Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!linac!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!ucsd!ucbvax!BIOBIO.DESKTALK.COM!rlg
From: rlg@BIOBIO.DESKTALK.COM (Richard L. Gralnik)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: copy protection
Message-ID: <9101272223.AA08327@desktalk.com>
Date: 27 Jan 91 22:23:10 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 25

Fellow networkers,

While I agree that copy protection can make life less than fun for an
administrator trying to make sure he/she restores the correct unique
set of floppies on a trashed machine, I don't understand why people 
feel the vendor has no right to protect their (usually considerable)
investment in product development from rip-off artists.  And note that
that term includes offices where everyone passes a copy around as much
as people who take the floppies home overnight to make one for their 
personal use.  

I'm not pointing fingers.  Probably everyone has done it at some time.
But the fact remains, if you didn't pay for it, and it isn't freebie
public domain software, then you stole it.  Trying to make the vendor
into the bad guy is a poor attempt at self-justification/rationalization.

If you want to live on share-ware go ahead, but to say that people 
should boycott a company that tries to keep you from making unauthorized 
copies of their software is like saying you shouldn't go to the 
supermarket because they prosecute shoplifters.

Richard
(rlg@desktalk.com)

p.s. Tops also implements a networked serial number comparison scheme.