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From: shawn@pnet51.cts.com (Shawn Stanley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Pirating again....
Message-ID: <778@orbit.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jun 89 23:05:11 GMT
Sender: root@orbit.UUCP
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.
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V133JR65@UBVMSC.CC.BUFFALO.EDU ("J.WIXSON") writes:
>Anyway, for the
>most part the sysops do NOT MAKE money on these systems.  At the most a sysop
>will break even with his original cost of a hard drive (lately pirated //e
>programs have been up to 8 sides) because you need space plus the cost of a high speed modem and usually a Thunderclock and extended RAM.  This is usually made up thru a ONE time fee when a person becomes a member of your system.  I didn't
>even come close to what I invested in my system, however it was worth it because I received tons of free programs (many before they were even released in stores), was able to talk free of charge to elite user/hackers all over the US and 
>gained invaluable experience in programing and system design.

Not everyone uses an Apple II for pirating.  But the pirate sysops that I know
had their systems purchased by their parents, and they made enough money from
the use of the system to expand the storage and buy other things.  You might
call it re-investment, but they were far from "in the hole".

>I have better things to use my computer for.  For obvious reasons I'm not 
>going to name individuals, but I knew many of the best crackers on the //e, not
>one every made a dollar from it.  Most simply worked in software warehouses and had access to the programs free of charge.  Rumors that programs are stolen are
>simply not true.  I hope I've shed some light on the subject to the few people \that seemed interested.

Far from it.  If the programs weren't stolen, then why not name names if you
don't think they've done anything wrong?

I suppose if you believe that all software should be free, then they did
nothing wrong, and neither did the people that accepted the software. 
However, keep in mind that even if people like you eventually make it
impossible to make a buck on software development and all that's left is free
software, you still get what you pay for.

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