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irateplatypus · 01-23-2005, 03:02 PM

i think that, given how many people this effects and its widespread ramifications, there should be a settled legal policy on this that is easily understood/enforced. there is too much confusion... especially if people are going to be prosecuted for it.

personally, i think that people should be allowed to have a working copy of the software for as long as they care to use it. the physical medium in which the software is transferred is worth nothing next to the expense of the purchase. therefore, it seems reasonable to me that the purchaser is indeed buying the intellectual property contained in the data... not just the materials (which have neglible independent worth). if the medium the distributor chooses is inadequate for long term storage of the consumer's purchase, then allowances should be made for the consumer to retain their investment.

of course this would lead to abuses in some areas. however, i think the rights of the consumer should take precedent over a manufacturer's attempting to exploit the weaknesses of software mediums at this time. if we give up the rights to retain the value of our software purchases now (when we do have legitimate grievances with its durability) those rights will never be regained without making criminals of those who seek to maintain the value of what they've already bought, forever tilting the balance of power away from the consumer in software distribution.

i think many of us first think of games when considering this issue, but i think the business end of the software industry has a stronger case. some applications are used in businesses for nearly a decade before they are updated to a newer system. imagine a business that relies on a certain printing/accounting/networking package that is no longer found on the shelf or supported by the software company. if their original disks go bad after 10 years or so (a likely occurence) then they are up the creek without a paddle. there is no way they can recover their programs in the event of a total system crash or switching to a brand new system. why should the business accept such a potentially crippling risk because the software publisher refuses to allow backups of software they are no longer selling anyway?

01-23-2005, 03:02 PM	#11 (permalink)
irateplatypus can't help but laugh Location: dar al-harb	i think that, given how many people this effects and its widespread ramifications, there should be a settled legal policy on this that is easily understood/enforced. there is too much confusion... especially if people are going to be prosecuted for it. personally, i think that people should be allowed to have a working copy of the software for as long as they care to use it. the physical medium in which the software is transferred is worth nothing next to the expense of the purchase. therefore, it seems reasonable to me that the purchaser is indeed buying the intellectual property contained in the data... not just the materials (which have neglible independent worth). if the medium the distributor chooses is inadequate for long term storage of the consumer's purchase, then allowances should be made for the consumer to retain their investment. of course this would lead to abuses in some areas. however, i think the rights of the consumer should take precedent over a manufacturer's attempting to exploit the weaknesses of software mediums at this time. if we give up the rights to retain the value of our software purchases now (when we do have legitimate grievances with its durability) those rights will never be regained without making criminals of those who seek to maintain the value of what they've already bought, forever tilting the balance of power away from the consumer in software distribution. i think many of us first think of games when considering this issue, but i think the business end of the software industry has a stronger case. some applications are used in businesses for nearly a decade before they are updated to a newer system. imagine a business that relies on a certain printing/accounting/networking package that is no longer found on the shelf or supported by the software company. if their original disks go bad after 10 years or so (a likely occurence) then they are up the creek without a paddle. there is no way they can recover their programs in the event of a total system crash or switching to a brand new system. why should the business accept such a potentially crippling risk because the software publisher refuses to allow backups of software they are no longer selling anyway? __________________ If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. ~ Winston Churchill Last edited by irateplatypus; 01-23-2005 at 03:08 PM..