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"Hypothetical" on Eula / embedding
Posted by lherrou in
11 May 2007 — 8:36am
11 May 2007 — 8:36am
OK, here's a (not so) hypothetical question...
Suppose you know of someone who used Fontlab to change the permissions on a font so they could embed it in a website using WEFT. What responsibilities do you have, especially if they are not a part of your organization? What steps would you take? Does it change if you don't think highly of the particular foundry's EULA?
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11 May 2007 — 9:03am
Does IE actually still support WEFT?
Seriously tho, unless you either hate the someone in question, or are a good friend of the designer who is not getting embedding fees, follow the Ann Landers rule and just MYOB.
11 May 2007 — 9:40am
Todd, I believe you answered to your own question. When you say, "you know of someone who used", that means you know and you are aware of the subject. If you pact with it, then I suppose you can be held responsible as well. I think.
11 May 2007 — 9:56am
You're going to Guantanamo!
Unless you pull an Alberto Gonzalez I-don't-recall defense.
I think your obligation is to let your friend know his activities are illegal and that you don't approve, but as far as ratting him out...? I dunno. Gets into a grey area. Am I gonna report everyone I know who messes around with their tax returns? Hardly (altho the thought did cross my mind after an ex cheated on me). And it's not like you're going to be held liable for knowing and keeping silent. There's no font police that I'm aware of, nobody's life is in danger, and reporting your friend sounds awfully iron curtain to me.
11 May 2007 — 10:36am
Actually, it's a funny situation, because it's not a friend - it's someone on a website where I am a moderator. I will take action (or have someone at a higher level take action) in the actual discussion online (currently awaiting a response in non-official mode), but was trying to think through other implications - mostly because I *do* care about fonts, and therefore find I care about making sure font designers get their due.
11 May 2007 — 12:21pm
Your responsibility is to tell your friend that browser font embedding is a rather useless and silly technology that never really got off the ground.
"I think your obligation is to let your friend know his activities are illegal"
Are they illegal? Or is it merely a breach of contract? Or is this just a semantic issue?
"therefore find I care about making sure font designers get their due."
IMHO, embedding or not really seems to have no effect on the designer of the font. What's it to them if it's embedded on a web page or not?