"James Newton. Admin 3" wrote:
>
> source= http://www.piclist.com/postbot.asp?id=piclist\2002\03\13\190705a
>
> Who is "prohibiting you taking an idea commercial"? I'm just saying that if
> you enter the contest and publish the design, you can't, later on, say
> "please remove that from the web site, I want to make it myself and sell it
> and I don't want people to be able to download it and make it themselves"

The problem lies in the nature of 'public domain'. Once a creation (be
it code or hardware) is made public, it cannot be made 'proprietary'.
A good idea could be easily copied by a larger and more resourceful
entity, and you'd be priced out of the very market you created with
your design. In other words, your gadget could sell in WalMart (a gigantic
department store chain based in the USA) for  1/10 of what it costs you
to make.

Does anyone remember those digital 'voice memo' devices that
became popular a few years back. Did you notice how there were dozens
of knock-offs within weeks of the first one's mass marketing campaign?
THATS what you could be up against with a clever, useful design you
share with the PICLIST. It may be great to see all those people copying
your ideas, but that doesn't pay your bills or taxes.

Having seen, close up, this sort of thing happen where I work,
I am much more sensitive to the legal issues surrounding
IP (intellectual property) and public disclosure of same.

Robert

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