"Aviv Hod" wrote in message ...
I thought this will be topical for the piloting newsgroup because so many of us grew up carefully assembling plastic
aircraft models. How many of us had them all over our rooms growing up, anticipating the day we can go flying on our
own?

It seems that the ubiquity of models in kid's bedrooms might be threatened by manufacturer's demands for royalties for
the intellectual property.

http://www.ipmsusa.org/MemberServices/FutureHobby.htm

So that is why the model trains fell from popular use, they had to pay royalties?!?!?!

This is so typical of Amerikan arrorgance and corporate greed. Just unbelieveable...

http://due-diligence.typepad.com/blo...ectual_pr.html

This isn't all that cut and dried in my mind - it just seems wrong. Especially with military contractors that spent
our tax dollars to develop these machines, it seems to me out of line to ask for $40 in IP for a $15 plastic model.
This could very easily kill the whole industry, leaving thousands of kids that would otherwise spend their time and
energy constructing flying machines and imagining themselves taking off into the wild blue yonder to do something
else.

Yeah, it won't dissuade the kids that REALLY want to fly, but overall it could have a negative effect. We need more
pilots, and I would argue that building these models has a measurable effect on the number of kids (and adults!) that
end up pursuing flying.

Any thoughts?

-Aviv Hod