Re: Building An Apple ][ Software Archive

[smentzer@pacbell.net (Steve Mentzer)]

I wholeheartedly agree.

I get flamed for this repeatedly, but I do believe there is a big difference 
between the piracy of software that is still being sold/marketed/supported and 
software that companies have forgotten about.

The anti-piracy zealots would rather poison the well than accept a simple 
compromise. 

I think alot of the problem is leftover emotion from the II/IIgs heyday. 
Piracy was a huge problem back then, and there is no doubt that it had *some* 
effect on the II/IIgs software market. 

But the bottom line is that we cannot turn back, so I think we should do what 
we can. Titles that we know to be currently available should have a *listing* 
on the archive, but no links to any disk images.

That way, the publisher still gets credit for their work, and some free 
advertisement, but no piracy occurrs. 

Titles that are simply out-of-date and no longer sold/supported can get a 
listing, as well as *links* to available archives. A proprietary indexing 
mechanism should be employed to prevent people from leeching.

I think with a system of checks and bounds, everyone can be happy. It is really 
up to the anti-piracy folks to "flex" a bit.

This effort could be wonderful..... given support from all sides.