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Subject: Re: The importance of being earnest

Author: Enrique Irazoqui

Date: 02:39:01 07/22/98

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On July 21, 1998 at 22:48:24, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On July 21, 1998 at 15:45:55, Enrique Irazoqui wrote:
>
>>All my software is legal. All my chess software is so legal that was sent to me
>>by the manufacturers themselves. No theft involved of any kind, thank you very
>>much.
>>
>>The example I gave had to do with using the same copy of an operating system on
>>several computers I have (also legal=bought).
>>
>>Enrique
>
>maybe I'm the exception then.  Because I have a copy of *everything* I use.  I
>have win95 on this notebook dual-booted with linux.  I have win95 on my wife's
>machine here at the house.  And I have win95 on another notebook she uses (it
>is ours personally as well) and I can produce 3 copies of win95 CD's with the
>original Microsoft Hologram logo on the cases.  Ditto for *every* piece of
>software I use.  From microsoft office on two machines, with two CD's here,
>to a host of crap sent to me with my P6/200 gateway.

It makes me feel so awful... I have 3 copies of Windows 95 and 4 computers
running it. One of Windows 98 installed in one computer. How sinful can I be by
not following the rules!

My consolation: from 1920 to 1933, the Ulysses of Joyce was prohibited in the US
because of its “obscene” contents. Anyone buying it was breaking the law and
some were prosecuted for selling illegal stuff. Now the Ulysses is considered by
most as the greatest novel written in English in the last 100 years and it is
taught in all Universities, where they laugh at the stupidity of those times.
Laws, morals, personal decisions. To a great extent we are not talking laws and
going by the book, but about how to behave when something is perceived as
absurd.

>At UAB, we are *required* to maintain careful software inventories and be
>*certain* that if we have 10 copies of a piece of software on 10 computers,
>that we have *10* licenses for that software on file in my office (I am our
>lab director here).  It's a pain to keep up with, but we do so.  And we do
>*not* copy without paying the license fees (we have hundreds of "site-licenses"
>where we can copy a CD ourselves, and forward a small license fee to the vendor
>due to the large volume we do here.  But it is 100% backed up by paperwork.
>
>I find the cavalier attitude about software piracy to be quite surprising here.

You make it sound as if I were in favor of piracy. I said the opposite many
times. As a rule with, as usual, a gateway. For instance: I have a copy of Rebel
8 installed in all my computers. I also installed it on the Toshiba of my 11
years old son, machine that I never use. Is that a reason for buying a new copy?
It would feel ridiculous to me, probably also to Ed, so I didn't.

>As though it's the same as taking a book of matches from a hotel bar.  Even
>though the matchbook is worth $.02 and was given away by the hotel, while the
>software was worth much more and was restricted to one user.  Another sign of
>gross moral decay in the world I suppose...

Nothing new under the sun. People not going necessarily by the book have always
been around, often as a breath of fresh air. Inquisitors too, passing moral
judgements on others while in favor of tearing people apart...

Enrique



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