Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!ames!dftsrv!xrtnt
From: xrtnt@amarna.gsfc.nasa.gov (Nigel Tzeng)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: One more try...
Message-ID: <1424@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Date: 21 Mar 90 14:42:18 GMT
References: <39009@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> <133211@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Sender: news@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov
Reply-To: xrtnt@amarna.gsfc.nasa.gov
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD, USA
Lines: 54

In article <133211@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>, cmcmanis@stpeter.Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes...
^In article <39009@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> (Andy Hartman) writes:
^> Just because a guy doesn't know what ECM stands for in FA/18 doesn't 
^> mean he is a pirate.  Maybe he is, either way, keep it to yourself.  
^> A pirate takes risks.  Let him.  There is no reason for you to be his 
^> conscience.  
^ 
^An important point Andy is that our current law enforcement system doesn't
^go after pirating and thus it is ineffective in preventing it. However, 
^the non-pirates are hurt by the pirates by paying more for software and
^sometimes have the company that supports their program go out of business.
^Therefore the only way to curb piracy today is to flame them mercilessly
^and publiclly. When a pirate reads how much shit someone caught for not
^knowing what ECM meant is he or she going to risk asking a question themselves?
^The answer is no, they won't. And that means that pirated programs are
^marginally less valuable because their greatest information resource, Usenet,
^won't cough up information that is in the manual that they didn't pay for. 
^ 
^This is a social response to the problem. And to the extent that people
^want to be respected on Usenet (in this society) there is some social 
^pressure not to be pirates. Amiga users and Amiga users groups have to
^to be loud and obnoxious whenever a pirate is discoverd to help discourage
^them. This society can't send a pirate to jail, but they can make someone
^an outcast. And often one of the motivations for piracy is the desire to
^"belong" to something. 
^ 
^ 
^--Chuck McManis
^uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: <none>   Internet: cmcmanis@Eng.Sun.COM
^These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
^"If it didn't have bones in it, it wouldn't be crunchy now would it?!"

Well Chuck...IF you intend to make piracy such a social stigma maybe you ought
to make sure the person you are turning into an outcast IS a pirate.  I've seen
responses to hardware problems along the lines of "well machines that do flakey
things usually have viruses...are you a pirate or something?" Which implies
that anyone unlucky enough to catch a virus is a pirate and that there are no
hardware faults on the Amigas.  Neither statement is true.

Piracy is a CRIME.  If you insist on claiming that someone IS a pirate I
suggest that you have some sort of proof.  Also while you cannot send a pirate
to jail easily, if you can find out his source (a BBS for example) you can get
it shut down.  There is no need for a Spanish Inquisitions or obnoxiousness.

NT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        A| Nigel Tzeng      xrtnt@csdr.gsfc.nasa.gov
     // m| STX Inc.         xrtnt@csdr.span.nasa.gov
    //  i|       
\\ //   g| Standard Disclaimer Applies:  The opinions expressed are my own. 
 \X/    a|             
         | "Hmmmm."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------