Re: trading policy for IIe

["Hellfire" <nospam@dontwantit.net>]

If everyone was to vehemantly honor old copyright restrictions that nobody
really cares about anymore, the A2 would already be a dead platform. There
are a few people out there developing hardware/software for the A2, and it
is NOT COOL to give away software that is someone else's livelihood, but
everything else out there should be free to all. Yes, I am violating a
copyright by giving away copies of my old floppies. Yes, I do defend it
because I want other people to enjoy the A2 as it once was, long ago. I
can't really say to someone, "Look, you'll have to call up Infocom and order
your own copy. This one is mine!" We users are the ONLY PEOPLE that did not
throw our disks in the landfills long ago. If it wasn't for us, nobody would
ever be able to pick up a ][e somewhere and say, "Hey, I had one of these as
a kid! I think I'll try using one again." because there would be no software
out there anywhere to make the machine functional again. Remember,
information just wants to be free :)

APPLE ][ FOREVER!

    -Matt

"Tom Zuchowski" <tzuchow@attglobal.net> wrote in message
3d01f7de_1@news3.prserv.net">news:3d01f7de_1@news3.prserv.net...
> Uh . . . the very definition of public domain is that it is free for
anyone
> to do anything with it they darned well please. They don't need anyone's
> permission. I explicitly put every stitch of Eamon stuff I ever wrote into
> the public domain, it says so right in the docs. If someone wants to erase
> my name and take credit for my stuff, he has that right, though I might
take
> it upon myself to proclaim his low morals to others.
>
> Authors need to consider the possibility that they might "change their
mind"
> before they release anything freely.
>
> As for "freeware," it is a nice ethical concept but I'd wager big bucks
that
> any court in the land would look upon it as no different than public
domain,
> particularly if the author tried to pull it back into a controlled
> environment. Having said that, you are 100% right that we should honor
> freeware restrictions.
>
> You didn't mention your views on abandoned software. Abandoned or not, it
is
> still "someone else's software." How do you feel about trading stuff like,
> for example, Robot War, which "belongs" to a company long out of business
> and who had even lost the capability to manufacture because they sent the
> hard drive to a landfill back in the '80's. I remember another example
> (forget the title) in which inquiry resulted in a company rep denying that
> they had EVER sold software for the Apple II, even though it was founded
on
> that platform in the '70's. What should we do then?
>
> Tom Zuchowski
>
> "Simon Williams" <ludditetech@mac.com> wrote in message
> 9f61cf69.0206072030.4cee0f7a@posting.google.com">news:9f61cf69.0206072030.4cee0f7a@posting.google.com...
> > Anyhoo, I think the basic rules of thumb should be:
> >
> > *If a piece of software is still in commercial production, do not
> > copy/trade it.
> > *Don't duplicate and sell someone else's software at a profit (even if
> > it's freeware/public domain), unless you have the author's consent.
> > *Be sensible / be nice / smile lots.
> >
> > Blah-blah-blah...enough out of me. What do the rest of you think?
> >
> > I'll post my trade list in the next few days.
>
>