SDK - WAS: Insteon - watch out for RF interference

[Ralph <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dave Houston wrote:
> I haven't found any detailed documentation of the protocol. I presume you
> would get it with the SDK but the agreement for that seemed to violate the
> 13th Amendment's prohibition of involuntary servitude (They can block you
> from selling your developed Insteon device if they wish.) so I opted not to
> get the SDK.
>

Yeah, I was pretty put off by the agreement also and wrote to them. They
claim, and a closer reading seems to support it, that the restriction is
against using the Insteon name on your products, not selling software
developed with the SDK.

Note below that the prohibition is just against Insteon LABELED
applications.

"The distribution and commercialization of any INSTEON labeled
compatible applications developed by you will require and will be
subject to the terms of a separately executed agreement between you and
SMARTHOME, at SMARTHOME's sole discretion."

Presumably, if they let you sell it at all, they'll want something like
royalty payments and/or exclusive marketing rights if you use the
Insteon name on software developed with the SDK. My reading of the
agreement though is that you can market software developed with the SDK
as long as you don't use the Insteon name. It doesn't sound like there's
any library code either, so they couldn't restrict distribution that way.

It's still all a bit of a crock of course and would make selling
anything developed a lot harder. We still haven't decided if it's worth
the business risk to start a development project, the kit price though
is in the noise. We haven't ordered one yet just so we can talk to
people about it. Once you sign the agreement it seems like you can't
discuss it any further.

Maybe like the old Unix (U**x) stuff it would have to be marketed as for
I*****n ;-}