I apologize for pressing this issue any further, but there are some remaining mysteries I would like to have cleared up. Granting that there is a US law forcing a company to press charges if it finds someone tampering with its IP, can someone demystify me as to the legal nature of the relationship between certain PC developers, who actively support mods, and the modding community--specifically as to whether these groups are guilty of breaking this law, or, if not, how they have avoided doing so?
Better still, does anyone have a link to the actual US law in question?
Perhaps this is asking too much, but it would be jolly swell if members of the PMBR would end this sort of questioning once and for all by elaborating on the legal nature of their mod: i.e., by listing and explaining the areas in which it violates US law and specifying whether or not the team is able to take any action to reduce the violation, or if they are entirely at the mercy of Nintendo for PM to continue. I know this seems like a neurotic level of detail to some, but I would sleep better at night knowing the exact nature (or as far as is possible) of the legal standing of Project M before involving myself in it more fully.
(My apologies if some of those posting in this thread are PMBR members. I don't know who is who yet.)
Lastly, I would argue that insofar as Project M deserves to exist, it should tread with utmost respect for Nintendo going forward. I know the PM team realizes this, but certain possibilities still concern me. The choice to add clone characters which extend beyond the playable cast of past games, even if the characters chosen have a non-playable presence in those games, is to me a very risky move. Part of the major draw of a new Smash game is its additional characters. The PM team may be forced to work within the limitations of a cloning engine, as well as having only so many clone character slots available, but these characters are still NEW characters. Thus I would argue that if PM includes them, the competition between PM and Smash4 in Nintendo's eyes just got a bit more real. My preference would be for PM to shy away from new characters, modes, or stages and simply focus on being the most polished, deep, and balanced version of the Brawl/Melee content around. That way it retains its essential distinction without coming into further and further competition with the new Smash and therefore Nintendo. The promise to achieve a final build of the game relatively soon seems also a wise one and should be kept.
