Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!noao!stsci!itkin
From: itkin@stsci.EDU (Elliot Itkin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: About Software Piracy! (software that bites back)
Message-ID: <192@mithras>
Date: 11 Jan 88 21:17:35 GMT
References: <2308@crash.cts.com> <4362@garfield.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218
Lines: 26


Concerning dongle required software that destroys itself (or more):

1)  If it destroyed more than itself, the company may be liable for damages.
2)  What about the poor guy who forgot to put in his dongle?
3)  Or someone like me, with a 2.5 year-old who can't stay away from my
computer while I'm at work, who slightly jars it so a pin or two is un-
connected that I don't notice.

Wouldn't it be better for the software merely to say,  "Unauthorized
use, no dongle" and stop executing?

POINT:

A lot of piracy will go away when the Amiga becomes primarily an 
end-user product.  Most end-users do not want to play with copying
etc.  They go to the computer store, buy the H/W and S/W that does what
they want. They don't know about clubs, BBS's, networks, etc.  After 
all, imagine you just spent $3000 for a machine.  You will use that
machine to make $10,000 a month.  How much effort will you go to to
save $50 on software?  And that's assuming they even know they can.
-- 
Elliot S. Itkin       Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218
                      UUCP:   {arizona,decvax,hao,ihnp4}!noao!stsci!itkin
                      ARPA:   itkin@stsci.edu
                      SPAN:   {SCIVAX,KEPLER}::ITKIN