Re: Some copyright info to think about

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

In article <47073177265B98FD.C9950469C502D701.859F9879D062C2DF@library-proxy.airnews.net>,
Will Loconto <axiom@NOSPAMtexas.net> wrote:
>My whole take on this argument can be summed up pretty easily. If the 
>software is no longer being published and the platform is no longer being 
>made, the software should be freely available for download. 

   Sorry, copyright law says otherwise, and your feelings on this are
irrelevant under the law. You *MUST* ask first, or it's piracy right
now. Or, work to change the law, but until then, you must obey
it. Contact your local congresscritter for changes in the laws--
merely acting like the law is toilet paper as most pirates do sure
doesn't make anyone want to be nice back to them.

>I also had the opportunity today to meet and talk to a programmer from 
>the Apple 2 days, who has some of his games on Asimov. I asked him what 
>he thought about it. He was actually glad that people could still get his 
>programs if they wanted to. 

   Why didn't you help *EVERYONE* by asking him to officially
reclassify it so that it's not piracy? A lot of people claim that
programmers are so happy with people using their stuff, but nothing
resembling evidence really ever shows up. If it's officially
reclassified by the copyright holder, then everyone can enjoy
something by having it also appear on software sites that give a damn
about copyrights, rather than just a bunch of pirates who can't be
bothered to share or be nice in the first place.

   It's this lack of simple politeness towards authors that all these
pirates absolutely cannot stomach doing-- politeness towards those who
create software is impossible to their thieving mentality. They can
only steal first and maybe ask questions later, while lying the whole
time.

Nathan Mates
--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
# What are the facts? Again and again and again-- what are the _facts_?
# Shun wishful thinking, avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors
# think-- what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? -R.A. Heinlein