Re: CD of all Files on Asimov

[have@it.com (The Librarian)]

On 14 Sep 1996 00:14:38 -0700, sjensen@cello.gina.calstate.edu (Steve
Jensen) wrote:

>drsmooth@relex.com (Edhel Iaur) writes:
>> 
>> What the heck.  I may as well make myself flame bait, and post MHO.  I
>> think this CD sounds fine, as long ALL the stuff on it is genuinely
>> old, and nothing that is still easily available, such as PublishIt!,
>> AppleWorks, ProTerm, and that shipment of AtariSoft games that a few
>> mail-order companies seem to have picked up.
>
>Ah, now I understand.  Only steal the old stuff.
>Do you just obey the laws you agree with?
>
How about just "steal" the stuff that is discarded, unwanted, where
the only people who care about the stuff are the "pirates", or the
people who invested so much time in these programs? I know that we're
not talking about physical things here, so the word stealing is only
half appropriate. Is a parody stealing? Isn't it making a profit based
on someone else's ideas? Or maybe that's just a "tribute"? I know it's
protected under law, but to some extent it is stealing, despite any
original added material.
	The big problem I have with this thread is the simplistic view
so many people seem to have about software and "piracy."  If I have a
copy of a program that costs thousands of dollars, just to play with
it, and I make no profit from it, I am not depriving anyone of income.
I am partially stealing from them, though. On the other hand, I might
really enjoy using the program and recommend it to others and actually
increase the popularity of the program, like so many tapes of albums
or cds have done for bands. There's no guarantee that I'll increase
the revenue of the creators of the program; especially if there's TOO
much piracy.
	The dirty little secret of the software industry is that a
little piracy is good for it. People have been burned too many times
by programs with more marketing than programming; magazine reviews and
return policies can only do so much. Demos can only occasionally be
trusted to reflect the final product. Time-limited software and other
forms of share- and crippleware should be able to fill the needs of
wary people, but many companies are wary of this method. Of course,
the problem with that method is too many people still don't see
copying software as ANY form of stealing, which is definitely is.
	
	In the case of games with little to no commercial market,
while it may still (barely) be called stealing, a reality check says,
"who cares?"  If Nathan or whoever sees programs on Asimov or wherever
that are being sold, why don't they just contact the copyright
holder(s) and have them request that these programs be removed? Also,
though I'd rather he didn't, the Asimov site owner (John?) perhaps
should make the incoming directory "view" or upload only. This still
wouldn't eliminate still-commercial programs from slipping through,
but it might at least minimize the problem. I'll even go out on a twig
and volunteer some of my time to help organize the Asimov site.
	Well, I hope this somewhat rambling treatise made sense, and I
welcome all reason-based rebuttals. :-)