Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!mattd
From: mattd@Apple.COM (Matt Deatherage)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Piracy
Message-ID: <31035@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 18 May 89 17:36:01 GMT
References: <113300063@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 46

In article <113300063@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> krb20699@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>     Accepting a pirated copy of some piece of software doesn't make you
>an indecent human being, it only reflects your opinion: whether the
>designer's deserve the cost of the software, whether your $49.95 really
>makes a difference to the sum, etc., etc..  I don't condone piracy, but
>I don't hate people who do.
>							Ken
>						krb20699@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu

I disagree.  If you believe the designers don't deserve the asking price
of a particular piece of software, then don't pay it.  But don't steal their
program, accepting the labors of their work for X months or years, then
dismissing their right to compensation with "It's not worth it."

It's like walking into a bookstore and reading an entire magazine, then putting
it down and saying "That's not worth $2."  Most of us don't have $100+ per
shot to throw away on programs that don't suit our needs.  In days where
software costs, especially for productivity software, keep rising (software
costs are *usually* based on the cost to produce the program, not on the
"perceived value" of the program, although there are exceptions), informed
choices are necessary to make sure the programs you buy suit your needs.  So
look at demos, and talk to other people, and read reviews.  But don't steal
a copy and use it and then say "it's not worth it."

And I don't want to start a huge debate about whether piracy is stealing or
not.  You are taking something that is copyrighted and offered for sale
without paying the copyright holders the compensation they have, as holders
of the copyright, asked for.  This, in my book, technicalities notwithstanding
is stealing.

I'm also one of those people who believes that you shouldn't do things like
break traffic laws or cheat other people -- not because I know I'll be punished
if I get caught, but because it's *wrong* to do them.

Standard disclaimers apply, probably more than ever.

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