Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!mp.cs.niu.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!symcom!chappell From: chappell@symcom (Glenn Chappell) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: Any piracy statistics in the US ?? Message-ID: <1991Jun24.205146.3372@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> Date: 24 Jun 91 20:51:46 GMT References: <292@rins.ryukoku.ac.jp> Sender: usenet@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News) Reply-To: chappell@math.uiuc.edu (Glenn Chappell) Organization: Math Dept., University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign Lines: 41 In article mathew@mantis.co.uk (Giving C News a *HUG*) writes: >will@rins.ryukoku.ac.jp (will) writes: >> Getting in on this a little late. But isn't it possible to program >> your software to read the serial numbers on the say (CPU and/or FPU) >> before the software will function. Then all you need to do is require >> the purchaser to do is give his/her serial numbers when purchasing the >> software and everyones happy. > >Except, of course, those people who have a network of fifty machines, any one >of which they might want to run their legally-owned software on. Well, you're quite right in that many people would be unhappy, but the reason would be that they couldn't break the law any more. Most software companies do not actually sell their software, but rather licenses to use their software (read the fine print). If you truly own a copy of the software, you can, I suppose, legally do what you want with it. However, typically you own a license and the company owns the software. A typical (micro) software license is single user/single machine. For setups where programs are run off servers (or whatever) there are usually "site licenses" available, which cost more, but allow the software to be run legally on multiple machines. Thus, such a serial-number scheme would simply turn what is already the legal situation into a practical reality. Admittedly, much of the "fine print" in software licenses pertains to things no one cares about - not even software companies. The most extreme example of this that I've found is that it is almost always illegal to use Apple's "Multifinder" for the Macintosh (read the fine print - it's true). On the other hand, all this doesn't change the fact that if you don't like what a license says, you don't have to buy it. >I mean, one *could* demand that everyone buying a book had to keep it chained >to his bookcase at home. Except that book companies typically sell books, not licenses to use them. GGC <><