Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!haven!uvaarpa!mcnc!raw
From: raw@mcnc.org (Russell Williams)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: No more Cinemaware stuff for Amiga !!!????
Message-ID: <5007@alvin.mcnc.org>
Date: 3 Aug 89 14:35:16 GMT
References: <268@nrcvax.NRC.COM> <30140@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <4929@alvin.mcnc.org> <1989Jul24.163632.23920@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <KUDLA.89Jul28002804@pawl13.pawl.rpi.edu> <6712@warpdrive.UUCP>
Reply-To: raw@mcnc.org.UUCP (Russell Williams)
Organization: Microelectronics Center of NC; RTP, NC
Lines: 40

In article <6712@warpdrive.UUCP> stewartw@cognos.UUCP (Stewart Winter) writes:
>
>  If you can't afford the software, don't buy the computer.  We don't
>have the right to something just because we can't afford it (with
>the possible exception of necessities).  The cable TV company doesn't
>run the cable by your house just to keep you amused ... it's a business.
>Software is no different.

	The point that you're missing is that unless damage results from      
copying, no one's going to feel a moral impetus to refrain from doing it.  

	Your example of the cable TV company is a good one.  Let's assume 
that I just wanted to watch one special show.  The cable company offers no
other plan than a complete installation.  The cost of the installation is
prohibitively expensive.  So, I tap into the cable and watch the show.  After
the show, I cut it off and never use it again.
	What's transpired here?  The cable company loses no money, and I gain
pleasure.  The world is better off.

	Now, if I had two hundred dollars in my pocket that was earmarked for
WordPerfect, found out that it wasn't copy protected, copied it, and spent the
two hundred on two or three copy protected games, then damage would have occuredbecause the company would have benefited from the purchase, except for the fact
that it was convenient for me to copy.  The world is better off for me, but
worse off for the company.  This is a bad thing.

	For that matter, pirating can often bring the company money it would
not have otherwise obtained.  I keep several programs around that I have not
purchased as demo programs.  I never use them for myself, but when someone comesaround to look at the Amiga, I show them the program.  A good example is Doug's
Math Aqaurium.  I showed a friend the Amiga with a lot of programs running, and
the one that stood out for my friend was DMA.  Now my friend has an Amiga and
PURCHASED a copy of DMA.  Pirating brought money into his company, without 
damaging it in anyway.  I would have never have bought the program, but the   
decision to buy the Amiga was very much swayed by the demo of DMA.

	So, before you jump onto your high horse and start raging against all 
pirating, stop and think for a minute about the different facets and their
potential benefits.  Like many things, pirating can be a good thing or a bad
thing depending on how the individual uses it.

Russell