Re: A time for action...

[Roy and/or Janet Miller <millers@inetnebr.com>]

Arkain wrote:

> Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net> wrote in message
> 397F6350.D3338C1D@swbell.net">news:397F6350.D3338C1D@swbell.net...
> >
>
> Whether or not the so-called "vogons" are hypocritical is not my concern. A
> rational vogon(may be an oxymoron... not sure yet)

How about rational pirates?

> will tell you that your
> argument is akin to "If a tree falls in the woods...". It would look like
> this:
>
>     If a copyright agreement is violated and no one bothers to complain, was
> a law still broken?
>
> The rational answer is "Yes, but no one cares" in both cases. The problem in
> this group is that the "vogons" aparently *DO* care, at least enough to
> complain when one of them isn't the one promoting the action.

What we care about is that newbies know that some sites have copyrighted
software available for download, and that they be made aware of that fact. After
that, what they do is really their own business isn't it? We also care to see
copyrighted software made into freeware, so anyone can use these software works
of art. Further, a few weeks ago, a legal argument was made, citing case law, as
to how, if you own a machine, using the firmware isn't a violation of copyright
law. Ruby knows about and has ignored that post - it undermines his wish to
paint "vogons" as hypocrites. We humans often ignore what goes against our
prejudices.

> Such a petty
> argument makes no sense to me when dealing with stuff as old and out-dated
> as this.
>
> You're right. I just want to end these pointless arguments. The fact that
> I'm ready to wade through miles of legal red tape should tell you how ready
> I am to end this. Some people in the group have suggested that ignoring them
> will make them go away. Theere are only 2 flaws in that argument.

A third - we won't go away. :-)
Neither will the pirates. :-(
Besides, the arguments are pointless. Both sides have good points, and sometimes
lousy ones. The way to end the argument is to 1) stop violation copyrights, and
2) get the copyright protection lifted; on as many works as possible. (For the
sake of newbies, AppleWorks would be really helpful - perhaps Apple would
release it was II Easy Pieces? ;-)

>
>
>     1) Occasionally, they(trollers from either side) actually do contribute
> something useful
>     2) Ignoring them is like ignoring athlete's foot. You may be ignoring
> it, but it's still there, still being replicated, and still irritating.
>
> I've got a new solution. I'll post it in a minute...