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Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mit-eddie!ll-xn!husc6!ut-sally!im4u!speegle
From: speegle@im4u.UUCP (Greg Speegle)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Software (and other kinds of) copying
Summary: The price is the thing
Keywords: technology changes things
Message-ID: <2519@im4u.UUCP>
Date: 21 Jan 88 14:37:39 GMT
References: <8055@g.ms.uky.edu> <174@piring.cwi.nl> <39450@sun.uucp>
Reply-To: speegle@im4u.UUCP (Greg Speegle)
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 25

I'm new to this discussion so this maybe an old answer, but I think that
part of the problem is the cost of the software. Suppose someone wants the 
new hot shot program "Foo Bars Baz", but doesn't feel like it is worth
$50,$100, or $500, so he waits and hopes the price will come down. Then
someone he knows offers to copy it for him. What does he do? He wants the
software, would really rather buy it, but here it is free and easy. 
The odds are very high that he will have it copied and go on. Now what
would have happened if the software had originally cost only $10? The 
person would have probably bought it when he first saw it. I have no 
idea if any software product could turn a profit at $10 a pop, but the 
high prices of software are a contributing factor. For example, nobody
ever copies something out of a $3 paperback, but many $50 textbooks 
have parts copied out of them all the time. I feel like most people are
basically honest (Were did I get the rose colored glasses? :-) ) and 
will buy things and pay the appropriate price, if the price is what
they consider to be reasonable. 

Of course, even if I'm right, I don't know a good solution. I hope
that software houses aren't making obscene profits on their stuff,
so I would think that lowering the price would be almost impossible.
Oh well, at least this can be food for thought.

Greg Speegle 
-- 
{seismo,ihnp4,pyramid}!ut-sally!speegle		speegle@sally.utexas.edu