Thanks Max, I understand the dilema you describe, and agree with the choice you made not to worry about copies - instead focusing on the "more" of service and engineering judgement you provide to the site developer.
I suppose that my main point - one that may have been lost by using too many words - is this: >>> The Whole Issue Is Ron's Gripe Not Mine <<<. I have tried to work out a way to accomodate him for what I thought was reasonable and fair, then seeing that we wouldn't reach any sort of mutual agreement, I dropped the issue - many years ago. However, Ron just can't let go of it and wants to try to turn opinion against me and Peter by this issue. Joe --- In [email protected], Max Enfield <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Joseph Hartvigsen wrote: > > > > > So what this comes down to is that we said to Ron if we are going to > > sell you just a few plastic spoons so that you can copy them, we > > request that you pay a royalty on the copies that you sell. His > > watermoter with the plastic blue spoons sells on his web site for 480 > > USD (plus shipping), I was charging him 40 USD (no markup at all) for > > a set of the plastic spoons. His watermotor with the copied orange > > spoons sells for 695 USD (plus shipping), the royalty would have been > > 32 USD. > > > > Somehow the idea of paying a design royalty on direct physical copies > > offends him, and he feels that the design should be public domain. We > > aren't talking about the general concept of a turgo runner - which is > > public domain, we're talking about a copy made by a rubber mold > > directly around one of the plastic parts we provided him. He is free > > like anyone else to sit down at a CAD system to design a part and > > email the file to a mold maker who can use CAM software to machine the > > mold. > > ... > > > > Again, this is not an issue that I'm raising, but since Ron has raised > > it in public, I'll address it in public. You can draw your own > > conclusions. > > > > Joe > > Joe has presented in detail the moral case. Whilst I have no wish to disagree > with any of his specific points, there is a pragmatic [or if you like a > "business" case] that runs in parallel with the moral one and this needs to be > articulated as well. > > If a royalty is being claimed, then this comes with a price - an administrative > price and a policing price. So let's do a cost benefit analysis and see whether > it is worth it. If only a handful of units or at most a few tens of units are > sold per year and the product is easily copied because it uses only low or > intermediate level technology then I suggest it is hardly worth it. If volumes > were much greater then the situation would be different, with the original > craftsman being prepared to expend a lot of time and money on policing > unauthorized copying, whilst would be copiers look for ways to slightly but > sufficiently change the product so that royalty can be avoided. > > This sort of thing happens in the commercial world all the time. One approach > (although not applicable to Turgo spoons) is to engineer a product so that full > functionality depends on at least one high tech or high skill component. This > doesn't have to be piece of hardware although it can be, for example, a custom > micro chip, that is difficult to reverse engineer. > > Planetary Power is now finding itself in a similar position to that of Joe's. > We have opted for the "at least one high tech or high skill component" > approach. Recently we were paid a substantial sum of money for professional > services relating to a micro-hydro site located several thousand kilometres > outside of Australia where we are based. The job came about as a direct result > of us featuring on our website our Banki-crossflow micro-hydro systems designed > for low heads. It is now only a matter of time before sooner or later some of > these turbines will find their way into that country. We have decided not to > try and restrict or control our product being copied. On the contrary, > we would welcome it. Our approach is to explain that no two low head sites are > exactly the same and a successful micro-hydro implementation is more than just a > turbine. It's the "more" that we are interested in. Eventually they may > > Regards, > > Max Enfield > Planetary Power > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> AIDS in India: A "lurking bomb." Click and help stop AIDS now. http://us.click.yahoo.com/VpTY2A/lzNLAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Does your company feature in the microhydro business directory at http://microhydropower.net/directory ? If not, please register free of charge and be exposed to the microhydro community world wide! NOTE: The advertisements in this email are added by Yahoogroups who provides us with free email group services. The microhydro-group does not endorse products or support the advertisements in any way. 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