🚀 go-pugleaf

Frank Rahmani writes:

       "Just as there are two opposing sides to your
character, as shown by your two postings (one very friendly,
the other full of name-calling), there are also two opposing
aspects to software piracy."
----

    Any STer who is isolated will be very grateful to the
gracious aid given by other STers on this net.  I suppose
this is, as Frank says, my friendly side.  I will admit to
another side, one of indignation when I see those taken
advantage of by, and here comes the name calling, thieves,
'slime', and 'scum bags'.
    The language is harsh but it is purposeful.  The term
PIRATE denotes adventure, challenge, and to a child, fun on
the high seas as ships are  conquered and booty taken.
    When I see my developer friends spending agonizing
months on software projects, it does bring up my other side
when I see their work stolen.   Piracy?  Nay.  It is theft.
It is stealing.  It is pure moral degeneration  especially
when it is accepted by society as a whole.
    Perhaps users who enjoy stealing software fail to
appreciate the significance of software.  Without algorithms,
routines in ROMs, and programs, then a computer will not
work.  Software is a part of the computer.  It should not be
considered any different than the printer, disk drive, or
monitor.  Software is part of the equipment.  A purist will
cringe at that statement but philosophically, the statement
is correct.
    As Frank says, piracy will always be with us.  So also
will be crooks,  thieves, and those who will rip another
person off.  Solution?  I just don't know.  I liked the
earlier suggestion of a registration card on the outside of
the software package.  It would take a lot of work to get
that to work, though.
    Software rental could help on the low profits.  Instead
of fighting rental firms, have a royalty fee similar to video
tapes.  Why not?
    At any rate, attacking software stealing on a moral
basis will never work.  Someway, there needs to be a physical
solution or we who choose to buy will just have to wait a
little longer as prices rise to make up for the stolen
software.
    Here's something for science fiction buffs.  When
physical cloning becomes possible in the far (??) future,
imagine what happens when Joe User can buy a cloning device
so that he can clone his disk drive, his computer, his
monitor.  Push a button and there it is.  A backup disk
drive.  A backup monitor.
    His Uncle Bob needs an RGB monitor but doesn't have the
money.  The molecular code is available on Joe User's disk.
He downloads the code,  installs it in his cloner, and
presto.  He has an RGB monitor.
    Is the above ridiculous?  Is it piracy or is it
stealing?

Larry Rymal <Z4648252@SFAUSTIN.BITNET>