[Coco] Done (with the Rainbow)

[J.P. Samson]

I think everybody needs to take a step back from the ongoing, highly  
opinionated discussions occurring on the list.  It looks like some  
people are about to take some drastic actions that many of us may  
regret later.

The main issue stems from how to preserve the contents of the Rainbow  
magazine in digital form.  This has expanded into a number of related  
issues regarding the legitimacy of copyrights, whether there is value  
in preserving the past, and commitment towards new/ongoing projects.   
Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to be looking at things in a very  
black and white manner--it's either my way or no way.

I'll ignore those who believe the Rainbow to be a relic of the past  
and of no interest (in which case they really don't need to get  
involved in any of this).  I'll start with the Lonnie Falk-santioned  
project spearheaded by Michael.  Michael has spent a great deal of  
time creating a digital Rainbow.  He has decided to do things "by the  
book" and will be offering an officially sanctioned product.  There  
have been a bunch of ups-and-downs as with any long-term project;  
finding the time to work on it and Lonnie's unfortunate death were two  
big factors that could have caused the project to fail.  Michael (and  
his assistants) have persevered up to this point, and really should be  
commended.  It seems to me that the finish line is in sight.

I have a couple of suggestions and observations for Michael.  First,  
perhaps it would be a good idea to write a short progress update,  
perhaps once every month or two, and post it to this list.  Part of  
the reason this fierce discussion ensued was because some people  
thought the Rainbow on DVD project was dead, and were looking for an  
alternative.  Second, I think the requirement in your contract to act  
as an informant--reporting on any competing digitization of the  
Rainbow--is odd, even unreasonable.  But then, Falsoft has been known  
for having some outrageous contract requirements, a case in point  
being the one authors had to sign to be published in the magazine:  
Falsoft assumed all ownership rights, and the author was liable for  
any legal repercussions.  In hindsight, this requirement benefits  
Michael's project from a legal perspective.  A digital Rainbow can be  
published today without infringing on the original authors' rights.

The second project, really more of a proposal at this point, is to get  
people to casually scan their copies of the Rainbow and distribute  
them freely.  Those interested in this approach tend to have a very  
open, cooperative viewpoint.  People in this group feel that the  
Rainbow copyright is no longer of value given the passage of time,  
unenforceable, or in some cases simply disagree with federal copyright  
laws (in which case perhaps they should be petitioning their  
legislators, not this CoCo list).  This ad hoc approach may result in  
an incomplete set of digital issues, and inconsistent and inferior  
quality compared to the Rainbow on DVD project.  However, access to  
issues would be more immediate, unlike Michael's project that won't be  
publicly released until the complete run of the Rainbow is converted.

I believe that there is room for both projects to proceed.  If one  
fails, perhaps the other will produce some useful results.  It is  
unfortunate that Michael is compelled to report the activities of this  
second project, as now these people feel their project, if not  
themselves, are threatened.  When threatened, people will tend to lash  
back.  And thus we have one of the worst flamewars I've ever seen on  
this list.

I can't really tell people what they should do to resolve things.   
Perhaps Michael should stop reading the list so that he remains  
blissfully unaware of the goings on of the competing project.   
Alternatively, those interested in the open Rainbow project could take  
their discussions off the list.  Or perhaps we can negotiate a middle  
ground--find out what kinds discussions and wording would raise a red  
flag in Michael's viewpoint (e.g. mentioning locations where "copies"  
of the Rainbow can be found) and find tactful ways around this.

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts.  The solution will  
require compromises, but I do hope we can come to a reasonable  
agreement that most people can live with, and start talking about the  
thing we really do have in common: a love for all things CoCo.

-- JP