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Angry Jesus writes:
There is a lot of snake oil in the audiophile world. A few years ago the pseudonymous NwAvGuy decided to do something about it. Not content to just criticize the hucksters, he designed a $130 headphone amp that competes with $1000 models. NwAvGuy released the design under the Creative Commons CC BY-ND license (attribution, no derivatives) and freely collaborated on revising it with multiple manufacturers looking to build and sell the amp. All he wanted was credit and to see that no one would take his design and degrade it with inferior modifications.
Then he disappeared. "In July 2012, NwAvGuy went silent. E-mails weren't returned, and blog posting ceased. 'He had gone quiet before -- for a month or so,' says Boudreau. But no one has heard a peep from NwAvGuy in more than a year and a half."
Since then some of the parts used in the last revision have been discontinued and one of the best values in high fidelity audio can't be manufactured anymore because NwAvGuy is no longer around to approve any changes.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 26 2014, @01:53AM
Anonymously produce a derivative work (preferably of equivalent or better quality) that can actually be built with parts available and see if he pops up as a result.
Alternatively post the changes you did to the original to actually make your own working version - so you're not actually distributing a modified work. The equivalent is posting the patch files so that others can apply the patches if they choose to.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Wednesday March 26 2014, @12:17PM
Why overthink this? If someone violates NwAvGuy's license by making a derivative, and he then sues that someone, guess what -- he'll be found and it may be possible to cajole him into the update. If he doesn't sue, then his license terms are meaningless because a license is not an actual bar to derivation, it is a right of the license holder to enforce the agreement to not derivate. It's like a stop sign. No stop sign can actually stop a car from running it -- If you do blow through a stop sign and a cop sees you, you'll get fined, but nothing actually physically prevents you from rolling right on through.
Unlike the stop sign example though, either outcome (getting away with it/getting busted) seems favorable. NwAvGuy would probably welcome others who release designs in a manner aligned with his goals (not a certainty -- maybe he went evil) in which case he'll either remain silent and not enforce his license, or come forward and approve or modify the derivation. Of course, he could also sue for damages -- though those might be hard to prove and small considering the way he gave away the first design providing the second design is similarly non-profit -- but you never know, any lawsuit can be bankrupting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 26 2014, @01:13PM
You are missing the key point - it is a business risk. If NewAvGuy does show up he can trash all the investment the company has put into the production with impunity. Maybe he totally likes the updated design but has a personal beef with the company itself - they fired his brother-in-law for example - then they are completely at his mercy.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Wednesday March 26 2014, @02:06PM
No - I'm not missing the point. NwAvGuy, as I understand it, released a design anonymously for an amp DIYers can build. He never sold amps. Now, if Sony, or Joe Blow Corp, goes and modifies this design and sells stuff, then yes, there would be damages to get from the ill-gotten profits. But in the case of an anonymous designer releasing a mod and making no money, then what exactly would damages come out of? This guy had no expectation of profit on the original design -- how could he lose anything on a modified design for which no profits are generated?