Re: New Apple II SuperSite Online

[Phoenyx <quazar@dcnet2000.com>]

> Actually, I asked both questions. But never mind.
> 
> You seem to feel pretty strongly that copyright law should be obeyed to
> the letter. I might point out that a strict interpretation of copyright
> law does not permit the generation of DSK files for use with emulators,
> even if the user has an original copy of the disk. If you wanted to
> promote that as a reason for condemning this entire movement, I would
> have no argument.

There are some copyright that restrict the transferal of the software
by any means, even reselling it or giving it away. These developers
expect the software to be destroyed instead. It's even possible that
some
of these eula's would restrict using the software on the same system
after upgrading. In the case where most of the hardware is replaced, the
computer is no longer the one in which the software was purchased for.
Of
course, all of this is dependent upon the legalese interpretation.

A large part of the problem is our belief of ownership. We tend to feel
that purchasing a program is actually buying the program itself which is
seldom, if ever, the case. Some folks tend to get confused when trying
to
understand the fact that they are actually buying the right to use the
program. This is an insubstantial thing compared to the disk/program
which they can hold in their hand or manipulate with their computer.

> I can come up with a better reason than yours why an author would not
> want his work shared: because he can't stand the idea of anyone
> meddling with his original work. I do know of one instance of that
> having happened in the past 5 years, though it was not for a commercial
> title.

I have seen this in the PC shareware market more than any others. These
programmers are very proud of their products. For many, programming is
similar to the artistic talents of painting or sculpting and the
computer
is simply a different medium to work on. For others, it's an attempt to
recoup some of the investment in education.
 
> Well, it's obvious that we will not reach a meeting of the minds here
> (no surprise, of course.) I will continue to contend that there is not
> one known instance of an author of a 10+-year-old Apple II game not
> wanting his work shared among Apple II enthusiasts. You apparently do
> not disagree with that, but will continue to contend that it doesn't
> matter.

This is generally a result of some company owning the copyright. Most
individual programmers actually enjoy knowing that someone is using
their
programs. Even more so when the program is old, yet still productive. It
is a testimony of their skills and definitely an ego booster.

> In the final analysis, there will be people on both sides of this issue
> who feel that each of us is correct. For myself, I think that your side
> may have the momentum, and I regret that the the end result may be the
> loss of many neat old Apple II titles.

It is interesting to note that this issue is not Apple II specific but
it
affects practically any computer system around. Surfing the net, one can
find both articles and web sites, both pro and con for pc's as well as
game machines. It has even been mentioned in a couple of very
influential
magazines.

-- 

Thank you for your time and interest. I hope it was helpful
or at least interesting.

Phoenyx,

Apple2 user since March 1984

Links to Phoenyx's pages:
preferred..... http://zip.to/Phoenyx_A2
alternate..... http://www.tinyangeldesigns.com/Apple2