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From: rupp@cod.UUCP (William L. Rupp)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: What a dongle is (Was Re: Copy protection: boycott it!)
Message-ID: <776@cod.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Jul-87 11:27:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: cod.776
Posted: Wed Jul 29 11:27:23 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Aug-87 00:50:33 EDT
References: <6965@ism780c.UUCP> <1193@killer.UUCP>
Reply-To: rupp@cod.nosc.mil.UUCP (William L. Rupp)
Organization: Computer Sciences Corp., San Diego
Lines: 23
Keywords: licensing vs purchase; reasonableness

Come, come, the concept of licensing a product vs. outright sale of
a product can't be that hard to understand.  Ford Motor Company sells
Fords outright because there is no danger of anyone replicating
automobiles in their garages.  Software is different.  "Buying" software
is much like buying a book.  If you buy a book, do you "own" the book?
Well, yes and no.  You do own that particular copy of the book, but you
do not own the right to make copies of it and sell them to others.   In
fact, I have seen books (though not lately) which displayed a
prohibition against reselling that praticular copy.  Obviously, that
stricture is unreasonable, and I don't think any publisher tries to
enforce it anymore.  Xerox a few copies and try to sell them at the
local swap-meet, on the other hand, and you are in trouble.

Software is copyrighted, as are books.  When you buy Lotus 123, you are
in fact buying the disk.  You are not, however, buying the rights to
replicate and sell copies of the program stored on that disk.  I don't
like a lot of the details of software licensing, but I recognize that
nobody would bother to create software if the licensing protection did
not exist.
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My comments and thoughts are totally my own and do not necessarily reflect
the views of any other person or organization....How's that, Gary?
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