Oz WB PCBs - now available - Or how I screwed the list

[Bernd Felsche]

Bruce tapped away at the keyboard with:

> From: "Andrew Theurer" <habanero at us.ibm.com>
> > On Sunday 24 October 1999 01:54 pm, you wrote:

> > I am not too pleased about the agreement myself.   Actually, I
> > am confused.  Lets say I download and digest any of the wb-o2
> > documentation, then a few years later take a job at Honda.  I
> > work on a team that does lean-burn which uses a o2 sensor in the
> > same family/technology of the NTK.  All of my new findings/work
> > has to be given back to diy-efi?  If so, no auto company in
> > their right mind would hire anyone on this list, ever, for fear
> > of liability.  So, by participating, you eliminate any
> > possibilty of a career in engine mgmt.

> Might reread the agreement, yes you are confused.

That is what is implied by the "agreement".

i.e.  "You also, are agreeing that any improvements made to it by
yourself or others will be publicly shared with the GMECM list."

Although I think we all understand what is _intended_, that is not
what it actually says.

It states that:
  "While this is an analog version, an improvement to digital based
  on this art will be consider a modification, and hence shared with
  the gmecm list."
and
  "Downloading this info, any using any of this art (or strategies)
  for use on other type ion pump type is considered a modification
  of this design."

Both of these claims are IMHO unreasonable, as they imply that all
ion-pump techniques are owned by GMECM list, even if they've never
been presented or hinted. There is a claim rights over derivative
works which have not been defined; but which have previously been
published elsewhere without constraint. (See DDL page Bibliography)

These claims to IP exceed those even possible under Patent law.
You make claims to IP (Intellectual Property) that isn't yours in
the first place.  Excessive claims such as these diminish the value
of any valid claims you may have.

I've (probably) spent a couple of hundred hours (not to mention
close to $1000 on publications and hardware) coming to grips with
the operation of the wide-band unit, through independent research
and following up sources provided by members of DIY_EFI list. I've
tried to encapsulate that and proposed a method of direct digital
operation (which coincidentally was also explored by NGK/Siemens in
their NOx sensor drive less than a year before) as this was an
obvious extension of the state of the art to the best of my
knowledge at the time.

That information is on the DDL page.  Protected by Copyright. I
expect those who use the information will contribute to the DIY_EFI
list; but I'm not holding my breath. 

If somebody chooses to exploit the idea commercially and manufacture
without due compensation back to the list, I reserve the option to
flood the market with cheap alternatives once the abuser has their
warehouse full of expensive stock.

You see; my reward for my efforts and expense is also in preventing
the technology from being locked down by patents and registered
designs. The only tool available to ye and me (without the expense
of Patents) is to simply publish the ideas as they occur. That alone
is sufficient to negate a subsequent Patent ("prior art").

My aim is to make the technology available and comprehensible for
those who want to experiment, to learn and to invent further.

-- 
/"\  Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning, Perth, Western Australia
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