As to why anyone would limit access to an add-on, you may have your reasons, but I see a lot of add-on files on this and other websites which illustrate why files should never be copyrighted.
Beery, of course all files should be copyrighted, otherwise it becomes a free-for-all where individuals can take what they wish, and claim it as their own. Most designers of course want to see their work evolve, and most with a request, will allow their work to be improved on, and distributed again.
What lies at the heart of John's argument, and my personal beef with Ferdy is his blatant disregard for the author's wishes. Make no mistake here, just because a file is provided to a comunity free of charge, does not mean the author does not retain the same rights as if it were $9.99 in your local store. I personally draw no distinction between what FSplanet is doing, and someone breaking into my house, and physically taking the files without my consent.
What we are trying to do here is keep things free - for everyone, and FSplanet's scheme of charging users for reliable access to it's hosted files goes against the FS grain.
and this is the internet, not the real world with all of its national legislations etc., so this part of the discussion is fairly useless.
Well, I'm afraid like it or not, the Internet is part of the real world, and there are international conventions regarding copyright legislation. Take for example, the Berne convention (1971), (which applies to literary and artistic works) to which the US, and all of the current EU countries are signed up to, and that includes Spain and Italy.
Ric B.
