dor@dolphin.cis.ufl.edu (A Knight in White Satin) (03/20/91)
In article <7808@uceng.UC.EDU> dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu (Daniel Mocsny) writes:
[lots of lead-in to the following statement deleted.]
->The shareware pirate who acts as an unpaid consultant could well be
->generating a lot of indirect revenue for the shareware author (s)he is
->"ripping off". However, I have not seen a shareware license that
->attempts to compensate a shareware user for advertising the product.
->The shareware author earns higher profits by replacing, in part,
->for-profit dealers with volunteer consultants. Is that fair?
->Every shareware registration form should include a field for
->identifying the registered user who influenced the new registrant's
->decision. Then the shareware author should send a kickback to
->that person. This would motivate the unpaid-consultant-pirates to
->register, as well as give *them* an incentive to pressure their
->clients to register.
->--
->Dan Mocsny
->Internet: dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu
I seem to recall that PC-Write by Quicksoft has such an agreement to it.
When you register your (downloaded) copy, you send in the original number
on the opening screen "to credit the original owner." Perusal of the docs
(if I recall correctly) indicates that if people register off of your
registered copy, you get some sort of kickback--I think it was $5 or some
such.
I agree with your analysis about "unpaid consultants" who have unreg. warez
lying around. It's part of the risk that a shareware product runs.
[Quick honesty quiz here -- how many of you readers have NEVER repeat NEVER
violated SOME part of such an agreement? Let he who is without sin throw
the first interrupt vector] valley@uchicago (Doug Dougherty) (03/21/91)
dor@dolphin.cis.ufl.edu (A Knight in White Satin) writes: >In article <7808@uceng.UC.EDU> dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu (Daniel Mocsny) writes: >[lots of lead-in to the following statement deleted.] >->Every shareware registration form should include a field for >->identifying the registered user who influenced the new registrant's >->decision. Then the shareware author should send a kickback to >->that person. This would motivate the unpaid-consultant-pirates to >->register, as well as give *them* an incentive to pressure their >->clients to register. >I seem to recall that PC-Write by Quicksoft has such an agreement to it. >When you register your (downloaded) copy, you send in the original number >on the opening screen "to credit the original owner." Perusal of the docs >(if I recall correctly) indicates that if people register off of your >registered copy, you get some sort of kickback--I think it was $5 or some >such. I think this sort of arrangement is illegal in some states, such as, e.g., (at last check) Wisconsin. These are the states in which you cannot have Tupperware parties... Thus, probably not a real good idea. (In some sense this sort of thing is immoral, in that it makes salesmen [i.e., among the lowest forms of life] of ordinary people) This last is just my opinion, of course..
ahodgson@athena.mit.edu (Antony Hodgson) (03/21/91)
In article <27530@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> dor@dolphin.cis.ufl.edu (A Knight in White Satin) writes: >In article <7808@uceng.UC.EDU> dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu (Daniel Mocsny) writes: > >[lots of lead-in to the following statement deleted.] >->Every shareware registration form should include a field for >->identifying the registered user who influenced the new registrant's >->decision. Then the shareware author should send a kickback to >->that person. This would motivate the unpaid-consultant-pirates to >->register, as well as give *them* an incentive to pressure their >->clients to register. > >I seem to recall that PC-Write by Quicksoft has such an agreement to it. >If people register off of your >registered copy, you get some sort of kickback--I think it was $5. > Actually, it was $25. Get three other people to register and you've essentially got a legit copy for free. I think it's a great idea, and judging by the success of PC_Write, it works! Tony Hodgson ahodgson@hstbme.mit.edu
valley@uchicago (Doug Dougherty) (03/22/91)
ahodgson@athena.mit.edu (Antony Hodgson) writes: >> >Actually, it was $25. Get three other people to register and you've >essentially got a legit copy for free. I think it's a great idea, and >judging by the success of PC_Write, it works! It's a pyramid scheme. I wonder how soon its legality will be tested.
maine@altair.dfrf.nasa.gov (Richard Maine) (03/22/91)
On 21 Mar 91 18:18:01 GMT, valley@uchicago (Doug Dougherty) said:
Doug> ahodgson@athena.mit.edu (Antony Hodgson) writes:
Antony> Actually, it was $25. Get three other people to register and you've
Antony> essentially got a legit copy for free. I think it's a great idea, and
Antony> judging by the success of PC_Write, it works!
Doug> It's a pyramid scheme. I wonder how soon its legality will be tested.
Not really. Unlike fraudulent pyramid schemes (which I abhor):
1) There is a real, substantiative product that people are paying for.
They aren't paying just to join the "pyramid." Nor are they paying
for some shallow subtrefuge like mailing lists of the people in
the pyramid.
2) People get money only from those that they have directly signed up.
They don't get money in turn from those signed up multiple "levels"
down. Thus, there is no pyramid effect.
--
--
Richard Maine
maine@altair.dfrf.nasa.gov