In that vein of "settled", think of Judge Martinez, whose court spent almost 2 years on this the last time (2007-2009). The result? Start all over with even more parties involved and even more issues to be dealt with...
i simply wonder for how long yet the amiga community intends to be just an audience of such a boring soap.
Eh, Big Bill McEwen was early on seemingly earnest enough but
as far as I'm concerned, Amiga, Inc. have done little but squat over their IP, grunting and gesturing with a stone knife and occasionally fanning the IP for signs of life, for well over a decade. They can't even raise a glimmer of respect in a community which was once as active and enthusiastic as they come.
I wouldn't believe him if he stated that the Sun was going to rise tomorrow.
At least Hyperion and Cloanto have since had activities that have supported users to some extent, albeit not support enough to generate new users. Now they're back to tugging on two ends of a string of cold gristle, and A,Inc has decided that if Hyperion has somehow found a beggar's worth of calorie content, then there is enough grease to convince a lawyer or two that there might be fees available. My guess is that Cloanto and the others have thrown in a ream of paper and a couple hours' of lawyer fees each, to avoid being the target of the next valueless action by A,Inc.
Again,
my personal opinion is that Amiga Inc has long ago lost the moral high ground, the market, and the respect of everyone who isn't getting a check from them (and who knows about respect in that situation). There is no forward looking value in their cold hands gripping obsolete code and trademarks to their chests lest anyone actually benefit. It's the perfect situation for something to be released into the public domain or at minimum an unrestricted GNU-type license. Even if, and it's not clear to me that it is the case, there was infringement, can Hyperion using an Amiga trademark possibly lower the image of Amiga, Inc.? Not unless public opinion can go to a value less than zero. Amiga, Inc. was going to do nothing themselves to generate revenue, or, heaven forbid, value to the community.
If I were to see Bill park his Victory motorcycle near me, I'd consider overcoming my support of a fellow motorcyclist for long enough to let the air out of his tires. And that's a realization that he's bottomed out; when you're at the bottom of the valley, you should drop your burden and start walking up hill rather than getting out a shovel and digging deeper.
