Re: Abandonware petition

[mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon)]

agentwd40 wrote:

>Copy ][+ is not illegal to own or use for the pupose of making a back
>up copy of protected software that you own. That is why software is no
>longer copy protected, I'ts not illegal to make a back up copy. 

Yes, you can make a backup copy of non-copy protected software.

However, under the DMCA, you can no longer make a backup copy
of copy-protected material.  You still have "fair use" rights, though
they are now compromised by the illegality of _all_ copy protection
circumvention technology.

So, you can make a backup copy IF you can make one.  But no one
can legally empower you to make one if the original is encrypted or
otherwise copy protected.

This is why so many people are outraged at the DMCA--it is a
significant shift in the "balance of power" from users to copyright
holders.  And the copyright holders, in almost every case, are not
the "starving artists" or "starving programmers" who created the work,
but the old guard publishing houses who currently inflate prices by
10x to support their "added value".

-michael

 Email:  mjmahon@aol.com
 Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/