🚀 go-pugleaf

ashing@milton.u.washington.edu (Al Shing) writes:

>The value of a book is the contents of the book, not the book itself. 
>If a book is loaned to someone, and that person reads the book without 
>buying it, then he has received the full use of the book.  In this case, 
>two people have had the full usage of the book - the original purchaser, and 
>the person to whom the book was loaned.  The copyright holder only received 
>money for only one usage.  

>In loaning out a book, one still retains the plot or knowledge of what was in
>the book.  Whether or not the original copy is retained does not change this.

I don't think your argument works for reference books.  They are
intended to be used over and over - just like software.  When you loan
your dictionary to a friend, you cannot use it.  The same should apply
to software.

>Another bone of contention is the one copy per CPU policy, which is analogous
>to saying that if you buy a video tape, you can only watch it on one VCR, or
>if you read a book at home, or on a bus, or at work, you need a separate copy
>for each place.  The latter is not the case, so why is the former the case?

I agree with you there.  That's one think I like about Borland's license
agreements.  They don't care how many machines it's on or how many use it
- as long as it is never used concurrently.  Microsoft now allows you to
put your software on more than one machine.  However, you must have the
license card with you when you are using it.  That seems fair to me, but
I wish the card was wallet sized.

--
Marshall L. Buhl, Jr.                EMAIL: marshall@seri.gov
Senior Computer Missionary           VOICE: (303)231-1014
Wind Research Branch                 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO  80401-3393
Solar Energy Research Institute      Solar - safe energy for a healthy future