Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!randvax!ucla-an!stb!michael From: michael@stb.uucp (Michael Gersten) Newsgroups: comp.sources.d Subject: Re: Paying for Shareware Keywords: shareware freeware morals ethics knowledge Message-ID: <1990Jan14.044417.29624@stb.uucp> Date: 14 Jan 90 04:44:17 GMT References: <137@sneezy.tcom.stc.co.uk> <15398@well.UUCP> <1134@utoday.UUCP> Reply-To: michael@stb.uucp (Michael Gersten) Organization: The Serial Tree BBS, +1 213 397 3137 Lines: 41 In article <1990Jan8.043811.23794@robohack.UUCP> woods@robohack.UUCP (Greg A. Woods) writes: >If you truely wish to receive payment for your efforts, >then make it a condition of the offer. Don't publish your work in a >free and widely distributed manner, then hope people will re-imburse >you. > >I subscribe to a philosophy which might be compared somewhat to that >of Richard Stallman: I don't believe I should have to pay for >intellectual property, unless the "owner" is forces me to go through >the motions of purchasing a license or commercial copy. If you give >your intellectual property to me, and then ask me to pay for it if I >use it, you'll probably be left alone in the dust. Yet another case of voting nasty in Prisoner's Dilemma. Don't trust the other person. Try to take advantage of him in every way. Remember, they really are out to get you, so its not paranoia. Consider that this person is offering a simple, easy way to preview what he has to sell. Sort of a trial before buying. If you like it, you can buy it. If not, just remove it. Simple. No problem. You are saying that this is foolish, and that anyone offering a trial before purchase deserves to be taken for everything that they can. Why did you steal that car? It wasn't stealing--he let me test drive it. Right. To you, possession is 10/10'ths of the law--you possess the copy, therefore it's yours. Sorry, that don't work. Intellectual property should be treated the same as physical property -- it is property. If I spend $50 to make something, I should be able to get $75 when I sell it. Physical or not. The only question is did it really cost me $50 to make it if it wasn't physical. Uncle Sam, in the form of tax law, says yes, the cost of production includes all the supporting equipment/machines used to make X even if they are not in the final product X. And I Truly belive that you are mis-stating Stallman's philosophy here-- or at least I really hope so. If that is truly how he feels/belives, I can't support him anymore. Michael -- Michael denwa!stb!michael anes.ucla.edu!stb!michael "The 80's: Ten years that came in a row."