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From: dor@dolphin.cis.ufl.edu (A Knight in White Satin)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Shareware "Piracy" (was Re: Cracking games)
Keywords: spam, shareware, spam, piracy, spam, agreements, spam, eggs & spam.
Message-ID: <27530@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>
Date: 20 Mar 91 15:01:13 GMT
References: <1991Mar18.223533.646@welch.jhu.edu> <1991Mar19.172138.4340@Solbourne.COM> <7808@uceng.UC.EDU>
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In article <7808@uceng.UC.EDU> dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu (Daniel Mocsny) writes:

[lots of lead-in to the following statement deleted.]

->The shareware pirate who acts as an unpaid consultant could well be
->generating a lot of indirect revenue for the shareware author (s)he is
->"ripping off". However, I have not seen a shareware license that
->attempts to compensate a shareware user for advertising the product.
->The shareware author earns higher profits by replacing, in part,
->for-profit dealers with volunteer consultants. Is that fair?

->Every shareware registration form should include a field for 
->identifying the registered user who influenced the new registrant's
->decision. Then the shareware author should send a kickback to
->that person. This would motivate the unpaid-consultant-pirates to
->register, as well as give *them* an incentive to pressure their
->clients to register.

->--
->Dan Mocsny				
->Internet: dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu

I seem to recall that PC-Write by Quicksoft has such an agreement to it.
When you register your (downloaded) copy, you send in the original number
on the opening screen "to credit the original owner."  Perusal of the docs
(if I recall correctly) indicates that if people register off of your
registered copy, you get some sort of kickback--I think it was $5 or some
such.

I agree with your analysis about "unpaid consultants" who have unreg. warez
lying around.  It's part of the risk that a shareware product runs.
[Quick honesty quiz here -- how many of you readers have NEVER repeat NEVER
violated SOME part of such an agreement?  Let he who is without sin throw
the first interrupt vector]