Re: Software Piracy : The Grey Area

[smentzer@pacbell.net (Steve Mentzer)]

>The question is not who it will hurt or not but if there is such a thing as
>intellectual property or not.
>
>I hope there is.

There is. But ask yourself whether or not you would mind if you wrote a program 
10 years ago, and it is all but useless today, and you no longer sell it, or wish 
to sell it, if you would mind it being used without your legal permission.

I for one have written quite a bit of shareware in the past (ANSI 
editors/viewers, communications interfaces etc etc etc), that I used to get 
$10-$20 for on a regular basis. This stuff is useless to me now, as it is many 
people. 

I could care less if someone was using it these days without paying me, provided 
they dont resell and try to make a profit from my work. 


>As you said, one point is that for a percentage x of the Apple II downloading
>population the lines are too fuzzy and they won't respect it. We can stretch
>the law when it's guaranteed that everyone understands the subtle differences,
>but unfortunately this will be wishful thinking as long as AOL exists.


Good point, but expecting EVERYONE to understand is a pipe dream. I don't think 
it is really that big of an issue these days, as most people who use a II are 
doing it for the love of it. Software piracy was rampant in the mid 80's, 
primarily due to the fact that there was an abundance of great titles, and no-one 
had enough money to buy it all. It was like a bunch of kids in a candy store. 

With the nill user base, software piracy is a minor issue now, even though nathan 
and the rest of the folks seem to think that it isn't. It *appears* to be a huge 
problem due to the lack of development efforts (which makes $10 in piracy seem 
like $1000), but this is expected in any software market. I would venture to say 
that software piracy is almost non-existant among **real** apple II users. And 
the ones that do pirate commercial software are the ones that did it in the past, 
present and future. This will never change. 

It is far easier to buy a PC and scan the alt.binaries.warez newsgroups than it 
is to get a copy of lemmings GS these days. And the fact is that most Apple II 
users won't give out a copy anyway.. This is called loyalty to a platform. 
Something that we all have, but too often forget when these issues come up. 
Remember that our common love is the Apple II. Real users won't do things to harm 
it.

So, my point is that piracy does exist, and you will never get rid of it. But 
locking out an entire group of non-available software because of a "slippery 
slope" argument is ludicrous. It may be too late, but the developers need to stop 
listening to nathan's hype and realize that there are two sides to this piracy 
issue. I would bet that people are going to buy up bennett's TCP/IP stack like 
hotcakes, regardless of whether or not Dung Beetles is available on asimov. 


>I'd also like to add that it's a distorted view that everyone has a 'right' to
>use old software. Without such a right, we have to live with the fact that we
>can't get our hands on every piece of software.


Legally we have no rights as far as this is concerned. No-one said it was a 
"right", but we would sure like to use the software.



>Instead, IMHO, the only, the really only legitimate way is to track down the
>copyright holder and reclassify the software. Willie Yeo is doing exactly this,
>and he has accomplished quite a lot. Instead of discussing copyright issues, we
>should rather help Willie and make his list grow ad infinitum.


I agree completely. But that could take years upon years. And most companies 
might not want to release the software to "shareware/freeware" status. The 
bueracratic nature of business ensures this factor.


>
>If I can't count on intellectual property, I better quit my job.


Me too... But I don't think that intellectual property is **really** at stake 
here.


*******
HOORAY!
*******

We just had a rational, logical debate on a topic that has plagued this newgroup 
for a LONG time. This was not hard. I ask that others participate and voice your 
opinions and ideas.

(the neat thing was that there was no name calling or flaming involved)

smentzer@pacbell.net