Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!think.com!yale.edu!ox.com!heifetz!tbomb!time From: time@ice.com (Tim Endres) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer Subject: Re: All Commercial Software Developers or Companies (pls read) Message-ID: <1CE00001.ix5bvq@tbomb.ice.com> Date: 25 Jun 91 00:44:53 GMT Reply-To: time@ice.com Organization: ICE Engineering, Inc. Lines: 66 X-Mailer: uAccess - Mac Release: 1.5 How you can sit and write this article with a straight face is beyond my comprehension!!!!!! In article <25733@unix.SRI.COM>, mxmora@unix.SRI.COM (Matt Mora) writes: > Well for I or SRI for that matter did not get paid a cent to make > this program for SPA. It was a "Public Service" donated to SPA by SRI. So, SRI is not paying your salary? How do you eat? > I think if SPA audits a company and they are found to be in the wrong, > The fee is the suggested retail price of the software product * the number > found. Also the cost of the product again if they want to keep it. > > Lets say a company bought 10 copies of Disk Doubler but is using it on 100 > machines. Spaudit finds the 100 copies and the company can only prove they > bought 10. 90 unlicensed copies * $69.96 = $6295.50. That would be the > penalty fee that the company would pay. If they wanted to keep the software > then they would pay $6295.50 to Salient software. Llyod and Terry sure > would benefit then. This is just a senario, the actual settlement would > of course be worked out between SPA and the companies attornees. Keep > in mind that the company would probably pay any amount than to have the > case brought to court. Doubtful. > That benefits the software developer I beleive. Most cases are settled out of > court because the company will not want to be known as a "Software Pirate". > > I don't know where the fee goes, I guess in SPA's greedy little pockets. HOW Does this benefit the developer?!?! You just said that SPA will collect $6295.00, and **IF** the company wants to keep the software, they can pay for it!! HOW ABSURD! The company will NOT pony up $6295 for the software after just paying SPA's $6295 fee!!! They will simply feel more justified in using the pirated software ("we just paid for it didn't we...")! > The way SPA is told about a company using illegal software is mostly from > disgruntled employees finking on there previous employers. > > A lot of the companies that are audited are computer dealers that load up > a hard disk to make a sell. So WHO THE HELL Lets SPA in their doors for an audit!?!?? Does SPA go out and get a *warrant*? They wouldn't get inside my doors... Finally, no company in its right mind will "settle" with SPA. The court hearing will be *far* too easily won, the burden of proof being on SPA, and it sounds like any settlement will be expensive. In fact, what will probably happen more and more frequently, is that the company will claim the employee responsible, fire them, then ignore the SPA audit claiming the employee was responsible. The press won't be so bad for the company since they will point at the "witch" employee and claim that the witch has been rooted out by the corporate white knights! Ah, the joys of modern computing.... ------------------------------------------------------------- Tim Endres | time@ice.com ICE Engineering | uupsi!ice.com!time 8840 Main Street | Voice FAX Whitmore Lake MI. 48189 | (313) 449 8288 (313) 449 9208 -------- USENET: A slow moving self parody.....