Seiler%mit-xx@sri-unix.UUCP (06/17/83)
From: Larry Seiler <Seiler@mit-xx> What a neat idea! I only see one problem. With Amway, you've got to get the products from the company, so they know how many you've sold and how much money you should be passing up the pyramid. If you copy your own disks, there would be a huge temptation to just pocket the entire profit. That may or may not be worse than the current piracy situation, but there are other problems with copying and selling your own disk. First, it is not easy to copy the documentation. Second, the person you are selling to may not use the same disk format. So I expect that the organizers of such an company would still prefer to handle disk copying at higher levels. Even so, I still think the idea would work fine. I would certainly join such an organization if I wanted any of their software for myself. Lots of people join Amway (and Shaklee, etc.) just to buy the stuff for themselves. Maybe later they make sales of their own, maybe not. Overall, it pays to recruit more distributors, rather than to just sell stuff. By the way, I know of a company out in Santa Cruz, CA that sells computer hardware on a pyramid basis. A friend told me that they sell at a 20% discount off list price. I didn't want to join because I work for a computer company and am eligible for a MUCH larger employee discount. But if anyone is curious, I can give you my friend's address. Larry Seiler, Seiler@MIT-XX -------
MDP@SU-SCORE.ARPA (06/18/83)
From: Mike Peeler <MDP@SU-SCORE.ARPA>
Larry,
Someone has mentioned a Marin-based company called
Freeware that uses "piracy" channels, i.e. "word of mouth",
to distribute their software. You get it "for free", but
you're asked to send them whatever you think it's worth.
Cheers,
Mike
-------