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From: russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Rastan GS
Message-ID: <1990Oct8.060653.6435@eng.umd.edu>
Date: 8 Oct 90 06:06:53 GMT
References: <13958@smoke.BRL.MIL> <1990Oct7.050620.19014@isis.cs.du.edu> <9096@ucrmath.ucr.edu>
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Organization: College of Engineering, Maryversity of Uniland, College Park
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In article <9096@ucrmath.ucr.edu> rhyde@ucrmath.ucr.edu (randy hyde) writes:
>
>BTW, "cracking" a game is definitely illegal based on current copyright laws.
Are you a lawyer?  (Don't answer that, I've got a flame based on either
answer)  The way I read the law (and I'm not a lawyer), cracking a game is NOT
illegal, though distributing the cracked copy would be as illegal as
distributing the uncracked copy.

>While I agree that protecting a piece of software is only going to hurt the
>honest person, software companies are well within their rights to do so.
>I don't even consider copy protection immoral.  Cracking and pirating are
>both immoral and *ILLEGAL* activities.
Why is it immoral to 'crack'--- deprotect --- software?

> It's amazing to read on this net
>one message complaining about lack of support for the GS only to be followed
>by a message claiming it's okay to "pirate" software.
Claiming it is ok to use pirate copies of software you have bought.  There's
quite a difference.

>I would apologize to
>you immediately if you could prove you've *paid* for every piece of software
>on your system and that you've never given away a cracked piece of software.
>However, I would be lying if I claimed *I* never used a piece of pirated
>software in my life.  But I like to think that I've reformed myself (not that
>I was ever big into that kind of stuff).  If you don't like some company's
>policy concerning copy protection, you have a very powerful weapon to fight
>back with: your wallet.  Just don't buy the program.  OTOH, if you're not
>willing to pay for it (and not distribute it once you do pay for it), don't
>complain when no one supports the GS anymore...

Or, you could buy the software anyway, and distribute the instructions for
removing the copy protection-- making it irrelevant, and hopefully convincing
the company to drop it.
--
Matthew T. Russotto	russotto@eng.umd.edu	russotto@wam.umd.edu
      .sig under construction, like the rest of this campus.