15 Apr
2003
15 Apr
'03
12:58 p.m.
if somebody takes offense at what they are doing.
and let them know they can get a criminal records, do
jail time
and receive millions in fines if somebody takes offense at what
they are doing.
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/reporting/
http://www.bsa.org/
http://www.spa.org/
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/ip.html
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/ob/OBMain.htm
Also note, there was recently a request for information from a
country which the US has economic sanctions against.
http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/t11iran.pdf
Perkin-Elmer equipment might have "dual use" applications.
At 06:35 PM 4/15/03 -0500, you wrote:
On Mon, 2003-03-10 at 16:46, Lawrence Walker wrote:
Why does this legalistic crap with high moral
tone
forever come up on the list. For the most part almost
all old computer collectors are using programs illegally.
<snip>
a thousand others sitting on a program which they
won't
put into public domain due to not giving a shit about the
end user.
I usually take the extremely legalistic point of view to highlight to
people that the current system of copyright is broken, and only getting
more so to protect the interests of a few.
Whenever I catch somebody I know doing something that is technically
illegal I point out this fact most strenuous and let them know they can
get a criminal records, do jail time and receive millions in fines if
somebody takes offense at what they are doing. I will then suggest that
if they think this is wrong they should contact their representative and
suggest things be changed.
Most shrug, figure I'm a kook (probably right) and don't do a damn thing
... this is why things won't change.
Why is there not an similar outcry about
companies like
Lotus or Borland that put out products that were obsoleted
<snip>
companies it's tit for tat. Apple and a few
others do the
decent thing but they are the exceptions not the rule.
Borland has released some of their old dos compilers on their community
site, so I would not knock them too much. They sold off the rights to
many of their applications so I would not expect them to release them to
the public.
I'm hoping that the shareware type idea will come back with the rise of
open-source software creating new niches, and the big software companies
charging for support & updates. You don't want support, the software is
free, but if you want somebody to answer questions, you need to pay the
author something.
Regards,
Paul