Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rutgers!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!fluke!kurt From: kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: What a dongle is (Was Re: Copy protection: boycott it!) Message-ID: <1408@sputnik.COM> Date: Tue, 4-Aug-87 11:59:35 EDT Article-I.D.: sputnik.1408 Posted: Tue Aug 4 11:59:35 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 6-Aug-87 01:51:18 EDT References: <6965@ism780c.UUCP> <1193@killer.UUCP> <776@cod.UUCP> <912@bsu-cs.UUCP> Sender: news@tc.fluke.COM Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA Lines: 31 Keywords: licensing vs purchase; reasonableness Another purpose for the license agreement, and this may be more important than any perceived protection provided by the agreement, is that it tends to cast the software as a service and not a "utilitarian object" (a hammer is a utilitarian object.) If this strategy works, it protects the manufacturer from implied warranties, like the implied warranty of fitness for use. A hammer comes with an implied warranty that it is good for pounding things. If it breaks under normal use or is useless for hammering due to a manufacturing defect, you have legal recourse against the manufacturer. If a spreadsheet was a utilitarian object, there would be an implied warranty that it calculated things correctly. If there was a bug in the spreadsheet and it caused an important financial projection to be incorrect, and a company lost a lot of money, they would be able to go after the software manufacturer in a vigorous way. Almost everybody thinks bugs are inevitable. You can imagine how insecure Lotus would feel if their products were util- itarian objects. Services are not subject to this legal danger. They are covered by contract law, and people can disclaim warranties (sort of. I'm not a lawyer). Intellectual property (books, recipes, etc.) are also not subject to warranties of fitness for use. A copyright notice casts the software as intellectual property. However, I guess people are worried that since it comes on a physical medium (floppy), it might be mistaken for a utilitarian object. So they add another layer of protection. Lawyers are like that, arguing in strange sentences that include every possibility up front ("He's not guilty. But even if he's guilty, he was insane. But even if he wasn't insane, it was self defense. But even if it wasn't self defense, this court doesn't have jurisdiction. But...").