keithd@cadovax.UUCP (07/09/87)
In article <640@nis.NIS.MN.ORG> rjg@nis.NIS.MN.ORG (Robert J. Granvin) writes: >It's unfortunate, but companies will continue to copy protect software, >as long as the public continues to copy and distribute them. While >copy protection doesn't stop the problem it slows it. While a world >without copy protection would be all nice and rosy, it'll probably >never happen until human nature itself changes. The company that owns >the software has every right to protect it's products. Software is >poorly protected by the law, at least compared to other consumer >products. It seems to me that the worst problem with copy protection is this, if you want to bring a product to market, and don't believe in or want copy protection, you'll find if you are trying to sell to dealers that both copy protection and higher prices are selling features to them. Both help protect dealers margins, which is what you, if you are trying to attract dealers at least need to think about. That $19.95 super whiz-bang program that you figure will sell a million at that price and make more money because it is so darn cheap EVERYONE will buy one, may not interest dealers all that much. They may have to take more risk on a product like that if it dosen't sell like hotcakes. It's taking up shelf space, and their margin on it is about $8.00. Their margin on DPaint II is more like $35, for the same amount of shelf space. And the fact that it's copy protected makes them feel that that margin is a little better protected than an equivalent non-copy protected Aegis product or something. At present, I don't have any plans to copy-protect any products. However, if I were to get enough letters from dealers complaining about the lack of it, it would certainly be a sign that it may be impacting sales of a product. It would seem to warrant at least some serious thought at that point, as impossible as real copy-protection is. I mean, really, copy protection also sells plenty of copier programs like Maurader for those very same dealers. If copy protected software went away, so would any market for anti-copy-protection copiers. Please don't take this to mean I like the idea of copy protection. It really only protects from the most naive of the buyers, while at the same time aggrivating virtually ALL of the buyers. But when you look at it from the standpoint of marketing software products to dealers, it could actually make or break the little guy trying to interest dealers in carrying his product. Keith Doyle # {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd # cadovax!keithd@ucla-locus.arpa Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170