12/1/1980 Warning! The piracy problemYour articles on software piracy were very much to the point. An alternative seen by some software producers is to include a piece of hardware in the product so that copies of the software will not run without the hardware. The hardware might not be needed except to prevent piracy, so this obviously increases the price of the software. This increased cost would be needless if it weren't for the piracy problem. Piracy is not confined to the microcomputer industry. Both the mainframe and minicomputer industries have been plagued by this problem. Their main solution has been to license the software rather than sell it, but this is not practical with the low cost of micro software. It's practical to take legal action against a corporation for a software package costing $1,000 or more per copy, but not against an individual for a package costing $100 or less. The best action is probably as you have started—educate the dealers. If they understand that they are hurting their future business by reducing the incentive for software development, and they in turn educate their customers in this regard, then the problem will be significantly reduced. Perhaps an industry standard warning form should be packed with each software package shipped, stressing these points rather than the legalities of the situation. Anyway, keep up the good work.
Dan Paymar, Durango, CO - V1N4 Comments are closed.
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