Re: Asimov performs a valuable service; so why fight over it

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Matt Ackeret writes ...
> 
> In article <353DE80F.FB422380@swbell.net>,
> Rubywand  <rubywand@swbell.net> wrote:

>>

     Certainly, there have been law enforcement raids upon pirate
producers of video tapes and CD's. One important distinction between
such situations and Asimov is that Asimov is not selling anything. The
reason this is important is that selling something for a profit
demonstrates that is has real market value. Practically everyone agrees
that the wares maintained on Asimov have so little market value that the
copyright holders do not try to sell them.

<<

> 
> In the "overall" picture, you're right.
> 
> However, Activision sold Atari 2600 games with an emulator.
> 
> Sierra sold Apple II games (along with some IBM games) with an emulator.
> 
> Both of these were in the past year or two.
> 
> To say that there is "so little market value" isn't exactly true.  If it
> were, two big name software companies wouldn't have already made products
> using software from the same era.
>

     That Activision and Sierra sold some old Apple II games is good
news. They, of course, are entirely within their rights to find ways to
adapt, modify, combine, etc. their products in any way they see fit to
extract market value.

     Meanwhile, there can be little doubt that the continued existence
of the Apple II gaming culture was a great help in Activision's and
Sierra's efforts to promote sales. Asimov is a major contributor to
continued interest in Apple II game playing.

     This may explain why major software producers have demonstrated no
wish to have their wares removed from Asimov. Kill the old wares Apple
II gaming culture and you forever destroy any possible realization of
value from your old Apple II wares. Again, when you deal with the
marketing people at Activision, Sierra, SSI, Origin, Access, Interplay,
..., you are not dealing with idiots.

 
> >.... close such a valuable archive. Most II users like Asimov.
> 
> Where do you get that?  Real II users, or emulated-II users?
>

     Actually, were Asimov to close, you would face a blossoming of
for-real piracy unlike anything even dreamed of in the old Pirate BBS
days. The new sites would compete for the 'rep' of delivering the most
and the latest Apple II wares. They would not in the least mind offering
SuperConvert 4, Appleworks 5.1, or anything else. They would laugh at
the express wishes of software creators and, most likely, include posted
complaints and rants from Csa2 in their web site promo's.

     In short, as the recognized, popular, approved Apple II old wares
archive site, Asimov is our best defense against software piracy.

     That both II users and emulator users value Asimov is easy enough
to see. Even on Csa2, a place you can earn brownie points and pats on
the nose for condemning Asimov, support for the anti-Asimov position is
very small. Support _for_ Asimov remains strong. That is because ...

 1. Asimov maintains many interesting, challenging, high quality wares
which are old and out of print and not available anywhere else

 2. Most users understand that, so long as the owners of old wares
copyrights do not object, charges of "piracy" are absurd.



Rubywand