Here is what Cali Ruchala posted on alt.binaries.fonts on June 9, 2000.

Article 204795 of alt.binaries.fonts:
From: Cali Ruchala 
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.fonts
Subject: Defending typographers -- please read
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 18:19:54 -0600

I'd like to comment on the recent posts by Graham Meade, Apostrophe and others, and suggest a proposal towards counteracting what I see as a real threat towards free- and shareware typography. Sorry if this is lengthy or disorganized, but it's fresh from my mind to yours. First off, the attack on Graham's site was not an isolated incident, as

Apostrophe pointed out. Shareware sites have been getting hit for as long as they've existed. Many of these attacks are coming from professional typographers (or, more properly, from the legal departments of major foundries); I believe Graham himself was previously pinched by a lawyer from a large foundry.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I don't think the attacks on shareware and freeware sites are being done in a haphazard manner. Anyone who's sat in on type groups or bothered to read a few publications knows that many of the typographers at the top of the foodchain have an absolutely horrible attitude towards shareware fonts (or, as one not-so-illustrious shill in these newsgroups called them, hobby fonts). They consider them defective, gimmicky, of poor quality and essentially uninspired design.

Why then, are they so incredibly worried about them? The more I read, the more I'm convinced that foundries such as Gem Fonts or the L'ab that offer marvelous fonts on a shareware or freeware basis are being seen as a threat by the pack of lawyers at the monolithic foundries, if not by type designers themselves.

I probably spend more money every month on type than I do on food -- several thousand dollars per year, in fact. For someone whose company isn't paying for it, I consider that one hell of an investment. I for one would like to know if my money is being given to companies who are pursuing this ludicrous agenda against shareware and freeware typographers and archive sites. Obviously, publications which live by the support of major design houses (or whose editors look with a jaundiced eye on anything that isn't being sold for the price of a blue-eyed child on the black market) aren't going to give me an honest assessment. Instead, I have to pick through various notices posted on designers' sites about being contacted by this or that foundry or corporation and threatened with legal action, or read about it here second- or third-hand, if at all.

In almost every incident I can think of, in fact, the typographers have relented before the form letters of attorneys, or never had a chance to reply (having your site taken down is a case in point). People designing fonts for the love obviously don't want to spend thousands of dollars to defend themselves against ludicrous legal actions. The only thing that can be done to get the lawyers to back off is to circulate the information amongst ourselves, and make it clear that there's a large body of people who aren't going to stand for this anymore.

Towards that end, I'd like to make a proposal. I can devote a few hours per week towards collecting this information and organizing it into a bulletin, to be distributed via e-mail, posted on a website(s), posted here and so on. This would serve two purposes: to alert consumers of which foundries are pursing this agenda of intimidation, and to give some kind of voice to the little guy being shoved around. Also, legalistic transgressions would be preserved, recorded and noted, so new type enthusiasts (or those out of the loop) would have some place to check before they make their purchases. As it is, someone who just got online two years ago has no concept of who or what was done four years ago. And it's a big net, and sometimes impossible to find out what's happening on the other side of it. (The value for typographers to share the information amongst themselves is obvious; these little 'campaigns' in the past have gone in cycles, and would send a head's-up to others receiving similar threats.)

Now, the only way this will work is if typographers send me their information when this happens, or others drop me a tip when yet another typographer has been smacked around. Towards that end, I'd like to open this up to discussion. Do you think it's a good idea? Bad idea? One that can be improved upon? I'm completely open to everything, including being told to go to hell. I'm just tired of hearing second-hand that my favorite fonts have now been outlawed, and that my favorite designers are being bullied. I repeat that I don't have some hysterical phobia against major foundries; to the contrary, I'm a customer. This is by no means a jihad against people who sell their fonts for a living (or something close to it), but against the people who are abusing the wealth and power of their employers in order to make life a hassle for those who choose to distribute their creations in another manner. I *know* that many well-known typographers lurk here; don't consider yourself a target unless you've behaved in a manner that would make you one.

Maybe there's a better way to go about this; let's hear about it! I for one am tired of being passive about this.

Cheers --

Cali Ruchala
Diacritica Press
100 E Walton * Chicago, IL * 60611
http://www.mindspring.com/~macvaya
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