Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!mcnc!ecsgate!ecsvax!kms
From: kms@uncecs.edu (Ken Steele)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: Re: Chessamster 2100 patch
Message-ID: <1991May10.040601.17706@uncecs.edu>
Date: 10 May 91 04:06:01 GMT
References: <4853@orbit.cts.com>
Organization: UNC Educational Computing Service
Lines: 53

In article <4853@orbit.cts.com>, havir@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Eric Havir) writes:
> ptavoly@cs.ruu.nl (Peter Tavoly) writes:
> 
> I'd like to be nieve enough to (spell nieve) believe that copy protection is

       try 'naif' or 'naive'  :-)


> 'necessary', and on the flip side that it isn't.  I have a friend, that is
> very active in the hacker community.  He continually calls me up and tells me
> what he can get on his 'boards' before I can in the store.  I always nod and
> say 'that's nice'.  He finally (after six months) stopped telling me.  The
> idea behind this is, that his sole reason behind hacking is to compare
> 'warez'.  He likes others to know what he has.  He says he plays .05% of what
> he gets.  Guys like that, you won't stop with on disk or manual
> protection...or even if you don't protect it.  They don't care...they just
> want it...and will get it one way or another.   The other kind of hacker is
> Mr. Joe Office worker who gets stuff from his buddies at work, etc.  This
> kind will be somewhat intimidated by on-disk protection and some code wheel
> protection.  Manuals are no bother, there are copiers at work/college/etc. 
> I've bought enough software to equal the national debt in $$$ spent.  I've
> --
>   Eric "Rangorin" Havir
>     UUCP: {crash tcnet}!orbit!pnet51!havir
>     ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!havir@nosc.mil
>     INET: havir@pnet51.orb.mn.org



This is my experience with pirates also.  On the one hand
I know an individual with literally thousands of disks for
Apple II, C-64, and Amiga.  In the vast majority of cases
he has never even started the game/program ONCE.  His
thrill is in just "having it"  before anyone else.  In most
cases when he has tried to 'demo' something, he has a
bad download, copy, etc. as it will not boot.

The above fellow is very harmless compared to people
who would never log onto a pirate board but spread
copies of WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, etc. around
the office.

Game-writers, Game-sellers, are sitting around assuming
that their game is not producing money because "them
pirates" have screwed them.  This seems to be a more
palatable assumption to the writer/seller than the
alternative which is that the public really doesn't
care about the game.  

-- 
Ken Steele   Dept. of Psychology    kms@ecsvax.bitnet
             Mars Hill College      kms@ecsvax.uncecs.edu
             Mars Hill, NC 28754    {some big name site}!mcnc!ecsvax!kms