Re: OMG!

[CUTjefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney)]

On 28 May 2001 22:04:46 -0700, aiiadict@hotmail.com (Rich J.) wrote:

>Dick says "You can't do that!"  (dick goes and does it)

I take it you are referring to me and the Spartan sillyness.

>But Dick spends alot of time telling people that they cannot do that.
>"Do as I say, not as I do"... Doesn't work because Dick denies that
>he even did it!

Personally, I have never denied that I have broken the law and
sometimes still do.  However, I freely admit when I have broken the
law and don't try to convince myself or others that I didn't break the
law.  I don't try to justify what I did or complain about how unfair
the law is.  I also don't encourage others to break the law.

>"I didn't do it.  I did it a different way, and it wasnt wrong" Dick says.

If this is about the Spartan ROM thing, you haven't been paying
attention.  There is nothing to indicate that the Spartan ROM is
illegal in any way except for the assertions of one person who made
assumptions about the hearsay posted by another.

>There is a group (call them group 1) of people who say "Downloading software with no COMMERCIAL
>value is OK.  THe companies are out of business, there is no profit to
>be made from selling the product.  Nobody is being deprived of property or income".

OK as in morally OK or as in legally OK?  There is a big difference
and I try to only argue the legal part.

Besides, practically everything has a commercial value so saying that
the software in question has no commercial value is almost certainly
false.  That software does have commercial value because people still
want it and there are people who are still willing to pay for it.

And the bottom line is, it is illegal to download the software in
question.  Some may think it is morally okay to do so but regardless,
it is still illegal.

>Another group (group 2) says "You are thieves and liars and you should go to prison
>and we are the good people, we are right."  This group thinks it is OK
>to download COPYRIGHTED stuff _sometimes_, only when it is for their own
>good.  ROMS, emulators, use of pirated derivative works.  

Interesting view you've formed of this group.  I'm not sure how you
formed it, though.  :-)

If you steal something, you are a thief, if you say you didn't steal
it, that makes you a liar.  :-)

I'm not sure if I have ever said that I'm a good guy I try to be.  As
to whether I'm right or not, I am right that what your group 1 is
doing is illegal.

Again, when you say that group 2 "thinks it is OK to download
COPYRIGHTED stuff _sometimes_", do you mean legally or morally?
Personally, when it comes to things like drivers for a piece of
hardware, it is morally okay to distribute copies but I will continue
to maintain that it is illegal to do so because it is.

>When Group 2 does something that they say is wrong (hyprcrisy), group 1 
>doesn't seriously "attack" the fact that they did it, but the fact that
>they are being hyprcrites.  They are doing what group1 gets attacked for
>constantly.  "why the hell are you so mad when I spit on the sidewalk
>when you've got a nice puddle of spit at your feet from your own mouth?"

Again, there is nothing illegal about the Spartan but there definitely
is something illegal about pirating software.

I too have pirated software but I'm not going to try to convince you
that what I did was morally or legally okay.

>I know for a fact that some of the emulator code is derivative work, and
>illegal according to copyright law.  I also know that ROMS are provided
>from some of group2's and others' sites, illegal according to copyright law.  Then there
>is the Spartan thing.  Also sites containing many softwares, illegal
>according to copyright law.  If one really believed in "anti-''piracy''", the
>spartan would not be in that persons posession.

All the code in an emulator is written from scratch.  The code of an
emulator is there simply to act like the hardware.  This is why you
are required to get the ROM code from a real ROM.

I, personally, have pointed out that anyone distributing Apple's ROM
code is breaking the law, regardless of who they are.  When asked
where to get a ROM file for an emulator, I give people the
instructions for making the ROM themselves from their own machine.

I've already covered the Spartan thing that you seem to be referring
to here again.

--
 Jeff Blakeney - Dean of the Apple II Unversity on A2Central.com