From: benw@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (bennett.weber)
Subject: Re: The piracy argument to end all arguments....
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 14:08:14 GMT

In article <92324.153304CMS129@psuvm.psu.edu> Chris "Slothman" Stoy <CMS129@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
>
>In article <1992Nov18.090412.19810@microware.com>, jejones@microware.com (James
>Jones) says:
>>
>>In article <92322.143017CMS129@psuvm.psu.edu> CMS129@psuvm.psu.edu
>>(ChrisSlothman Stoy) writes:
>>> The answer to question 2 (which is what most of the people here seem to be
>>>arguinng about) is not as clear.  There is no standard morality for the human
>>>race.
>>
>>True, but some things seem to be fairly uniformly deprecated, e.g. murder and
>>theft.  Software "piracy" falls in the latter category.
>>
>Let me ask you this:  If someone were trying to kill you, would it be wrong to
>kill them?

No.  Otherwise you would die.  And this is recognized legally.

>If you were starving on the street, would it be wrong for you to
>steal some food?

No. Otherwise you would die.  But you'd have to be willing to pay
the consequences if you were caught.

>A lot of people's actions are based on what they have and
>what they need at the moment.  If you have the money and you need a piece of
>software, then you'll buy it (or at least you should).  If you don't have the
>money and you need the software, then you'll get it however you can.

Otherwise what?  Would you die?  No.  Heaven forfend, you might
have to do calculations manually.  You'd have to go without playing
"Blasters from the planet Zimbo".  You might have to even (God forgive
me) use a TYPEWRITER or even a PEN to write a paper (I'm getting chills...).

>If your
>need is great enough, you'll walk into a store and steal it.  It's much easier
>to find someone who already baught it and make a copy of it, and a lot less
>risky.
>Wait, this is starting to sound like I support piracy.  I don't. It's just that
>a lot of you here on the net seem to forget that not everyone can afford the
>new BlastoPuppies (c) game and it's a REAL HARD (R) temptation to resist
>getting a copy from your friend.  It's hard to justify spending $50 of money
>you don't really have on a game that will keep you entertained for at most 2
>weeks.  (ooohhh... I can feel the flames comming from this one...)
>
>>        James Jones
>

Geez, you lose in a battle of wills against a computer game?  
When you get into the "Real World", you're gonna have one hell of
a surprise.  Since when does a computer game fall into the "essential human
need strong enough to break the law" category? (Food, Clothing, Shelter,
BlastoPuppies).  This falls under the "SPOILED BRAT"(R) category.

And no fair blaming the hamster!

>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Chris "Slothman" Stoy |  DISCLAIMER: The views expressed within are not
>cms129 at psuvm       |  mine but those of my pet hamster Gizmo. HE'S
>cms129@psuvm.psu.edu  |  responsible for this! Blame him!        ^^^^
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------


					Ben Weber
					AT&T Network Systems @ Bell Labs
					Middletown, NJ

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Not speaking for AT&T
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