Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!pacbell!att-ih!ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!clio!berger
From: berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: Firmware Piracy
Message-ID: <18600042@clio>
Date: 18 Mar 88 22:50:00 GMT
References: <1167@percival.UUCP>
Lines: 19
Nf-ID: #R:percival.UUCP:1167:clio:18600042:000:801
Nf-From: clio.las.uiuc.edu!berger    Mar 18 16:50:00 1988


You bring up an interesting point, but I don't think it's so clear cut.
Firmware updates frequently do nothing but fix problems.  Do you
consider it ethical to copy firmware in that case?  Or do you insist
that we're stuck with the products we buy, despite their faults, while
people who order the same item a week later pay the same price and
get a more error-free unit?

Why should the company object to having their modems upgraded in
the field, unless the upgrade is a high-profit item for them?
I was under the impression that the upgraded ROMs were a
convenience, and not a part of the general product line.

			Mike Berger
			Department of Statistics 
			Science, Technology, and Society
			University of Illinois 

			berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu
			{ihnp4 | convex | pur-ee}!uiucuxc!clio!berger