Gotta love control-freaks!

So I was looking at some old logs, and was reminded of an (in)famous MUF (TinyMUCK programming language) programmer named Mystique.

Now, TinyMUCK programming is something that is done completely for free, without any form of payment. This is basically code that is used to perform various simple and complex functions on TinyMUCK servers, like FurryMUCK.

You'd think that since all this code is written for free, that the authors would have no problem letting anyone use it, like GPL code. Not Mystique, though!

Mystique was a control-freak in the extreme. One time I ported a program of hers onto FluffMUCK, before she added the "Licensing Agreement" (more later), and she somehow found out about it. I practically got torn a new one by her barrage of "you are violating my intellectual property! You a pirate! Thief!"

In retrospect, I probably should have told her to f**k off, booted her from FluffMUCK, and banned her IP from the game. But I didn't, and @chowned the code to her. Later on she vanished without a trace, leaving her code behind. One of her programs is still on the MUCK, but mostly unused.

Anyway, here is the insane license agreement she attached to all her code. I don't know how someone can get this paranoid and possesive about free software; she really should apply for a job at Microsoft:

Hereafter:

1. Mystique will be referred to as the Author.
2. Control is ownership of said item, able to change, manipulate, replace
or remove without exterior assistance.
3. Authorities are those who maintain, operate and govern the usage of
the muck within and outside of the virtual environment. This includes
the title Wizard.

Terms of Usage:

1. Use of this program is by permission of the Author ONLY.
2. NO editing or cross-muck transfers [known as porting] of this program are
allowed. Those who do so, are committing the act of Piracy, punishable
under local laws.
3. The Author must be of verifiable, connectable presence and in Control of
this program during ALL usage. If this program is removed from the
Author's Control, all of it's operation WILL be terminated immediately.
4. NO muck shall operate this program without the consent of the Author.
Doing so, circumvents all muck policies, AUP or legislation [on any media]
regarding restriction of legal obligations and places all muck Authorities
in the act of Theft, punishable by local laws.
5. This program does NOT apply to any policies which require replacements
found prior to shutdown. If this program is to be replaced, it remains
in Control OF the Author, until a replacement IS found. The Author
retains the right to shutdown this program at any time.
6. Muck Authorities must adhere to all of the above policies or the Author
maintains the rights to remove this program at any time, without warning.
7. The Author requires that the characters Slipstream or Lynx [or variants
there of], are *NOT* of official embodiment [known as Wizard or
Authorities]. If said become such, this program's operation will be
TERMINATED and removed, until such time when they are not.
8. The Author retains the right to maintain, change or replace this program
at any time without restrictions.