Re: Software on Old Disks

["John B. Matthews" <nospam@nospam.com>]

In article <WLdZe.2615$G64.250@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com>,
 Steven Lichter <shlichter@diespammers.com> wrote:

> Zorin the Lynx wrote:
> > Great Hierophant wrote:
> > [...]
> > This, by the way, is why I get so annoyed when folks whine about 
> > Asimov and piracy; I think letting this software languish and 
> > become lost to history is a much greater crime than pirating 
> > software that is no longer commercially viable and not distributed 
> > by its authors.
> > 
> > -Z
> > 
> Some authors don't want their works distributed in this way and we 
> all have to respect that. Even if they are lost, the person who wrote 
> the program aor has the rights has the final say.

Not entirely. Each party to a copyright matter has the rights and 
obligations specified in Title 17 of the USC and elsewhere. For example, 
�117 imposes limitations on the author's exclusive rights over computer 
programs.

The legalities of fair use preservation by individuals and libraries are 
discussed here:

<http://fairuse.stanford.edu/commentary_and_analysis/2003_11_hirtle.html>

In particular, "[Users] may also bypass access control mechanisms in 
computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have 
become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a 
condition of access."

We may note that Apple Computer assiduously refers to the Apple II line 
of computers in terms suggesting that the series is obsolete.

> If they did not then it would turn the net into hell and then we 
> would have the Feds and others trying to regulate, and all the sites 
> would go down.  Just look at what has happened to music sites that 
> allowed user to user D/L's.

IANAL.

-- 
John
jmatthews at wright dot edu
www dot wright dot edu/~john.matthews/