Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL From: SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: BIG loophole allows piracy... Message-ID: <8903302233.aa22038@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> Date: 31 Mar 89 01:51:40 GMT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 33 >Now does this mean that any copying done before then is exempt, since >after-the- >fact legislation is frowned upon? If this is the case, there will be much "frowned upon" ???? The Constitution specifically prohibits retroactive application of laws. >copying until May 17... IF the notion is that the Constitution limits state liability for copyright violation, then a simple act of Congress may not be sufficient to alter the situation (Congress can't rewrite the Constitution by itself). HOWEVER, before anyone working for a university gets carried away, the fact that a state may not be REQUIRED to honor copyright (means essentially that copyright holders are unable to prosecute under FEDERAL law), many (most?) states have taken the official position that they will not violate copyright (Connecticut I KNOW has done so). Hence, if you disregard copyright you may yet find there are applicable state civil and administrative penalties as unpleasant as civil penalties provided under Federal copyright acts (quite apart from the moral fallacy in assuming anyone is free to commit any act that isn't strictly illegal). Murph Sewall Vaporware? ---> [Gary Larson returns 1/1/90] Prof. of Marketing Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET Business School sewall%uconnvm.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu [INTERNET] U of Connecticut {psuvax1 or mcvax }!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL [UUCP] -+- I don't speak for my employer, though I frequently wish that I could (subject to change without notice; void where prohibited) According to the American Facsimile Association, more than half the calls from Japan to the U.S. are fax calls. FAX it to me at: 1-203-486-5246