Re: VB: SV: *** FS: Babylon 5 Wars Miniatures - B5WARS ***

On Tue, 28 Oct 1997 08:24:33 +0100, "Oerjan Ohlson"
<oerjan.ohlson@nacka.mail.telia.com> wrote:

>I just got this reply from a US trader (who claimed that B5W was
available
>to anyone).
>Thought it might be of interest to the list...
>
>Also, what do you legal guys think of this?

Well, I'm not crazy about Shawn's Trading Post, Inc. due to the
company's spamming on rec.games.miniatures.misc. They don't do it too
much now, but they used to spam a fair bit. They asked if anyone
minded seeing ads on the newsgroup and then went overboard when people
said they wouldn't mind.

Other than that, it looks above board. As far as I know, there is no
US legislation that says that the export of Babylon 5 stuff is
illegal, unless B5W has some sort of encryption :-). 

There is a licensing agreement between Warner Brothers and the game's
manufacturers not to distribute the game in Europe. This means that
there is a contract between AOG and Warner that says AOG will sell the
game to North American distributors. There MIGHT also be a contract
between the distributor and AOG so that the distributor doesn't sell
the game outside North America. However, I doubt if there is any such
contract between the distributors and the stores that buy the game
from them. If a store wants to sell it by mail to people in Europe
that's the store's perogative. 

Even if there was a contract with Warner/AOG and the stores, the
selling of the game in Europe is not illegal. It MIGHT be against the
terms of the contract, but then it's a civil matter. Warner would have
to sue the store for damages, but nothing would happen to you.

In summary, you should be safe buying the game from these guys. I'd
suggest getting it from someone else, but that's just a personal thing
on my part. I'd make sure they had it in stock, though, as the game
appears to be temporarily out of stock. You don't want to order it
just to find out that the mail order place is waiting for the next
shipment (which might be months away). I've seen the lead figures and
would advise waiting until the new figures are produced (I don't like
the detail on the current ones). 

Allan Goodall  -  agoodall@sympatico.ca

"The secret rules of engagement are hard to endorse,
 when the appearance of conflict meets the appearance of force"
		       - The Tragically Hip