Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!purdue!decwrl!wam.UMD.EDU!russotto
From: russotto@wam.UMD.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: BIG loophole allows piracy...
Message-ID: <8904210008.AA02400@vs03csc.UMD.EDU>
Date: 21 Apr 89 00:08:32 GMT
References: <6408@bsu-cs.UUCP> <113300058@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Lines: 33

In article <113300058@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> trd10523@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>I personally don't think they should close the loophole. After all, each
>computer is not buying the program - the school is. It's not practical for
>the school to pay hundreds of dollars TIMES the number of computer they own.
>This fact is keeping the cost of tuition high and the number of computers low.
>If the school (or other institution) has that large of a software budget,
>I'd rather see them buy more different programs than pay repeatedly for one.
>
>(And yes, I know I'm going to get flak from those on the other side of the 
>fence - mainly, the members of the software industry. I know that authors
>should be paid for their work, and I wholeheartedly agree, but I don't think
>any one consumer should pay for a program more than once.)
>
>Todd Davis
>Student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>trd10523@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
>Disclaimer: They're my ideas, not UIUC's. We welcome replies to this editorial.

You overstate your case.  Schools can, (and should, in my opinion as a
programmer), buy a site license, which costs significantly less than
price*number of machines.  By your logic, GTE could buy one copy of 
a software program, and the ENTIRE ORGANIZATION could use it for the
same as the individual price.  Software is generally sold per simultaneously
running copy-- If I buy a program, I can generally use it on any number
of different machines, but only one at a time.

-- 
DISCLAIMER:  Not only does the University not share my opinions,
	     they don't want me sharing my opinions.
		"This 'Pnews', what does it do?"
	     Matthew T. Russotto
	     russotto@wam.umd.edu