zemon@felix.UUCP (04/09/84)
A couple people jumped on me for accusing Brian Keves of
theft without proof. I did not publically mention his name
until this time. I have exchanged letters with him and in
the first one he said, "I prefer the word 'acquired' to
'stealing'. I acquired my copy from a friend."
(Appologies, Brian, for any slight miswording. I don't
have your original letter any more.) I think this is
sufficient proof that I did not jump to false conclusions.
Hopefully, this will end further flames about the history
of this discussion. I have a question for any of you out
there who think software "piracy" is OK:
Given that a program was originally sold with a
copyright notice and that the original purchaser was
aware of the copyright notice, how can you justify
breaking the copyright laws?
Note when answering that no part of the copyright laws
provides for protection only of products with a reasonable
price to value ratio. Therefore, arguments based on the
high price of software are completely irrelevent.
Fed up with people who claim that breaking the law is OK,
Art Zemon
...!{ucbvax, decvax}!trwrb!felix!zemonwerner@ut-ngp.UUCP (04/11/84)
<if THEY can't fix it - why don't WE modify our mailer to ALWAYS write this > Aren't we lucky that there was no patent or copyright law around when the wheel was invented ........ In a serious mode, laws are made by the POWERS that be and they will be buried in the dumps of history. Ethics and Morals are something totally different and tolerance requires that we accept other people living by different standards than our own. As long as our own freedom to live as we please is not restricted. Where an action on my part will not be detrimental to your life, as long as you never know about it, you have little to complain about. If the simple fact that you "know" makes you unhappy, then I will not carelessly put you "in the know". The error on Brian's part (according to my value system) was to broadcast his request, but if nothing else, it started an interesting and timely discussion about a "religious" issue. And as far as religion goes, I'm an atheist, but I do not discriminate against religions of any kind, and I will tolerate 'voluntary' prayers, when it's done when attendance is not obligatory. Down with 55MPH, death penalty for anyone who threatens with a gun ... if I don't get a cup of coffee soon, I'll not get any work done today! werner@/dev/null PS: when I bought my last piece of software, the terms of the the "license" and the lack of a "warranty" made me so angry that I swore, I never buy any software again. Ever read what IB* (which is probably a trademark) guarantees about their software? Go read and throw up!!!