Scrabble shutting down Scrabulous
After reading the article, I am bit confused about the reaction. The creators have basically said they made a blatant ripoff. If Hasbro does not want their game online, then so be it. Why should Scrabble lose money and pay the creators of Scrabulous for their software?
Can I create a big mac at home, add Worcestershire sauce, and sell it at Burger King? Then have Mcdonalds say I ripped them off, but buy it from me.
That’s not very realistic. Copyright infringement is wrong, there is no situation where the infringed should have to appease the infringer.
The second issue, boycotting, I find humorous.
Why dont boycotts work? Well it is quite simple, No matter how much of one company you boycott, your business or interest in a product is usually not a measurable percentage of the total. Oh but what if you get a large group to participate, say 100,000, how many of them are actually going to participate? Ask the American Family Association if their old boycott of Disney had any effect on Disney’s final figures in those years.
The success of most boycotts are merely trumpeted by one’s ability to stick to it. The reason is, for every person for something, there is someone against it.
That is why they just don’t work and why the ageless Scrabble will win and fad of the year Scrabulous will lose.
I guess everything is right with the world.