Re: "Hackers"-- brief review and anecdote...

It's my impression that the play was staged a few years after my book 
came out in 1984 (though I chose the title in 1982). I remember reading 
the reviews then, and they didn't 
seem to mention that it was a revivial of a years-old play whose name I had 
unintentially used for my own book. (Unlike the case for the current 
movie, whose screenwriter seemed to know of my own book.)  If 
you have evidence that the play was indeed produced before 1984, please 
let me know.  Otherwise, I'd be happy to accept your apology, Peter.

On Mon, 18 Sep 1995, Peter Trei wrote:

> 
> > >I saw "Hackers" yesterday. It's not bad and its political sensibility is
> > >very cyberpunk. The ad campaign even uses the tag line, "Their only crime
> > >is curiosity." 
> 
> > It may not be a crime, but it's not nice to steal a title.
> 
> You mean, like you stole it from Dale Luck's (duck@mit oz) stage play of the same name?
> I saw this (in an Off-Off-Broadway production), years before your book came
> out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Peter Trei
> Senior Software Engineer
> Purveyor Development Team                                
> Process Software Corporation
> http://www.process.com
> trei@process.com
>

On Mon, 18 Sep 1995, Steven Levy wrote:

> It's my impression that the play was staged a few years after my book 
> came out in 1984 (though I chose the title in 1982). I remember reading 
> the reviews then, and they didn't 
> seem to mention that it was a revivial of a years-old play whose name I had 
> unintentially used for my own book. (Unlike the case for the current 
> movie, whose screenwriter seemed to know of my own book.)  If 
> you have evidence that the play was indeed produced before 1984, please 
> let me know.  Otherwise, I'd be happy to accept your apology, Peter.

  Guys, I think this has gotten a little silly. Trying to claim that 
anyone 'stole' a single word title is equivalent to Microsoft trying to 
tell other OS makers that they can't call their graphical frame things 
'windows' because they thought of it first.

  The word 'Hackers' is a description of a group of people. It means 
different things to different folks (personally I like the 
definition/descriptions in Stephen's book) but since it is so widely used 
I don't see how anyone can claim to have had it stolen from them.

  Just as a side note, Stephen's book 'Hackers' had a substantial 
influence on me when I read it, and it holds a honored place among my 
collections of books.

  Brian
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