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From: merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant)
Newsgroups: net.jokes.d
Subject: Re: more dave barry
Message-ID: <3648@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 1-Oct-85 18:13:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.3648
Posted: Tue Oct  1 18:13:15 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 4-Oct-85 03:17:56 EDT
References: <421@npois.UUCP> <429@looking.UUCP>
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 34

> Many of you people write software for your employers as your way of making
> a living.  Let's say you wrote a nice compiler.  Now say somebody came up to
> you and said, "hey do you mind if we take this compiler you wrote and
> copy it around hundreds of universities?"  You might then say, "It's not
> mine to give away, but if it were, this would be alright by me."
> 
> Would this make the copying legitimate?  What would your employer think?
> 
> This is exactly the same sort of situation, except for the fact that compilers
> cost more and have fewer total customers.
> 
> -- 
> Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473

Is it?  I've never been able to figure this one out.

Is printed matter and software the same thing?  Do they have different laws
governing them?

The interesting thing that someone brought up around here has to do with
damage.  If you buy a book and spill your morning coffee on it, you utter
some good words of profanity but that's about it.  I've never seen anyone
commenting about making "back-up copies" of books.

Of course, what lots of software companies do is not sell you software,
but LEASE it!  I just went and bought ThinkTank 512 for the Mac.  It has
this amusing line about how every ThinkTank product is licensed to the
person who buys it, implying that it is NOT sold.

Now, if I actually BOUGHT ThinkTank 512, would that give me the right to
make copies for my use?  What's the deal with that?  Any budding lawyers
have an idea?  Should this go over to net.law?
--
"I'm ready to play today"                       Peter Merchant