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From: wade@hobbes.ucsd.edu (Wade Blomgren)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: SimEarth copy protection
Summary: "please don't steal"
Message-ID: <16245@sdcc6.ucsd.edu>
Date: 1 Feb 91 22:06:00 GMT
References: <18659@natinst.natinst.com> <1991Jan28.043033.11475@en.ecn.purdue.edu> <1991Jan31.135756.587@psuecl.bitnet>
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In article <1991Jan31.135756.587@psuecl.bitnet>, tgm@psuecl.bitnet writes:
> 
> Here's my idea of a reasonable copy protection scheme. You boot up Game X and
> the first thing you see is a window that says in big bold type, "Please don't
> steal from us." Below the headline are a few paragraphs about what piracy does
> to the software industry, written in an honest, up-front manner. Most pirates
> are young and don't really understand that their actions harm the industry.
> By educating them and appealing to their sense of what's right-and-wrong,
> perhaps piracy can be reduced at the source, without holding the legitimate
> user hostage to master disks, manuals, and hardware keys.
> 

It's funny that you should suggest this...years ago my kid brother would
occasionally come across pirated game software for his Commodore.  I think
he got the stuff from local bbs's.  These games would almost invariably
be altered by the original pirate to display a huge, often animated
splash screen advertising the prowess of the cracker, eg. "CRACKED BY
DR. DOOM and his MISSIONARIES OF DESTRUCTION" etc. etc.

The point being that appealing to the sense of right and wrong in young
pirates may not be very effective, since those that spend time on breaking
protection schemee go out of their way to explicitly show that they don't give 
a hoot about it anyway.   I guess we are talking about two different things,
though, breaking protection schemes vs. stealing unprotected software.  

Maybe youngsters as well as adults may well respond favorably to well 
worded, unobtrusive "pleas".  I know that a gracious and mature shareware 
statement coupled with a good product gets my checkbook open fairly promptly, 
whereas a guilt-trip or demand (which interestingly usually accompanies a 
less than worthwhile program) will usually result in me tossing the program 
out.

Wade