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From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: all copy protection (relative worth)
Message-ID: <23478@sun.uucp>
Date: Tue, 14-Jul-87 20:52:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: sun.23478
Posted: Tue Jul 14 20:52:22 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Jul-87 01:37:24 EDT
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Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 28

Many times in the discussion of programs and pirating this statement (in one
form or another) appears :

  "I copied program FOO because it wasn't worth X dollars."

When someone says this to me, I ask them the following question :

A) Could you write this program yourself ?

   If the answer is "No" then already you have exposed the lie, since there
   would have been no other way in the world to get this program except from
   the person who wrote it, then you are at their mercy as far as price goes.
   If you think it is to much, you can convince a friend who can program to 
   do it for you instead, which comes to ...
   If the answer is "Yes" then why don't you write it? Which usually is 
   answered "I don't have a week to figure out how  to write the damn thing."
   Which I counter with how much do you make in a week? That is what it's 
   worth should be. If you are continuing from #1 above then ask your friend
   how much they will charge you for the service. That becomes the relative
   worth.

Relative worth is a difficult and complicated issue, think about the time
invested in a product (even if it appears insufficent) and consider what 
that time is worth to you. It is much easier to just pirate it but theives
are like that. 
--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.