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From: bcw@rti.UUCP (Bruce Wright)
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
Message-ID: <2003@rti.UUCP>
Date: 2 Feb 88 04:20:57 GMT
References: <229@wright.EDU> <9371@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>
Organization: Research Triangle Institute, RTP, NC
Lines: 21
Summary: An observation

In article <9371@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>, oconnor@sunray.steinmetz (Dennis M. O'Connor) writes:
> An article by olsen@ll-xn.UUCP (Jim Olsen) says:
> <Unauthorized copying is not theft: ...
> Sorry, it is a form of theft. As shall be demonstrated.
>  ...

I have a hard time taking the "there is no such thing as intellectual property"
people seriously, because of one simple observation:

Before the days of personal computers and software for them, I don't _ever_
recall hearing _serious_ discussions about whether intellectual property
(as in copyrights for books, records, etc;  or patents for objects/processes)
_existed_ - though I do recall discussion about how long such things ought to
run and what was covered by them.

It is therefore hard for me to believe that this "philosophy" is motivated by
anything more than rationalization.

This is not necessarily an opinion, just an observation.

					Bruce C. Wright