Re: powerlinc usb control api

[Marc F Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 2 Nov 2005 15:58:19 -0800, "Mark Thomas" <mrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message  <1130975899.104211.318460@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>
>> "and sign your life away"?
>>
>> The agreement requires a developer who wants to sell products and make money
>> with INSTEON technology has to have the device reviewed to assure that it
>> works. This QA/QC 101.
>
>If you sign the agreement, you sign away the right to determine whether
>you can sell your product. See Dave H's many threads on this matter. I
>wouldn't bet my company on Insteon.
>
>Insteon is not nearly as open as I would like. I'd like to see Insteon
>as open as  UPB.
>
>- Mark.

Right.  And one also has to agree to abide by provisions controlling
"proliferation activities prohibited by the US Government such as chemical,
biological, nuclear or missile technology."  As if someone would use
X-10/Insteon to send off a nuclear-tipped missile ;-)

Anyone who is "betting his company" based on the $10 license agreement ($99
package cost -$90 of hardware) probably isn't betting very much or very wisely.

This "Level 1" is for hobbyists and dilettantes like me and perhaps others in
this newsgroup. Since I would not engage in "distribution or
commercialization", most of the onerous parts of the wouldn't apply to me.

There are $250 ("Level 2") and $2000 ("Level 3") and the ever-present option of
entering into a different agreement for folks that are seriously interested in
creating a commercial product for sale.

The disadvantages of the conditions in the $10 agreement have been previously
discussed in this newsgroup, but the advantages haven't and there are several
important ones in my opinion including the quality assurance that I alluded to
before. There are roughly parallel hoops one has to jump through with UL (and
CSA and CE) which is _also_ effectively a prerequisite for "distribution and
commercialization" of a Insteon powerline device in US (and Canada and Europe).
Except that with UL, there is no provision for opting out or striking a
separate deal (we hope ;-)

In any case, if one doesn't like the agreement, one is free to negotiate a
different arrangement if, having invested $10, one thinks that one wants to bet
one's company ( or -- gasp!)  $250 on Insteon.

I'm not the betting type and since I don't 'do' commercialization of home
automation of powerline devices  (environmental monitoring is a different
matter), the conditions you refer to are irrelevant to my situation.

FWIW, for what it's worth, my perspective on these things has moved a great
deal over the decades. When spreadsheets first came out, I refused to use them
for all but trivial uses because they were proprietary and the underlying code
not available. No FORTRAN source code, no resulting scientific publication. How
far we've come ;-)

Mis dos centavos ... Marc