Piracy - another view¢---------------------¢¢I would like to start this article my¢asking a few questions.¢¢ How many of you would work for three¢months without being paid?¢¢ How many of you go into shops and¢steal what you cannot afford to buy?¢¢ I am pretty certain there is nobody¢who would answer yes to both questions.¢Then WHY do so many people pirate¢computer games? If you do, you ARE¢stealing AND you ARE depriving the¢programmers of their livelyhoods.¢ I have heard several stories of user¢groups and individuals being raided by¢FAST (Federation Against Software¢Theft). If you are caught with pirated¢software and cannot show you have the¢originals all your hardware and¢software will be confiscated and you¢cannot get it back unless you want to¢be prosecuted for which the penalties¢are up to 400 pounds per pirated title.¢ Many people agree piracy is wrong but¢still do it anyway claiming software is¢no longer available. This may be so but¢it is still illegal and the penalties¢are just as severe.¢ As to the claims that piracy saved the¢8-bit, pathetic. The 8-bits are¢struggling for survival. Many companies¢simply stopped producing new games¢because piracy was so rife denying the¢decent law abiding citizens the chance¢to play many games such as Mr Do's¢Castle, The Last Starfighter and many¢many more. I have heard there are¢several new games about to be released¢by Alternative Software. If indeed this¢is true then unless they are bought in¢large numbers no more will be forth¢coming. I urge all 8-bit users to buy¢at least one of them, this way we can¢hopefully encourage them to produce¢more. If the games are really good¢write to Alternative and say so, but¢please, please DO NOT pirate them. We¢must give them our support.¢ As to the claims that games were too¢expensive, well it was true they were¢expensive but now most games can be¢bought for around six or seven pounds,¢many for much less. I myself have a¢collection of about 200 games that I¢have built up over the past six years¢and ALL are originals and I have been¢at school and university for most of¢that time so I haven't been rolling in¢money.¢ If you do have an original piece of¢software then I believe it is only fair¢you be allowed to make a back up for¢your own personal use just in case of¢damage to your original. It's just the¢same with tapes being converted to¢disk. So long as you have the original¢and do not pass copies on to others¢then I see nothing wrong in it. I am¢not too sure about the legal standing¢of this but I'm sure any decent¢software company understands the need¢for a back up just so long as their¢programs are not ripped off.¢ Whether this article will make any¢difference I do not know but let's hope¢so. Destroy any pirate copies you have¢and buy as many originals as you can¢afford. If you cannot afford a game¢then save up, and let's hope we see a¢massive revival in the Atari 8-bit¢machines. WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN......¢¢Ricky G.¢
