merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) (11/04/85)
Many moons ago I picked up a copy of Switcher 4.4 off net.sources.mac. I just got my Fat Mac a few days ago and uploaded it and everything worked fine and there was great rejoicing. In fact, a few other people asked me about whether they could have copies of Switcher 4.4. I understand, though, that Apple is going to market Switcher. So, is it legitimate for me to give copies of this program to other people? (I'm talking from a legal standpoint--Please don't give me this "Don't worry, Apple isn't going to waste time trying to sue you or your friends.") -- "They show you photographs Peter Merchant of how your life should be compared with someone else's fantasy."
chuq@sun.uucp (Chuq Von Rospach) (11/05/85)
In article <3795@dartvax.UUCP> merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) writes: >In fact, a few other people asked me about whether they could have copies of >Switcher 4.4. I understand, though, that Apple is going to market Switcher. >So, is it legitimate for me to give copies of this program to other people? I hope Larry will correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've heard there is no restriction to non-commercial passing around of the switcher. Apple will be selling a switcher package for about $20, but it will include the documentation (inside switcher? a user package? I'm not sure which). If you want the documentation, you buy the package. Companies that want to ship Switcher as part of their package (Excel, I believe, does) pays a $50/year fee and has to show Apple a debugged switcher application that can be used as a turnkey setup. So what Apple is really planning on doing is making the program available to those not lucky enough (or rich enough) to get it through other distribution channels at minimal costs and also sell it to the rest of us for the documenation -- since software is pretty trivial to copy, selling the documentation makes a lot of sense. chuq -- :From the Crystal Caves of Avalon: Chuq Von Rospach sun!chuq@decwrl.DEC.COM {hplabs,ihnp4,nsc,pyramid}!sun!chuq Our time is past -- it is a time for men, not of magic.
shebanow@ernie.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike Shebanow) (11/06/85)
Switcher IS copyrighted, so I believe that it is illegal to give it away to your friends. The postings to CompuServe, UseNet, Delphi and other online services were all specifically authorized by Apple to faciliate the testing of Switcher with all the different programs out there. On the other hand, I would probably give people copies until Apple's released Switcher is actually available in stores. If you really want to avoid any taint of illegallity, you could let the person download the program himself, using your account. I can't see anything illegal about that, but then, I'm not a lawyer. Andrew Shebanow shebanow@ernie.BERKELEY.EDU
lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein) (11/07/85)
Chuq is right about Switcher.
Although it is copyrighted by Apple, you can give away free copies of
the Switcher. If you want to distibute copies as part of a product
that you sell, you must license Switcher from Apple. I don't know
what the exact license fee is, but it is an annual fee per product
(not per copy of a product).
The package that you buy for ~$20 is called the Switcher Construction
Kit, and includes user-level documentation (ie., not Inside Switcher).
--
Larry Rosenstein
Apple Computer
UUCP: {voder, nsc, ios, mtxinu, dual}!apple!lsr
CSNET: lsr@Apple.CSNET