Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!ut-sally!husc6!husc4!hadeishi From: hadeishi@husc4.HARVARD.EDU (mitsuharu hadeishi) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Copy protection: boycott it! Message-ID: <2470@husc6.UUCP> Date: Mon, 6-Jul-87 13:53:37 EDT Article-I.D.: husc6.2470 Posted: Mon Jul 6 13:53:37 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 7-Jul-87 06:03:33 EDT References: <4826@sgi.SGI.COM> <4238@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> <640@nis.NIS.MN.ORG> <4259@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> Sender: news@husc6.UUCP Reply-To: hadeishi@husc4.UUCP (mitsuharu hadeishi) Organization: Harvard Univ. Science Center Lines: 66 Keywords: piracy, copy protection, bungled burglary Summary: Disagree In article <4259@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer) writes: >Very small? Gee, that's odd. As long as I avoid companies that sell >games as the bulk of their products, I don't have problems with things >being copy protected. But I tend to stay with programmers & CLI tools, >and not business applications and games. That's fine for you (and me) Mike, but if you are interested in getting software out to the masses, which I am, then I'm afraid we're all going to have to live with copy protection. In order for large-scale projects such as the ones envisioned by the consumer software companies to get off the ground, some type of copy deterrent is going to be required, or the consumer software industry could not survive. And I feel it is necessary for these kinds of products to get out there, and for the companies that market them to stay in business. Of course exorbitant prices for software tools is abhorrent, but I find that much more abhorrent than copy protection per se. I often use copy protected software (games) and I am satisfied with them. Companies such as Borland and Electronic Arts make their tools available on a two-tier basis; the first level is a copy-protected version, and the second level is an unprotected version for a nominal fee. I think this is an effective system to both reduce illicit copying and allow users with hard disk subsystems or whatever to be able to use their products without hassle. >No, there's one other condition that will cause companies to stop copy >protecting their software. That's if nobody buys it. They'll either >stop, or go out of business. What will happen is if games are distributed without copy protection to the mass market (I exclude the Amiga from "mass market since it tends to be a hacker's machine, and there is a kind of hacker ethic which precludes illicit copying) is that the game manufacturers will be unable to stay in business because of loss of hard-earned remuneration for their work due to illicit copying. >Rather than saying "the world is lousy, so why work on making it >better," why not do the politically correct thing, and not buy copy >protected software. Besides being politically correct, it saves you >headaches (if it didn't, I'd have no beef with copy protected >software). You may get headaches from copy-protected software, but developers can lose their jobs without it. I agree that unprotected versions of tools should always be available; I wouldn't penalize a company that had such a policy just because of the "headache" of having to pay $20 more for an unprotected version. That is the utmost in selfishness (yes, to save me a little hassle I'd rather let the software companies go out of business.) The point is that we need to take care of each other, and consider other points of view than our own. Some products, such as programmer's editors, should not be copy protected. Others, such as games, should be. Those on the edge, like mass-market productivity tools, should give the buyer an option. There is nothing morally wrong with copy protection when it is necessary for the ongoing viability of a company; the user's point of view needs to be considered as well, but there shouldn't be a feeling of "US" and "THEM". Companies are vulnerable to the vagaries of the mass market, and they deserve to be protected. They also need to listen to users (thus the two-tier copy protection scheme mentioned earlier.) I think we can all agree that we want a viable, growing, vibrant software industry that produces products that are useful and responsive to user needs. I think there is a role for copy protection in maintaining and improving on this vision. -his ph