It was written...
Agilent (HP) hasn't looked like a worthwhile
company for some time! Since
they changed their name at least.
Last time I checked, HP didn't change their name to anything. Agilent was a
spinoff from HP. HP is still alive and kicking.
Agilent stuff is pretty good from what I've seen. Perhaps you're mistakenly
referring to the cheap desktop stuff HP is making in the consumer products
division?
Regardless... I can definitely see a company protecting their copyright. We
as collectors should be first and foremost in honoring those copyrights, or
it will be to our detriment. Of course, then we move to working with them to
ease up on old gear... but, we should rigorously maintain their copyrights
as well. That being said, I'm hard pressed to imagine them complaining about
really old manuals for gear they haven't made in decades. But that's a moot
point - have to work inside the guidelines of the law.
Jay