Re: Reclassification - Wordperfect

["Arkain" <rwking@no.usa.spam.net>]

Q_C...

Are you purrfect or something? I wonder how many laws you break every day. I
also wonder how many laws you ignore simply for the fact that they are no
longer enforced? You probably don't even take into account all of the old
Victorian laws that are still on the books, laws that can even govern the
activties in your house! Nobody with any sense is bothering to question the
legality of copying any form of commercial software. We all understand that
it IS illegal for at least 70 years after the author's death.

"If a tree falls in the woods, and no one's around to hear it, does anyone
care?"

Laws are constantly being broken on this issue. Everybody here knows that.
Have any of the so-called vogons informed the original author(s) & copyright
holder(s) that their rights are being violated? If so, did they care? I
would wager that they either didn't care or haven't been informed. Since
these packages no longer have a commercial value to the copyright holder(s),
can they even expect legal remuneration for the infractions? I don't think
so, at least not from what I read in the Copyright Act & DCMA. Before you
can sue for damages, you have to prove that you were damaged. Since the
software is no longer in production, being sold, or supported, it no longer
has a monetary value to its copyright holder(s). It becomes a "no harm, no
foul" type situation.

As far as C. Turley is concerned, who cares if he is doing it in the wrong
order(posting the software before he has permission). The fact is that he
*IS* doing *SOMETHING* to help the situation. There's an old saying that
goes:

    "Before you try to get the twig out of my eye,
     you'd better get the log out of your own."

Turley may be doing things the wrong way, or in the wrong order. He may not
even have accomplished that much when compared to some of the others.
Despite all of that, he is still trying to do something about the problem.
Is that more than can be said for you? Have you worked on getting some
software reclassified yourself? Have you succeeded at any of it?

I've said all of that to say this. The insults you make are pointless and
only serve to weaken if not destroy any valid points that you may have about
someone else's actions. If you choose to respond to this or any other post,
please keep your comments civil and insult free. As for diminishing the
accomplishments of those in the camp opposite yours (Turley and others), I
don't see where you have the right to do that if you haven't done at least
as much yourself. If your accomplishments in this area(assuming they exist)
aren't as great, then you need to work on building your's up before you can
look down on someone else's.

I am a firm believer in following the laws, but I will ignore them when they
are inappropriate. On this, don't try to classify me as a Turlette or a
Vogon. Those definitions won't fit me. You might be able to get away with
pirate, but I do believe that the laws are justified surrounding software
that is *still sold &/or supported*. So I'm not really a pirate either. So
save both of us the trouble and don't classify me.

Arkain