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From: jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.misc
Subject: Re: Software Development And Piracy (Spurred By FTL replies)
Message-ID: <5531@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 20 Dec 88 04:15:08 GMT
References: <3121@sugar.uu.net> <2854@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Reply-To: jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup)
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 42

In article <2854@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu> lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Greg Lee) writes:
>From article <3121@sugar.uu.net>, by peter@sugar.uu.net (Peter da Silva):
>"In article <2850@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>, lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Greg Lee)
>"writes another pseudo-libertarian defence of piracy.
>" 
>" Let me put this into libertarian terms.
>" 
>" Look, Lee, when you "buy" software you are entering into a contract with the
>" seller. The terms of this contract are more or less: you get the right to use
>"...
>
>A very nice well reasoned argument.  And for those cases where a
>contract actually is executed between buyer and seller, and the buyer
>breaks the contract by selling or giving the software to a third party,
>I agree, he has done something wrong, as well as illegal.

And he goes on to say how he never entered into a contract.

	Greg, you miss the point.  He was translating the current legal
situation into a hypothetical libertarian society, and showing that the same
effect could exist in a libertarian society.  If you haven't noticed, we
don't live in anything close to a libertarian society.

	Peter's point was that the current copyright laws we live under, and
are supposed to abide by, are the _equivalent_ to a contract in a libertarian
society, in which you agree not to redistribute the item in question.

	In our society, there is no need of a contract for it to be illegal
(and immoral) for you to copy software you have purchased, unless you get
_explicit_ permission from the copyright holder.  If we lived in this hypo-
thetical libertarian society, you can bet that most software developers
(and perhaps book writers, and musicians, etc) would demand a contract 
before giving you a copy of their work.

>A software pirate doesn't break any contract by making copies and using
>them, does he?  What contract?  Where?

	Read the above.  He breaks plenty of laws instead.

-- 
You've heard of CATS? Well, I'm a member of DOGS: Developers Of Great Software.
Randell Jesup, Commodore Engineering {uunet|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!jesup