If you don’t care enough about the font to the terms of the original license then why do you care enough about the font to bother converting it over to use on an iPhone?

Isn’t that a bit unreasonable though? I don't see anything wrong with it as long as you aren’t sharing it or selling it. If you have purchased it legally, then I fail to see how it harms the author.

From a musician’s standpoint, as long as someone pays for my songs, I don’t care if he puts them on his ipod, records them to minidisc, edits them to play backwards, presses them into vinyl, etc. As long as it’s for personal satisfaction only, it wouldn’t bother me.

If you have purchased it legally, then I fail to see how it harms the author…
As long as it’s for personal satisfaction only, it wouldn’t bother me.

You didn’t purchase it. You purchased a license to use it as described in said license. Whether or violating the license harms the author is irrelevant. Whether or not it wouldn’t bother you to have someone format-shift your work is irrelevant to the license you agreed to. Don’t come around here looking for people to tell you it’s OK to otherwise just because you’re cool with it.

I'm sorry my post upset you. I guess I tend not to care what people do, as long as their actions aren’t hurting anyone else, regardless of terms and conditions. I didn’t “come around here” looking for people to agree with me, I just thought it was a controversial topic worth discussing, and I shared my point of view. Isn’t that how a discussion typically works?

So I would appreciate it if you stopped treating me like some kind of troll.

Thanks.

I think James was responding validly. You asked for other people's opinions and proceeded to rationalize your own.

Honestly, piracy on the iphone is a valid concern, there are a number of font hacks on Cydia that seem to include copies of commercial fonts. I've played around with porting my own fonts onto the iphone and you'd be surprised by how very few change need to be made.

If you're really into hacking and skinning your phone and actually do care about doing it "correctly" you should check your font
s EULA to see if it allows re-engineering and installing on additional devices. If it doesn't, contact the foundry, explain what you want to do, and ask for permission.

ed said:
> Isn’t that how a discussion typically works?

of course.

but this issue isn't one that people here want to discuss.

particularly because they know that there isn't a thing
that they can do to force you to obey their "license"...

and that powerlessness makes them irrational.

-bowerbird

some people drive on the left, some on the right. as long as they don’t mix, everything is ok.

. . .
Bert Vanderveen BNO

speaking of trolls

how true

ed is talking about jail-broken iphones, and you
want to lecture him on the terms of a font license?

and i call that "irrational", and _i_ become a troll?

you guys make me laugh. you make me chuckle,
and shake my head, and then giggle some more.

james said:
> Don’t come around here looking for people to
> tell you it’s OK to otherwise just because
> _you’re_ cool with it.

notice that james dropped a word in that sentence?
he dropped words in several sentences, indicating
to me that he might've been typing "emotionally".

at any rate...

i don't think ed was looking for someone to tell him
"that's cool". i don't think ed cares what "someone"
might say about it. but hey, maybe i'm all wrong...

who thinks ed -- and the next guy just like him --
is gonna stop what he's doing because you say that
"the license don't allow you to do that, sorry charlie"?

tell me, who thinks that?

-bowerbird

Someone ought to be able to design a simple iPhone App which will import a predetermined package of new fonts and install them in the phone. I've done some research on it and it is within the technical scope of iPhone Apps, we just need someone to do the job.

I'd love to discuss it if there's an App programmer out there with an interest.

Dave Nalle
Scriptorium Fonts

I have no iPhone but when I look at Adobe's Minion Pro Caption link, it says "End user license: 5 computers". The iPhone is a computer and I don't see why I would not be allowed to consider it as one of the 5 computers of the EULA.

Michel

This is no different than ripping a CD so you can listen to it on your iPod.

The RIAA would prefer you get jail time for such an offense, but in the grand scheme of the universe, no harm, no foul.

> This is no different than ripping a CD so you can listen to it on your iPod.

I'd like someone from Adobe to say something.

Michel

Hmm, I was going to drop the issue because I began to regret asking what turned out to be a loaded question, but as it turns out, it seems that there is, in fact, some interest in discussing the topic.

Jackson, thank you for your thoughtful response and suggestion. You are correct about how easy it would be. I’m in the process of skinning my phone, and if I decide it’s worth changing the font, I will contact the foundry and explain my situation.

Michel, thanks for sharing your research. However, I wonder if that license agreement allows for necessary modifications to font metrics to make it compatible with the device.

Otherwise, I would have to agree with both you and aluminum. Especially if the license permits installation on 5 computers, it would be comparable to burning your songs to CD for your car.

I wonder if that license agreement allows for necessary modifications to font metrics to make it compatible with the device.

Here is from Adobe Western font (5 seat) EULA

14.7.4 You may convert and install the font software into another format for use in other environments, subject to the following conditions: A computer on which the converted font software is used or installed will be considered as one of your Permitted Number of Computers. Use of the font software you have converted will be pursuant to all the terms and conditions of this agreement. Such converted font software may be used only for your own customary internal business or personal use and may not be distributed or transferred for any purpose, except in accordance with Section 4.4 of this agreement.

Michel

By the way Canada Type also has a nice Commercial EULA [edit: just for one machine, though].

Michel