Newsgroups: trial.misc.legal.software
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!maytag!watdragon!lion!jcmorehead
From: jcmorehead@lion.uwaterloo.ca (James Christopher Morehead)
Subject: Re: Software Copy Protection
Message-ID: <1990May25.041324.9621@watdragon.waterloo.edu>
Summary: Gold Disk's approach
Keywords: gold disk copy protection piracy
Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu (Owner of Many System Processes)
Organization: University of Waterloo
References: <1990May21.175058.4745@caen.engin.umich.edu>
Date: Fri, 25 May 90 04:13:24 GMT
Lines: 23

Gold Disk Inc. (a major developer for the Commodore Amiga) has taken the stance
that copy protection is an enormous nuisance to its customers and has
rightly decided that all its North American products will be released
unprotected.  This is despite the knowledge that its products are widely
copied illegally.

In Europe, unfortunately, it is another story.  Gold Disk has no choice but
to release its products protected (European software distributers will generally
not touch unprotected, consumer level software).  The least offensive
protection we could come up with is "manual protection" where the purchaser
is required to enter a word from the manual everytime the program is 
executed.  An unfortunate, but necessary, compromise.

Gold Disk Inc. has yet to release an uncopiable disk and I hope that trend
will continue throughout the computer industry as hard disks proliferate
the low-end markets.

Since this is a legal forum it should be noted that there is no evidence to
indicate that copyright notices have ANY effect.  Eliminating 14 year olds,
however, might....

	james "max" morehead.
	developer, Gold Disk Inc.