This article has a bunch of stuff asserted as facts that just aren't.
As mentioned in another comment, there was nothing technically advanced about AGI itself. If other studios wanted to get into adventure games they didn't need to steal AGI to do it. And no one with a functioning brain would have used a stolen game engine for a commercial game. Companies don't want to give away their code but in the case of adventure games it's not because they are worried about their competitors.
The other assertion that's off-base is that this would have been a sackable offense. No. Sierra still had legal protection against competitors using their game engine. This goof, while a little embarassing, had no real financial or security or any other damaging implications for the company. I doubt anyone would have gotten any more than a talking to about how to avoid it happening again.
Yeah, that is a fair point. I was a little too eager and dramatic with my wording. I have now removed the bit about it potentially being a sackable offence, as I feel you are probably right regarding that. Someone else in the comments made a similar point.
Your point about the legal protection against competitors is a good one too. I've tried to reword the bit that suggested it might be drastic. Let me know if you think it reads better now. Thanks.
As mentioned in another comment, there was nothing technically advanced about AGI itself. If other studios wanted to get into adventure games they didn't need to steal AGI to do it. And no one with a functioning brain would have used a stolen game engine for a commercial game. Companies don't want to give away their code but in the case of adventure games it's not because they are worried about their competitors.
The other assertion that's off-base is that this would have been a sackable offense. No. Sierra still had legal protection against competitors using their game engine. This goof, while a little embarassing, had no real financial or security or any other damaging implications for the company. I doubt anyone would have gotten any more than a talking to about how to avoid it happening again.