Wait... have you ever learned how to develop a model? Of course they are spending their time retrofitting their models. It's called "validating" a model. How do you know your model is correct if you don't calibrate it using past data? Predicting the past is the first step to predicting the future and these guys are just doing their job. So please stop criticizing, and grab a math book!

Yes, exactly. And if you are really worried about legal problems, why not ask the orginal developers BEFORE developing the game? You can mail them saying you'd like to make your game as a tribute to their old game, that you can't afford to pay them any royalties. They may be ok with it. As long as you have an answer, you know what to do. In my experience, I've been working on an open-source clone of the Magical Drop game (Krystal Drop: http://krystaldrop.sourceforge.net/ ), it was 8 years ago, and I've never had a single complaint.

In other news... The 3-strikes law is definitely adopted in France, after the "Conseil constitutionnel" (an equivalent of the Supreme Court) validated the law:
http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2009/10/22/01002-20091022ARTFIG00615-le-conseil-constitutionnel-valide-la-loi-hadopi-2-.php (French article)

Two very bad news in the same day. Believe me, sometimes, it sucks to be French....

On the other hand, I can't wait to see if they will ever manage to have the law just working.

I think you missed this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change#IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report:_Climate_Change_2007 . Yes, there seems to be a scientific consensus.