Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watdaisy.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!watdaisy!ijdavis
From: ijdavis@watdaisy.UUCP (Ian Davis)
Newsgroups: net.games,net.micro.apple
Subject: Re: Software Piracy
Message-ID: <7151@watdaisy.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 27-Mar-85 09:02:32 EST
Article-I.D.: watdaisy.7151
Posted: Wed Mar 27 09:02:32 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 28-Mar-85 01:20:51 EST
References: <296@unm-cvax.UUCP>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 31
Xref: watmath net.games:1768 net.micro.apple:1803

As a games user and as author and distributer of Bridge and Cribbage for the
IBM PC some comments on piracy..
1) The sale of copy protected diskettes should be outlawed.  In the case of
   games such as Zork II the cost of replacements now exceeds my original
   purchase price.  Worse the turn around time on replacements would be bad
   enough even if Infocom wasn't inclined to send back bad diskettes claiming
   that nothing was wrong with them.. I sent back a letter including the
   "Dead Parrot Sketch" and described in vivid detail the scratch across the
   disk and the inability of the platten to rotate within its jacket but
   this I suspect only invited longer delays.
   I have also purchased for $100 a macro assembler that was copy protected.
   Since it took over 3 months to obtain this product I subsequently
   decided that developing software on the atari with such liabilities would
   be suicidal...
2) Piracy is a problem but copy protecting diskettes is not going to defend
   companies from those individuals who could hurt sales via pirating software
   (actually for individuals read companies).  So why copy protect diskettes.
3) My own solution to this problem is I think sufficient, and I would be
   interested to know if others agree.  Firstly, the distributer rather than
   the user should be considered guilty of piracy... Frankly, who is not going
   to use what they are given, and who is to say that the user necessarily
   knows that the item is pirated.  So (using sophisticated software protection)
   put an identifying serial number on each diskette, and add to the copyright,
   a notice offering a reward to information leading to the conviction of
   copyright violaters and include a telephone number.  Distributers cannot
   assume that distributed software stays in the hands of trusted friends, and
   so this becomes a real threat and liability to them.  It only remains to
   ensure that courts provide strong protection for developers, and in
   particular make it worth the developers while to prosecute any and all
   violations... In Datamation one gross case of video piracy resulted in a
   10 year jail term!!