Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!UREGINA1.BITNET!LAUL
From: LAUL@UREGINA1.BITNET (Dennis Gorrie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Priacy sells hardware.
Message-ID: <8908270900.AA05873@jade.berkeley.edu>
Date: 27 Aug 89 08:59:44 GMT
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Lines: 53

















Piracy sells hardware.  Hard to believe?  Maybe.  But its true.

Someone asks me "What is a good computer for me to buy", so I give him a
list of virtues of computers  (including my own Amiga).

Then he counters "Yeah, but Jonny has a (brand X) computer and he can get
me 400 disks of games and software for free!"

I have heard this lots of times, and I know you have too.

Because of access to pirated software, many people will by (brand X)
computer.  In the course of their computer usage, they will even buy some
legitimate software.  Many people would have not bought (brand X) computer
if pirated software were not easily accessable, and therefore they would
have never made any legitimate software purchases either.

I am sure most of you can think of a (brand X) computer that has
experienced enourmous sales, that were partialy a result of software
piracy.

Its easy to say piracy is moraly and/or legaly wrong.

But economicaly, software piracy has got to be one of the most complex
questions... ever.

No one can really say what the final economic outcome would
be if piracy were stopped.  But I am sure we can agree, it would be very
drastic one, and would have both good AND bad effects on the computer
industry.

|============================================================================|
| (patient)  Go ahead doc, tell me the worst.                                |
| (doctor)   I'm sorry, but you have MS-DOS...                               |
| (patient)  MS-DOS??   ...Maybe I caught it from a toilet seat or something.|
|                                                                            |
| DENNIS GORRIE (LAUL AT UREGINA1.BITNET)                                    |
|============================================================================|