[FPE Panels for MB-6582]

A quick related question: How is the clearance between the 25mm screws on the panel and the base PCB underneath? I receive my panel tomorrow, and so will be doing my JB Welding, but a quick test of putting the screws in the mount holes has me worried that the screws are somewhat long (despite being the 25mm specified), as they're pretty close to where the baseboard should be at the front.

[6581/8580 chip getting hot]

I know the original chips in the C64 where fitted with thermal paste...

Of the 2 old breadbox C64s I've cannibalised chips from, only the VIC-II chip had any kind of thermal paste and heatsink on it. Not sure about the 8580 in the newer 64s, or the finished build, but it would suggest that the SIDs shouldn't get too hot.

[Info needed for reseach project please!!!]

basicaly my friends point was that how can you not have the right to sell your midibox? say if i had bought the kit from smashTV constructed it then simpley said that i needed money and sold it what is there to stop some one from doing this? what could the consinquences posibaly be? i understand that the boards are copyrighted and reproduction of these would be illegel (or would this be the case if i pened and etched them myself?) but the main point is that what is there to stop some one offering there services in a constructive manner, simply offering the service of taking components and building the MBSID then posting it of too my client? and if this is a loop hole then whats the diffrence in this service and simply selling the midibox system directly?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_licenses

Although I'm not sure MIDIBox stuff is covered by the specific shared license provided by Creative Commons, it's based on a very similar idea.

In practice, there's nothing to stop you offering a build service unless you advertised it where one of the community might see it, because although it's in breach of copyright, that can only be enforced if someone catches you doing it. It's against copyright laws to do so, because although you're providing labour, you're still profiting from a copyrighted PCB design and microcontroller OS. It's essentially the same as buying a DVD and charging people to watch it on your projector and screen. You own the DVD, but it's still illegal to charge for a public performance of it. The license, as far as I know, also covers derivative works, so even if you alter sections of the PCB and MIOS, your new design is still covered by the original license which requires you to not sell it on at a profit.

The way I see it, especially with the MB-6582, TK, Wilba and SmashTV could have closed the rest of the community out (who I'm sure have provided extra ideas and advice) and set themselves up a nice cottage industry selling sequencers, synths and controllers for far more than the creation costs, but they have decided not to, and so if the original designer, additions designer (and SID obtainer) and producer have decided to not profit from from MIDIBox suff and instead give the designs and a cheap PCB buying service to the public, then I would be taking the mickey a bit if to make a profit, even if that profit was for my time spent building it. Doing so is breaching copyright, but even if you don't get caught, there are moral implications about whether you should be profiting from someone else's hard work.