Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ncis.tis.llnl.gov!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!lynx.northeastern.edu!davidbrierley From: davidbrierley@lynx.northeastern.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Borrowing Software Message-ID: Date: 21 May 89 22:38:24 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 23 I think borrowing software is a great idea in deciding whether or not to buy it (as long as you don't make your own copy). Unfortunately the software publishers of the United States don't think so. They have spent quite a bit of money lobbying Senator Hatch to create a bill that makes any and all borrowing of recorded media (computer disks, cassette tapes, etc.) illegal. (And I always thought that conservatives like Hatch opposed "big government" legislation - I suppose Hatch needs the software publishers' campaign contributions more than the contributions of his constituents.) I don't know when this bill is scheduled for debate/voting - I think it is still in committee. I find it disappointing that software publishers (probably not all of them) have thought it better to spend money on lobbying to create laws against consumers instead of adding to the funds for customer support of their products. Perhaps its time to create legislation for the direct benefit of sotware users, like requiring software publishers that have substantial numbers of a product in circulation to have toll-free numbers for customer support. Too bad the software users don't have enough lobbying funds as the publishers do! davidbrierley@lynx.northeastern.edu