Re: Re[2]: pixel fonts

>But if they use it in a professional environment, they open themselves
>up to prosecution for software theft.  And doing so is a major 
>liability and Not Good Business.
But even if the breaking and entering is a crime, it is still wise to 
lock your doors and put valuables in a safe.
Though stealing fonts is already illegal, development to make it way 
easier is NOT a wise decision. Failing to build adequate safety features 
is not a wise decision either.

>Aren't most of them dodgy TrueType knockoff fonts of the "1,000 fonts 
>for $19.95" variety?  
Actually, my fonts pop up there regularly (>$300). Even after repeated 
(sometimes heated) discussions on the legality of it.

>> I can't repeat this often enough: of course outline fonts are better for 
>> many applications, but current formats    are    just   not   safe    
>> enough    for    online   use.
>
>Possibly.  But then again, bitmap fonts are tightly wedded to a resolution
>and are not easily portable.  X11 assumes 75 or 100 dpi, 
>Windows assumes 96 and the Mac assumes something like 72.  This 
>complicates things.  
Indeed a problem, but not worth sacrificing typefoudries for. Before 80% 
of the world's computer screens have resolutions over the 100 dpi we'll 
be 3-5 years further, even with a major breakthrough in LCD technology. 
When that happens, screen resolution becomes a serious issue. Before that 
however, there is enough time to develop a secure way to distribute fonts 
over the net without risking exposure.

>Aren't most of them dodgy TrueType knockoff fonts of the "1,000 fonts 
>for $19.95" variety?  
Well, yeah, Knockoffs of my fonts. Only adds to the efficiency of piracy, 
and propagates the idea that fonts are free, or really cheap and anyone 
paying good money for type is out of his mind. That is just damaging to 
the fontmarket as direct lost sales.

>The problem with precautions is that to be secure, they would depend on
>proprietary formats, a concept which is opposed to the principles of
>HTML and open systems.  The browser will need a key for decoding the font
>to display it; however, if the user can obtain the key, e can rip the font.
Not necessarily. For instance by building applets or objects or whatever 
you want to call them, active executable code, that function as fonts it 
will be possible to monitor usage of fonts, and based on that, get money 
for it. This is not unreasonable. The publisher of a certain web document 
wants the user to see his pages in a particular font, user doesn't really 
care. User reads page, font signals foundry, foundry invoices publisher. 
If font cannot signal the foudnry it'll lose feautures, or stop working 
altogether. It can be done and makes sense. If font usage (and basically 
any piece of intellectual property) can be monitored in a reliable way, 
prices will go down dramatically. If font usage cannot be monitored at 
all and risk of exposure increases, font prices will go up: expensive 
multiuser licenses etc.

>knocked up at home by an amateur.  In either case, professional type
>designers get very little money from such amateurs, whether because of
>knockoffs or piracy.  Professional fonts are somewhat of a prestige market.
Indeed. But there still is massive abuse of fonts in the professional 
world. Though it would be nice to be able to wish it away, it won't. 
Every single ad agency, student and music magazine in the world seems to 
have Trixie,  but I only sold 1200 copies in 5 years. That hurts. That's 
the reason I'm not optimistic about fonts on line. It's a daily fight, 
over and over again to get people to pay for the things that they use. 
The fact the current font formats make copying very easy does not mean we 
should give up on it and do something else. It means we have to develop 
better means of protection, and prevent the situation from getting worse. 
That is not too much to ask.

The internet won't go away, webpages won't go away, and perhaps 
unfortunately to some, typdesigners and typefoundries that want a fair 
deal won't go away either.


erik van blokland, LettError
home of the randomfonts
   letterror http://www.letterror.com
   typelab   http://www.dol.com/TypeLab/

Received on Friday, 9 August 1996 08:05:29 UTC