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- Path: sparky!uunet!caen!mtu.edu!mtus5!jjmcwill
- Organization: Computing Technology Services, Michigan Technological Univ.
- Date: Monday, 27 Jul 1992 16:31:10 EST
- From: Jeff McWilliams <JJMCWILL@MTUS5.BITNET>
- Message-ID: <92209.163110JJMCWILL@MTUS5.BITNET>
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
- Subject: Re: Pirated software
- References: <2125@devnull.mpd.tandem.com>
- Lines: 53
-
- Jerry,
-
-
- Your "try before you buy" method may seem to be a legitimate reason for
- obtaining copyrighted software, but unfortunately it's a rule that gets abused
- I think more often than not. There was a time when a company existed where you
- could rent Atari software. I think it was based out in California. For a
- small fee, then would send you the disk and a XEROX of the docs (so that you
- don't destroy their originals).
- My brother did this, and quite cheaply obtained his own pirated copies
- of 4 or 5 programs. Ideally, I am sure the business was set up so that
- you could try the software, and then if you really like it, you buy
- a version for yourself. But since it's so easy to abuse such a practice,
- it was, from my direct experience anyway.
-
- Further, if you would allow me to push the reality envelope a little wider
- than usual, who says what the trial time for a piece of software is?
- One week, two weeks, a month? If you're buying an arcade game, you could
- very easily solve that game in the alotted trial time, and then you would have
- no incentive to purchase the program. In such a case, you can't really
- say the program was bad, because it did provide you the entertainment
- that the company promised it would provide. But all of a sudden you've found
- a somewhat legitimate excuse for not buying that program. Or, if everyone
- "borrowed" the program on a trial basis, a company could go out of business
- waiting for people to decide whether or not to purchase the thing.
-
- Invoking a "try before you buy" enters you into a horribly grey area,
- where many things can happen, from honest people actually purchasing the
- software they like, and discarding the software they don't, to people
- coming up with reasons to keep the trial program while not purchasing
- the real product.
-
- Not to flame you of course, just to point out some negative aspects of
- the theory. It would be great if everyone had a dealer or user group
- near them, because then the "Try before you buy" rule could be carried out
- in the store or at a meeting. You go and see the product, maybe play a quick
- game or look at an application's features quickly, and if you like it, you
- but it, and if you don't like it, you don't. There would be no piracy involved
- either way.
- Unfortunately, everyone knows dealers aren't to be found, and even user
- groups are getting scarce.
-
- That's where product reviews come in. It's supposed to be the job of the
- product reviewer to explain as clearly as possible how the product works,
- what is good and bad about it, etcetera, so that from that review you can
- make a purchase decision without having to resort to obtaining a pirated
- copy simply for trial purposes. Hopefully, within the next several
- months, you will see the emergence of Atari Classics, and be able to look
- forward to well written reviews of software and hardware for your computer.
-
-
- Jeff McWilliams
- jjmcwill@mtus5.cts.mtu.edu
-