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From: valley@uchicago (Doug Dougherty)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Shareware "Piracy" (was Re: Cracking games)
Keywords: spam, shareware, spam, piracy, spam, agreements, spam, eggs & spam.
Message-ID: <valley.669502933@gsbsun>
Date: 20 Mar 91 21:02:13 GMT
References: <1991Mar18.223533.646@welch.jhu.edu> <1991Mar19.172138.4340@Solbourne.COM> <7808@uceng.UC.EDU> <27530@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>
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dor@dolphin.cis.ufl.edu (A Knight in White Satin) writes:

>In article <7808@uceng.UC.EDU> dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu (Daniel Mocsny) writes:

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

>->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.

>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 think this sort of arrangement is illegal in some states, such as,
e.g., (at last check) Wisconsin.  These are the states in which you
cannot have Tupperware parties...  Thus, probably not a real good idea.
(In some sense this sort of thing is immoral, in that it makes salesmen
[i.e., among the lowest forms of life] of ordinary people)

This last is just my opinion, of course..