Re: A2 Trade/Swap ... site ...

[cturley2@aol.com (Cturley2)]

Sandy wrote:
<<
I wrote a piece in the GSAUG newsletter about Turley donating a hard drive to
Ground.  That was edited from my article. The old timers in the club - all now
gone on to the Mac - informed me that Turley is a %$%&^$#@* son of a gun for
pirating GS software that was new on the market. They will not allow any
mention of him in our newsletter.  They feel that it's tantamount to condoning
what he did.  He's never been charged or gone to trial, but he's been found
guilty by the folks concerned most directly.

As I understand their belief he shortened the useful life of the
GS. I can understand all the brouhaha going on around him.  Jeff's concern
is justified if people here are so casual about violating copywrite.>>

I hesitated to reply on the above but, I must.   A close friend of mine
for many years - whom I taught the art of software deprotection to in 1990 was
the founder of GSAUG.  His name was Aaron Lamar, he was about 11 or 12 years
old then, lived in Napa and his father was the Sheriff of that area at that
time.  So, I do have some knowledge of the GSAUG and it's origin.

It's too bad that the current, past or whatever--- powers-that-be at GSAUG have
banned any mention of my name in the newsletter.   But, they have always been a
rather iron-clade bunch of folks basing their beliefs on unfounded gossip and
it doesn't concern me in the least that your article mentioning me was edited
to remove any mention of me.

Yes, I did donate a 4.1 GB SCSI hard drive to Ground because the site needed it
and was running out of free space on the old 1.7 GB hard drive it now uses. 
Why did I do it? Because I could do it, I wanted to do it and nobody else
bothered to do it.

Was I ever a pirate?  You bet I was from 1991 to 1993, sold every A2 title thru
local ads in the newspapers to anybody that called and came over to buy copies
for $5 each.  Later I raised the price to $10 each to go along with the dozens
of others in the Bay area that did the same thing.
That's public knowledge that any old timer in the A2 world should certainly
know well.  I've posted to this very newsgroup admitting it before, years ago. 
Am I proud of having done it?  No not at all.

Have I ever pirated any current commercial A2 titles from 1993 to date for any
sort of profit or personal gain?  No!   Let people say whatever they want on
that - the answer is no and I dare anybody to give proof otherwise!

Did I have anything to do with the demise of the Apple IIgs?  No.  That was
Apple Computers doing and the doing of past A2 users who have long ago
abandoned the A2 world - certainly not mine.   During the 2 and 1/2 years I did
sell pirated A2 software copies - to support a PAST drug addiction I got into
during that period of my life, I was a stupid, moron of a person - strung out
on cocaine - that didn't care if I got caught or not.

But, somebody claiming that this 2 and 1/2 year period of one person selling
pirated A2 software copies to the public locally in the bay area as causing the
death of the A2 platform and IIgs model - is even more stupid and moronish than
I EVER was at the height of my escapades with it all back then.

For the information of everybody some of my 100's of repeat buyers were 
housewives, parents with their children, preachers, doctors, lawyers, local SF
police, sheriffs and YES... even FBI agents.  I knew who they were (they never
tried to hide it from me) - they knew what I was doing, why I did it and had no
problems buying over and over again from me.  It takes two to pirate software!

To be a software pirate took a lot from me - more than it ever gave me.
Many still consider me to be a pirate - in the same capacity that I was back in
1991 thru 1993.  I don't consider myself a pirate and haven't considered myself
to be a software pirate from 1993 to date.

I've had a lot of people in the A2 world say a lot about me with bold lies,
gossip and misinformation about my activities - based on nothing other than
what they had been told by others.  Others have made subtle hints about my A2
efforts and activities as being illegal and in theory perhaps many of them are
illegal.  Whenever and whatever I do - I consider that I am doing it for the
good of the existing majority.   I do not pirate any current commercially sold
A2 titles and have done my very best to see that others don't do such either.

I've tried the best I know how to support the needs of Apple II users from then
until now and I make my judgements on what I do  - based on the majority of
user needs and not on the desires or the dictates of a few dozen select control
A2 icons that have a compulsive and obsessive desire to drive me out of the
Apple II world.

I guess as the dear QC states - I am the only reason he posts to this newsgroup
and even exists for that matter - to ride the Apple II community of Turlette's.
 Well, as I see it everybody in the A2 world is an individual that can make
there own judgements on what they do, why and how they do it.  There are no
Turlette's - that's a pure fantasy.  I have no mass following of so called
Turlette's that do what I ask.

I do what I do because I enjoy doing it, I see nothing morally wrong with it
and it does helps others with their needs and keeps the A2 platform alive,
active and as productive as it can possibly be.  I help others with needs they
can not find elsewhere.  In each of your own minds, if that makes me a pirate -
then so be it.

Will I allow these few dozen A2 old-timer icons, anti-pirate fanatics, moral
puritist, self-appointed A2 Internet cops and protectors of others
needs and desires - drive me from the A2 community?  NEVER!  I'll remain -
doing what I think is best for the majority of all A2 users until the day I
die.

Cheers,
Tom