Re: The battle Rages!

[CUTblakeney@home.com (Jeff Blakeney)]

On Thu, 05 Aug 1999 16:13:14 -0700, Nick <spam@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

[snip]
>So, without saying it is right or wrong to participate in this activity,
>it doesn't really hurt anyone at this point, and it has such a minimal
>impact on society at large, that it is hardly worth the time to write
>the messages about.  The positive effect of making the old software
>available is that it allows for a larger interest in the platform.  The
>more interest there is in the platform, the better the odds that someone
>will want to buy a new piece of software for it.  There are a lot of
>strikes against old platforms as it is,  since they are slow, have
>limited modern capabilities and are difficult to maintain.  The platform
>can use as many users as possibe to keep it alive.  It is kind of like
>Betamax... once the movies stopped flowing, it died a pretty quick
>death.  There was nothing to watch on it.  The handful of apps written
>for the appleII this decade aren't going to keep the platform alive.  A
>richer software base needs to exists for it to prosper  at all.

Starting at the top:  

1) It may not be right or wrong to participate in that activity but it
is most certainly against the law.

2) It does hurt some people as resale value of "rare" items is now
nil.

3) It has a large impact on society as people who participate in this
activity will start to apply to same twisted logic to other areas like
PC and Mac software, music, videos, books, etc.  These people will
also, possibly inadvertantly, convince other people that this is
acceptable practice as well.

4) I don't see how people who download an emulator, download a ROM
image without owning the hardware and download disk images is going to
produce many people who will actually pay for something.  Heck, many
of the people here in comp.sys.apple2 are downloading the disk images
instead of trying to buy copies now.

5) I don't see Apple IIs as being difficult to maintain.  Since I
started using Apple IIs in 1983 I've had one hardware failure.  A Disk
][ drive died on me.  By the way, my accelerated IIgs does most of my
real computer work.  My Pentium II is used for programming, as that is
what I do for a living, and playing games.

6) The Apple II needs developers to write software and create hardware
and it needs users who will support these developers.  Just having
users isn't going to help keep the platform alive.

7) My Beta VCRs and video camera, just like my Apple IIs, are still
working fine.  I use both my Betas and Apple IIs daily.  I don't see
either as being "dead".  Whenever I see Beta movies for sale that I
don't have, I try to pick them up if I can afford them.  New, blank
Beta tapes are also still available for sale in stores so I'm still
happily using my machines.

8) The problem with trying to get a "richer software base" is that
there are a bunch of people who are quite happily breaking the law by
illegally distributing Apple II software.  What developer is going to
want to put their hard work into the hands of people like that?  Even
when one of the developers asked them to respect his copyrights they
basically said "screw that, we'll do what we want".  Now do you see
why the developers don't hang out here and why they are so reluctant
to release stuff?  They might even be putting off working on projects
because of stuff like that.  This is no way to encourage developement
and without development, the platform will die.

>But where does one draw the line?  When does someone decide when a piece
>of software can be ethically "pirated?"  And who decides this?  Well,
>every individual is left to make that choice for his or her self.

No it isn't up to every individual, it is up to the legal system.
You've already been told what is acceptable use of your software when
you buy.  Its in the software's license agreement.  Also, copyright
law is quite specific about how long the work is copyrighted, and
therefore protected by law.

It is really a simple and straightforward thing that a lot of people
keep mudding up trying to justify their desire to download this stuff
for free.

>Someassert it is moral for the sake of keeping the memory alive, some
>say it is wrong, because it breaks copyright law.
[snip]

I said this in another thread not too long ago, morals and laws mix
like oil and water.  They are totally separate things that can't
really be used together as they often conflict.

Distributing software illegally is most definitely a legal issue and
_can_ be a moral issue but that doesn't really matter.  I can respect
people's opinions about the morality of it but when they try to tell
me it isn't illegal or that their moral justification takes
precedence, I take offense.

You might think I've wasted my time writing this reply but I feel
obliged to let people know that not everyone is of the opinion that
most of the posters to comp.sys.apple2 seem to be.  I want to protect
and nuture the Apple II for as long as I can.  If that means having to
continuously repeat the fact that the Apple II is not dead, that
copyrights are still in effect and it is illegal to distribute certain
software, then I will continue to do so until either people stop
posting about doing this or I get fed up being the only one of this
opinion here (at which point I will just deal with Delphi).

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