From: Angus Dorbie (dorbie++at++sgi.com)
Date: 05/31/2000 14:20:52
I don't think you understand what I'm discussing. This is not about
software companies licensing data. I'm not going to refer to specific
simulation companies now but it's a fact that customers in the past have
paid for custom databases and several years later found that these
databases which in some cases cost them millions of dollars actually
lock them into an ageing HARDWARE platform and they can't get the
original data or modify it in the most trivial way without fees of
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Whether or not I agree with what they do is irrelevant, I'm only
pointing out what the common practices are.
I actually think this situation is largely the responsibility of the
buyers because I'm pretty sure that most of these simulation companies
(even purely software & database companies) are gagging for the business
and the situation is typically so competitive they wouldn't pass up the
sale because the the customer insists on data format documentation and
unrestricted nonexclusive rights to whatever custom database they paid
for.
Cheers,Angus.
"Mcdonald, Richard" wrote:
>
> Angus,
>
> You may not agree with how simulation companies run their business,
> but it is their business. Since many companies don't have hardware to
> sell, their major revenue stream might well be from their intellectual
> property. Companies which don't leverage the results of their hard
> work might one day find themselves out of work.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Angus Dorbie [mailto:dorbie++at++sgi.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 8:25 AM
> To: robert kwak
> Cc: Shibo Fu; info-performer++at++sgi.com
> Subject: Re: CAE BIN Loader
>
> robert kwak wrote:
> > .......I don't know
> > what you're doing with a CAE .bin file or how you got a hold of it,
>
> He says in his email, he got it from a CAE Flight Simulator.
>
> > but you need to contact the people at CAE and ask them to translate
> > the .bin file into a .flt file before viewing it inside performer.
>
> That would be very generous of them :-)
>
> > Shibo Fu wrote:
> > > I have got several terrain and plane modules from one CAE Flight
> > > Simulator,the file extension is .bin.
>
> Shibo,
>
> unfortunately, even if you managed to read the data in question you may
> not have the rights to use it even if you own the original simulator.
> Traditional simulation companies are in the habit of jealously guarding
> their data and file formats and typically retain ownership of the
> database even if they are paid to build custom data by the customer. The
> customer does not end up owning the database they paid for, they merely
> have a license to use it on the training systems they purchased. That
> may not be the case here but you need to check this kind of thing before
> "fessing up" on info-performer.
>
> CHeers,Angus.
>
> --
> For Performer+OpenGL tutorials http://www.dorbie.com/
>
> "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."
> --Albert Einstein
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