Re: Piracy

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article pubpc1@library.ucla.edu writes...

>Joe, I think you should post the list.  While there are those Apple II
>haters, like Randy Shackelford, who think that it is o.k. to rip off
>honest developers of software because the software is for a "dead"
>computer, there are still those of us who appreciate the bit of life
>that diehards developers confer to our beloved computer.

    Normally I would prefer to avoid such a debate thread, but I'll make 
an exception in this case... 

    First of all, I think the main source of damage has come from the
person who uploaded Brutal Deluxe's commercial software to a publically
accessible FTP site. The logs from the site in question clearly state who 
that guilty person is. The _source_ needs to be dealt with before all 
else so this scene isn't repeated again (so far I've seen finger pointing 
going everywhere but the source; even at Joe Kohn and BD!)

    Secondly, why are you attacking Randy, and where did you come up with
the notion he is an Apple II hater that is looking to rip off and harm
current developers? Perhaps your mixing up names?

>The people on the list can explain themselves after the list is posted.
>Remember that the people on the list may not really be the pirates.  If
>Shackelford wanted to pirate LemminGS, he could frame Mitch Spector by
>deliberately configuring his software to leave Mitch's email address
>in the log.

    I would find that situtation very unlikely, at least your example
of Randy Shackelford, of all people, wanting to do damage to me (I've
never had a problem or dispute with him, nor him with I, as far as I
can tell). I don't understand why your attacking him out of the blue.

    One other thing I'm curious about, why have you chosen me as an 
example? I'm one of the LemminGS beta-testers, and thus have had an 
copy on my hardrive long before the game was even officially announced 
as complete. Why would someone try to forge my name as a downloader? 
It would be rather odd for someone to want to make it appear I was 
"stealing" something I already own. :) 

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca