Author: Fernando Villegas
Date: 13:38:31 07/25/98
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Bob: Just one thing more to add to this already too long but neccesary discussion. You have proved beyond doubt -nobody had the doubt anyway-that to share even ocassionally a software is illegal. OK, I accept that. Nevertheless, not always illegal is equal to larceny ofr stealing. Even happens that sometimes you can steal legally. American native indians were deprived of his land with one legal act after another and then, when eventually they tried to recover some, they were described as thieves, murderers, etc, and crushed like rats. Many times legality covers the most unfamous stealing, murder and unmorality. That's the reason why in some cases we consider an act legally described as larceny as the contrary of it. Robin Hood -if you forgive me this example- is a case. I am not Robin Hood nor I pretend to be one, but When I had very occasionally shared a program with somebody of my very near environment, although knowing that is illegal, I have not felt to be stealing as much, in my humble opinion, the price that software producers charge for his products is 9 times of ten a clear abuse. Even so I buy all -just take a look at my Visa card or ask steve Schwartz or Bert seifritz, etc- but then at leats I give my self certain limite right to put things in more fair terms when they are not fair. Let us say all this in other way: You steal when you get something from other guy against his will, but is not so clear that you are stealing if you get once in 100 times something for free from a guy that is 99 in 100 times getting something a lot bigger from you, making use of your neccesity and his position as supplier of it. You can say "then don't use it", but you know very well not always are you in position to do that. Clearly, this is the kind of situations where you try to balance up the things. Economic damage? Yes, but not neccesarily against the producers. Have you thought the damage customers take all the time from too high priced software? When you see so many excellent programs priced at 10 or 15 dollars, many times equally good or better than other priced ten times more expensively, you slowly gets a feeling that no matter what the print legend say in the box, the common customer,not the one protected by the funds of an organizacion, is all the time abused under the pretense of "search and development investment". You, as a software developer, know very well that fairness is not the motto in the mouth of great software producers and even many times neither in little ones. Then, again, in the context of this global setup of things, to share once or twice in your life an old program is so an slight balacing of things that it cannot and it should not to be considered so lightly and harsly as sheer larceny like going to the grocery and take the money with a pistol. . Fernando
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