After "So Much for Freedom" and various articles questioning TSR's ethics, the debate concerning TSR's Net-Policy began to coalesce around certain key questions which became recurring themes until more extensive legal research was produced.
Copyright: Scalable or Boolean? TSR asserts that it is an infringement if I distribute a module via ftp. Is it then also an infringement if I distribute it to my personal friends? Where does one draw the line, or can a firm line even be drawn? For the record, TSR's representative never responded to queries regarding this question.
List of Forbidden Terms. TSR's spokesperson wrote: "We generally ask that you do not publish materials which incorporate our trademarks and copyrights."
What precisely are TSR's trademarks and copyrights? Is there a list of game terms which fans are forbidden the use of? If so, then where can we find such a list? For the record, TSR's representative failed to produce such a list, though he was asked for one repeatedly by the debate participants.
Does TSR even have such a list? Many assert that it does not. See "The Curious Origin of the Drow" for an explanation.
Game Rules vs Add-Ons. Is there any distinction, for intellectual property purposes, between (a) game system rules and terms such as "Hit Points" and "Armor Class", (b) monsters, spells, and magic items such as "Burning Hands", "Umber Hulks" and "Staff of the Magi", and (c) specific non-player characters and game settings such as "Elmister" and "Waterdeep"? Various netters immersed in the debate began seeking legal advice, and their lawyer- friends told them without exception that game rules cannot be copyrighted (you can copyright a book on how to play chess, but you can't copyright the game itself). However, since roleplaying games are so new, and since there are so many aspects to the game, how does the law treat them? For the record, TSR never delineated its policy with respect to this issue.
Censorship. Does TSR intend to censor submissions to MPGN with respect to content, and if so, is it's policy a violation of the 1st Amendment? TSR did speak on this issue:
TSR specifically chooses not to endorse any self-destructive behavior, whatever it may be. So, if you insist on having a creation that does, for reasons of creative necessity, draw on these themes please be doubly certain to include our disclaimer. With that included, TSR is not responsible for the contents, and disclaims it as a sanctioned product. Items which are a calculatedly offensive deliberate test of this policy will be dealt with on an individual basis (although this should be exceptionally rare).
MPGN also spoke on this issue. Back on 25-Feb-94, when Rob Miracle was making his announcements regarding MPG-Net and his copying of the greyhawk archive, he also asked for more online material, but with certain stipulations:
Materials that are not permitted or not appropriate will be deleted, no questions asked. After the first violation, the uploader will be notified by electronic mail. After the second offense, the site that the material originated from will be banned from access. A third offense will cause the entire domain to be banned.