Thread View: net.micro.mac
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Started by Thomas Newton
Thu, 31 Jan 1985 16:15
Re: copy protection
Author: Thomas Newton
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 1985 16:15
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 1985 16:15
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Claiming that copy-protection is equivalent to "buzzer-gizmos" on shirts is
patently bogus. The "buzzer-gizmos" come off after you buy a shirt, and do
not then interfere with the normal use of the shirt. Copy-protection *does*
interfere with the normal use of a piece of software, because it
(1) Prevents the user from making backups
The section of the U. S. Copyright Law that protects
software explicitly states that it is legal for the
purchaser of a piece of software to make backup and
archival copies for his/her own use.
(2) Makes it *extremely* risky for the user to customize his/
her working disk (since the working disk IS the original,
you can't afford to take chances and customize the menus,
install new DAs using some buggy utility like ResEdit or
RMover, install a RAMDisk in the system file, etc.)
How often do people want to backup and customize their Mac software? I keep
backups of all the major programs I have purchased that aren't copy-protected
(MacWrite/MacPaint, Microsoft BASIC, MacTerminal, etc.) and of the protected
programs that I have been able to backup. I have also customized several of
the programs that I normally use:
1) The version of MacTerminal on which I am typing this bboard
post has a modified version of the "standard" MacTerminal font
that I find much more readable. The MacTerminal documents which
I normally use contain resources to make the OPTION key act like
the COMMAND key, and to make the "~" character easier to type.
2) The version of MacPaint which I normally use has command keys
corresponding to *every* menu item. The most useful new keys
are the ones corresponding to the "invert" command and various
"flip" commands -- since I don't need to move the mouse out of
the drawing window to invoke them.
3) My System files contain various assortments of fonts and DAs.
If I think that installing a particular DA could be risky, I
install it on a backup of the disk, then move the changes back.
I barely tolerate copy-protection on games. I absolutely will not tolerate
it on utility/development software -- all of the people marketing protected
C compilers can forget about ever getting my money.
-- Thomas Newton
Thomas.Newton@cmu-cs-spice.ARPA
Re: copy protection
Author: J. Shapiro
Date: Sat, 09 Feb 1985 10:23
Date: Sat, 09 Feb 1985 10:23
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[Aren't you hungry...?] My biggest gripe about copy protection is that it makes consolidating backups difficult. Copy protection schemes like that used by Manx software (a scratch on the disk) are ok in that even if the disk goes bad the scratch is still present, they provide *two* key disks, and they will replace a bad one free of charge. (They also set it up so that you only need the key disk at startup/reboot). I have yet to meet any scheme that Copy II Mac won't beat. My major complaint is the cost of my archive copies. I have $175 worth of disks on my desk (at $35 a box), and that is just too damn many to be screwing around trying to consolidate copy protected software (a dubious practice at best). I know computing is expensive, but why make it worse than it need be? Jon Shapiro Haverford College
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