- Storm Impact
Storm Impact was a
Macintosh software developer and publisher located in Glenview, Illinois, active from 1989 to 1997. Storm Impact's development team consisted of David Cook and artist Tom Zehner, with help from Dan Schwimmer and Dave Friedman. Storm Impact initially licensed their products to third-party publishers, but switched to self-publishing their products asshareware in 1993.Products
Storm Impact's first product was the
computer role-playing game "TaskMaker ", released in 1989 by XOR Corporation. In 1990, XOR released Storm Impact's most commercially successful published product, theskiing sim "MacSki". "MacSki" was reviewed positively in "Macworld ", [cite journal
title=Reviews: MacSki 1.0
journal=Macworld
volume=7
issue=12
pages=255
first=Evan
last=Cooper
month=December
year=1990] and was inducted into the "Macworld" Game Hall of Fame as Best Sports Game for 1990. [cite journal
title=Game Hall of Fame
journal=Macworld
volume=7
issue=12
pages=213
first=Steven
last=Levy
month=December
year=1990]In 1993, Storm Impact released its most commercially successful
shareware product, an upgraded version of "TaskMaker". In 1994, Storm Impact released an upgraded shareware version of "MacSki".In 1996, Storm Impact released the shareware
shoot 'em up "Asterbamm" and thetechnical support utility "Technical Snapshot". David Cook describes both releases as "sales bombs".cite web
url=http://www.robotroom.com/StormImpact.html
title=Storm Impact
last=Cook
first=David
publisher=Robot Room
accessdate=2006-12-08] In 1997, Storm released "The Tomb of the TaskMaker", a sequel to "TaskMaker".Litigation
In 1998, Storm Impact and David Cook sued Software of the Month Club, a California corporation that distributed a commercial shareware compilation CD-ROM including the shareware versions of "TaskMaker" and "MacSki". Storm Impact and Cook alleged that Software of the Month Club's distribution of Storm Impact's products constituted copyright infringement,
unfair competition , false designation of origin, and deceptive trade practices.Judge James B. Zagel found for Storm on the count of copyright infringement, stating that Software of the Month Club "unquestionably violated the express restrictions of both TaskMaker and MacSki, eviscerating any claim that Storm effectively consented to unlimited distribution of its products by posting them on the Internet." Storm was awarded $20,000 in
statutory damages . [cite web
url=http://www.kentlaw.edu/classes/rstaudt/internetlaw/casebook/storm_impact.html
title=STORM IMPACT, INC., an Illinois Corporation, and DAVID ALAN COOK, Plaintiffs, v. SOFTWARE OF THE MONTH CLUB, Defendant
publisher=CoolCopyright
date=1998-07-29
accessdate=2006-12-08]Demise
Storm Impact's owner David Cook attributes the company's demise to market change and
undercapitalization . He notes a number of contributing factors: the Macintosh's market share had declined, game technology progressed beyond the company's ability to produce a competitive product, and the company's shareware model meant that developers had to process orders and support products years after their release.References
External links
* [http://www.robotroom.com/StormImpact.html Storm Impact]
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