zabot@cesare.dec.com.UUCP (02/13/87)
For a while I have tried to buy JForth from Delta Research. Finally I got a letter from Phil Burk regretting the fact that his Company has decided not to market the product in Italy (sell it to me) due to pirates raiding in these seas. It also states that today the fine for pirates copying and selling FOR PROFIT software is as low as 50$. Well, I'm sorry to tell you : he's right ! The situation in this Country is such that no one want to sell its software here, so there is always someone going to buy it abroad and then reselling it here FOR PROFIT ( sometimes very little ). It's an EGG and CHICKEN situation. The end of the story is that I cannot have JFORTH till next time I'll be in the States. I cannot really understand this. Anyway. For software producers on the net, the sistuation is going to be cleared soon. Two bills have been presented to the Camera dei Deputati (Italian Congress) : bill#1746 3/25/86 and 3907 7/9/1986 by different members of the House.They are very alike and they more or less are proposing: 1 - Copying, selling, keeping and importing ( even altering ) software is subject to: 6 months to 3 years of jail Minimum fine of $1,000 to $ 10,000 if no sales has taken place or a higher depending on the volume of sales ( sorry I don't have more precise figures). All the material used for making the copies is confiscated / destroyed. 2 - If the crime is committed twice, the person /people involved will not allowed to start a new commercial / industrial activity ( don't know if forever of for a given period of time). So eventually I'll got my J-Forth. marco