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by urbnspacecowboy 17 days ago
The source code Scott & co. released is word-for-word exactly the same as the pirated source code that's been floating around the Internet since at least 2009, and that pagetable.com wrote about in 2018:

https://www.pagetable.com/?p=774

This is what Microsoft slapped a license and an AI-slop README on. Sure, they can legally do that, they still own the copyright, but it's still pretty funny that they're essentially laundering pirated software.

The Zork I/II/III releases were even more blatant, with git commits adding license texts to existing pirate (or, if you prefer, archival) releases of the old source code:

https://github.com/historicalsource/zork1

https://github.com/historicalsource/zork2

https://github.com/historicalsource/zork3

It makes me wonder how many of Microsoft's other releases of old source code are laundered pirate releases, but I don't want to be too harsh. Microsoft's actions in these cases are considerably nicer than, say, what Warner Bros. did about pirated Mortal Kombat 2 source code (takedown), or Nintendo's continued legal hostility toward everyone everywhere. Maybe other companies could learn not to be so dog-in-the-manger about their precious Intellectual Property.