Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!cit-vax!scheer From: scheer@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (Wonko the Sane) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Software thieves Message-ID: <11706@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> Date: 24 Aug 89 16:29:10 GMT References: <30706@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <6846@rpi.edu> <2361@raspail.cdcnet.cdc.com> <6865@rpi.edu> <58013@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <6876@rpi.edu> <1160@sas.UUCP> <11682@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> <387@umvlsi.ecs.umass.edu> Reply-To: scheer@cit-vax.UUCP (Wonko the Sane) Distribution: usa Organization: California Institute of Technology Lines: 46 In article <387@umvlsi.ecs.umass.edu> pswanson@umvlsi.ecs.umass.edu (Paul Swanson) writes: >Here is the fundamental falicy of the pirates' argument. Information is >never, repeat NEVER 'free'. It cannot be free. It must be 'created' >(for lack of a better word) by someone who must spend at least time and >effort if not money to create it. If you think you have an inherent >right to my, or someone elses time, effort, or money you are morally >bankrupt. What you are arguing for is slavery of a sort. Free information is slavery? I beg to differ. If information were free, nobody would make a living from creating it, and nobody would be enslaved. In countries like China and the Soviet Union, information is strictly controlled by the government, and the people will suffer from misconceptions due to the lack of information or too much information generated by their government to keep them in control. Bring this analogy to software. Companies that charge high prices for their software are depriving said software from certain people, those too poor to afford it. These people see other similar packages at more affordable prices, so they know inherently that this high price is just increasing the profits of the author. Pirates exist because they do not approve of the way the current system is being abused, and pirate because they refuse to follow a system of which they do not approve. I do not think that people pirate because they don't like all authors and want them to starve. They just disapprove of a system that makes authors rich and buyers poor in level far above what it should be. Personally, a system I would like to see would be this: A programmer is hired by a company to produce a specific piece of software for an application desired by that company. The programmer is being employed by the company, and gets paid for his work. This work is then distributed freely, and those that can find a use for this program pay the programmer what they think it is worth to them. If the source is distributed at the same time, every single user can become a programmer of improvements or a debugger. This would be a much more efficient way to both improve the program and get the program to those who need it. Essentially, a freeware system. But I am an idealist, and the world is not ideal. I also think that communism as a concept would be a fine thing if it were not completely unworkable in a non-ideal system. Oh well, I've started to ramble. Better end the post. -- Wonko the Sane Disclaimer: I am totally irresponsible. So shoot me then!