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From: toma@tekgvs.TEK.COM (Tom Almy)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: MSC 4.0 SALE (CHEAP)
Message-ID: <2893@tekgvs.TEK.COM>
Date: Tue, 24-Nov-87 11:58:58 EST
Article-I.D.: tekgvs.2893
Posted: Tue Nov 24 11:58:58 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Nov-87 16:30:48 EST
References: <2380@sfsup.UUCP> <1116@cg-atla.UUCP> <1568@bsu-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: toma@tekgvs.UUCP (Tom Almy)
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR.
Lines: 27
Xref: mnetor comp.lang.c:5577 comp.sys.ibm.pc:10513

In article <1568@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
<In article <1116@cg-atla.UUCP> mallett@cg-atla.UUCP (Bruce Mallett X5267) 
<writes:
<<I have seen a number of "MSC 4.0 for sale" articles recently.  Is this
<<really legal?  I assume that these are for sale because the owner has
<<upgraded to 5.0.  My understanding of the license is that it covers
<<that one copy and an upgrade is an enhancement to that one license.
<
<However, shrink-wrap licenses have no legal validity, therefore there
<was no license to begin with and only copyright law governs use.  If as
<a condition to obtaining a discount on version 5.0 you agreed to
<destroy all copies of version 4.0, you indeed cannot sell it legally.
<If you didn't, I see no reason why you can't sell the old version.
<
Ah, but you are not buying the new version at a discount, you are buying
an upgrade for an older version.

I developed a software product for which upgrades are free via modem.
Now if you bought my product (a Forth compiler) and took advantage of
a free upgrade, would you feel that you could give the old version away,
or sell it?  I certainly hope not!  Yet what is the difference if a company
decides to charge for the revision?  Just because you paid additional
money and get a new manual doesn't mean you have two licensed copies.
Remember these companies don't have to offer an upgrade deal at all.

Tom Almy
toma@tekgvs.TEK.COM