sipples@husc4.harvard.edu (timothy sipples) (12/18/86)
Regarding recent comp.sys.apple remarks against Canadian software rental
practices, let's realize that U.S. companies have been renting commercial
software for years now. Chicago's PC Network, a firm which charges a fee
for membership in its software rental club, for "business" or "entertainment"
software, comes to mind. PC Network advertises in most of the major
computer magazines, e.g. Byte.
As to the legality of such practices, rental of any copyrighted work is
permitted under "fair use" guidelines. I point to rental of commercial
videocassettes as an example. However, I digress into comp.software.piracy
territory.
Some software does come with licensing agreements. Such software licenses
may prohibit software rental.
Nevertheless, whether or not "shrink wrap licenses" are legally binding is
still uncertain.
In any event, software rental, for the honest user, provides an excellent
method for choosing which package to purchase, a "test drive," so to speak.
It would be foolhardy to buy software, sight-unseen, sealed in a plastic
package, without having at least read reviews, tried it on a friend's
system, or rented it.
Timothy F. Sipples
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