Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!husc6!m2c!wpi!dseah
From: dseah@wpi.wpi.edu (David I Seah)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: RE:Piracy
Keywords: situation makes difference?
Message-ID: <2332@wpi.wpi.edu>
Date: 18 May 89 23:28:42 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.
Lines: 29

I think the original posting on piracy indicated a general inability of the
poster to get original software, because of the small Apple market in Canada. 

If you lived outside the United States, piracy might seem less of a crime and
more of a necessity.  Do mail order houses in the States accept orders from
Mexico, Korea, or Sweden?  If they do, do you need to have funds drawable
from a US bank?  Suppose you don't know.  Well, you could call the mail order
house here in the states, get put on hold, ask your question, and only spend
about 25 cents a SECOND for the call.  Oh, they don't take foreign orders? 
Scratch one fifteen dollar phone call.  How do you even know what is the
latest version of a particular program?  If you aren't lucky enough to be on
internet or bitnet, magazines take about a month or two to reach other
countries.  What about support?  What if your original disk gets fried?  Ship
it back with insurance by airmail...very expensive.  Or send it seamail, which
itself can take months.  What if the program gets to you and you find it's the
wrong version?  Or it doesn't work?  Or customs holds it for a few weeks? 
What happened?  Do you make another $15.00 phone call to the mail order house?

If you are originally from the States, you will probably know people here, and
can get them to send you software...if they are well informed about your
particular computer.  Should you let them order it and hope they got the order
right?

So what would be the practical (not moral or ethical) action to take?  Try to
get original software, or just copy someone elses copy and be on your own?
Is piracy justifiable in this case?  Buying software is so convenient here in
the States, but what about Out There?

Dave Seah (dseah@wpi.wpi.edu)