I think Dominic is now hurting his own cause because of his arrogant attitude that he's displaying here on the SZ. Maybe some of his words are getting lost in translation since his main language is Italian but from an American perspective, and I would assume a British perspective as well, his words seem very arrogant and even cocky.
And although he may very well get away with what he is going in regards to re-Sampling i.e. (cloning) other companies intellectual property, yet in the end it may not matter because his personality seems very abrasive and not conducive to either public relations or retail sales. And because of it Lionstracs may not thrive as well as he hopes it will.
>> Hey Dom! Tone down the rhetoric or you may find your American and British audience shunning the very products that you are trying to get them to buy.
As far as the legality to what he is doing I think there is a grey area in all of this also and he very well could end up on the winning side - at least as far as from possibly not being sued by the Big Three, etc. For instance, Openlabs has the Neko and Meko keyboards that incorporate the use of their Mimik software that can clone Hardware Synths and Modules into the Neko and Meko. The difference with Openlabs is the owner of a Neko or Meko has to do the cloning procedure himself
after he has 'already' purchased the keyboard. So the theory goes if I bought a Neko or Meko it is my private personal property and because of it I can therefore clone other keyboards. (Openlabs is probably attesting to the fact that the person doing the cloning is cloning other keyboards or modules that he or she already personally owns also.) Same theory as a Cassette Tape Deck back in the 70's and 80's or even today. "Since I own a Cassette Tape Deck I can therefore make 'personal' copies of the original tapes and use them for my own personal use. Same goes for CD/R players and DVD/R players as well. As long as I have purchased the Tape, CD, or DVD and own the necessary hardware to duplicate them I am legally entitled to do so as long as it is for personal use only and not for profiting. That is the distinguishing difference with Openlabs as apposed to Lionstracs in my opinion. Openlabs is letting the purchaser of a Neko or Meko clone their own synth or module while Lionstracs OTOH is doing it at the factory and from a profiteering perspective in my opinion. Perhaps not by increasing the overall price of a Mediastation per se, but in the anticipation that a significant amount of consumers will be "enticed" to purchase a Mediastation when they see all of the "goodies" that is included in the purchase price.
If Lionstracs can convince enough people to do so then they will have obtained their goal and will have increased their overall bottom line in the process.
So from an ethical standpoint I believe Openlabs is more in line with the law and dare I say most likely even in compliance with it. OTOH, Lionstracs, in my opinion, is treading on thin ice in this matter. Do they even own a Tyros2 or any of the other synths or modules that they are attempting to clone?? Even if they did, they are morally wrong in my opinion because they are doing it from a profiteering motive by cloning other companies intellectual property and using it for their own personal profit and financial gain. And therefore Lionstracs indeed may find themselves mired in litigation over their dubious decision to do so. We will have to wait and see how things eventually pan out. >> You may want to find a good lawyer in the meantime though Dominic.
Mike