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From: nather@utastro.UUCP (Ed Nather)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc,net.micro
Subject: Re: software protection - dongles & other gizmos
Message-ID: <455@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Jul-85 13:04:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: utastro.455
Posted: Wed Jul 31 13:04:01 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 4-Aug-85 06:48:35 EDT
References: <433@othervax.UUCP> <1775@ecsvax.UUCP> <434@othervax.UUCP>
Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX
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Xref: linus net.micro.pc:4536 net.micro:10042

> > You do NOT have the right to carry the program home!
> > You do NOT have the right to use it on several CPU's simultaneously!
> > You do NOT have the right to pass GO!
> > You do NOT have the right to collect $200!
> > You ONLY have the right to play by the published rules of the game....
> > .
> > .
> > Ray Dunn
>
> I'm glad to see you do not seem to disagree with the basic points made.

Well *I* do.  As long as those are your "rules" I will simply choose not
to play your game by not buying your software, and by urging any and all
to do the same.

> I still believe protection problems MUST be solved soon for the software
> industry to survive.
> Ray Dunn.  Philips Information Systems.

It's already been solved, you just haven't admitted it yet.  Borland, along
with other software firms, now make NOT COPY PROTECTED an important selling
point.  Carrying that point further, Addison Wesley, who sells an IBM PC
version of Knuth's TeX typesetting formatter, has just decided on a site
licence policy for that program, which, for $5,000 for a whole institution
(e.g. The University of Texas), says:

You DO have the right to carry the program home!
You DO have the right to use it on several CPU's simultaneously!
You DO have the right to pass GO!
You DO have the right to collect $200! (after taxes ...)
These ARE the published rules of the game....

The right to make unlimited copies for use by any member of the institution,
faculty, staff, or students, on any or all computers they have access to, is
granted for the one-time fee.

Save your dongles, folks; they'll be real collector's items *very* soon ...

-- 
Ed Nather
Astronomy Dept, U of Texas @ Austin
{allegra,ihnp4}!{noao,ut-sally}!utastro!nather
nather%utastro.UTEXAS@ut-sally.ARPA