wrong, WRONG.