Re: Nathan vs Rubywand: Choose sides?

[ljsilicon@aol.com (LJSILICON)]

Charles Plater stated:

: No one made you the lord high protector of other programmer's software. That
is
: the author's individual responsibility.

>By this logic, if you see someone raping a woman, or stealing a car, you
>should let them be, because the woman should be defending herself, and the
>owner of the car should be defending it.  Get real, as citizens in the US
>we are charged with defending the property and well being of others.


Under the copyright laws of the U.S., the copyright holder must defend his/her
copyright in any known case of violation in order to maintain a defendable
copyright. At no place in the copyright law does it say that another individual
is to do this without the request of the owner. Plus raping and stealing a car
are a bit different than copying of software that is no longer sold or
supported by its manufacturer. Again, I am not supporting copying or pirating
software. I believe that it is the right of any developer to protect his/her
own personal property. Beyond that we are falling back into vigilante
mentality.