Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat The Philosophy of Tweaking Equipment

+1

What a lot of fear here to start an open discussion

I agree and I use several.

Gianni:

Why does Erwins filter rely on Meridian's IP? Apodising filters are not unique to Meridian. Ayre had them in their CD players as well. They might even have been shipping before Meridian was shipping any (don't know for certain).

That being the case, without knowing anything about the code itself there is insufficient information to say that there is or isn't use of Meridian's IP.

Credibility? IMO, what Erwin has achieved is actually very impressive and technically accomplished.

+1

Because it is a plug-in specific to a Meridian operating environment. It is incapable of doing what it does, or in fact anything, without that specific environment for which it was designed. It has no value in and of itself. Note I said "rely on" not "impinge on".

Rather like a power supply modification, then!

Nick

A few questions to ponder��..

Seeing as this is a Meridian Forum, I will try and focus on issues specific to Meridian��.rather than broadening the discussion out to other Equipment

Likewise, I'm going to use Trifield as a specific example���..as I think most here can agree that it is a Unique Selling Point (USP) for Meridian


INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CONCERNS
1) If a User writes their Own ADDITIONAL 100 Lines of Code to add another Preset to Meridian's Processor and calls it "Quadfield"����and then integrates that into Meridian's existing Firmware���..is that User infringing upon Meridian's Intellectual Property???

2) On the other hand, if a User simply COPIES the e.g. 100 Lines of Code that make up Trifield����and then COPY that into the Firmware of e.g. A Naim / Linn / Lexicon Processor, resulting in Trifield now being possible on those Processors����is that User infringing upon Meridian's Intellectual Property???

3) Similarly, if the User COPIES and PASTES the e.g. 100 Lines of Meridian's Trifield Code into a Meridian Processor that did NOT have the Trifield option previously���.thereby Improving the functionality and Performance of that device���.is that User infringing upon Meridian's Intellectual Property???

4) And Lastly, if the User COPIES and PASTES the e.g. 100 Lines of Meridian's APODIZING Code into another Meridian Device that did NOT have the Apodizing option previously���.thereby Improving the functionality and Performance of that device���.is that User infringing upon Meridian's Intellectual Property???


Moficiation Distribution to Other Users
If the above User chooses to Propogate / Circulate the above Modifications to other User's���.does that change the Conclusions that you arrived at above??


Modification Distribution For Profit or for Reputation Enhancement
Now if the above User simply Copies the USP parts (e.g. Apodizing & Trifield) of Meridian's existing Code���.and then attempts to "Profit" from Distributing it���either Monetarily��.or in trying to Enhance their "Reputation" in this area�����does that change any of the conclusions that you arrived at above???

Nick,

I thought that but consider that the interface standards of a power supply are in the public domain, i.e. 240V AC at 50Hz upstream and 5.0-5.2V/12V DC downstream. I guess screws and so on are of standard thread and pitch.

The alternative power supplies you are using are purchased commercially (I assume) and you have paid for their internal IP. If you made them yourself they would bear your IP.

For these reasons, I believe what you are doing is different. And impressive.

Good challenge Ronnie.

I believe that every scenario infringes Meridian's IP. If the individual keeps it to themselves that is a matter for their own conscience. If they share it, for profit or otherwise, then, in my view, it becomes a matter of concern for Meridian.

There is to me something very different about this compared with Nick's power supply efforts (see my response to him) or George's 3dB tweak (which modifies a variable outside its design limit).

But all the car makers have tried to argue this over the years, however, as hard as they try and make it illegal to modify their ECU maps the law has said that they can do as much as they want to try and prevent it being modified but at the end of the day they can't legally stop anyone.

They can encrypt the ECU to make it harder, but that is about it, other than invalidate the warranty on the car. Even then they can only not cover a warranty claim if it could have been the remap that caused it. They can't not repair the stereo if the car has been mapped.

As a software designer is must be annoying, but how is it different to me designing a range of footwear for next season and then seeing the same styles in the high street stores a few weeks later?
The world will always copy, we live in a world were we constantly take whta is out there and try to improve, Japan has done nothing else for the last 50 years.

.. lets cut to the chase - Ronnie and Gianni - Do you think a hypothetical user has infringed Meridian's IP (from a legal point of view)?

Cheers
Tom