What Some Assholes Think of Pirates FROM: THE BUSINESS COMPUTER Thursday June 27, 1985 ARE YOU HIDING A COMPUTER CROOK? Kids 14-16 are the worst software pirates. But teachers are right behind 'em. Corporations are starting policies against piracy. Can computer users really afford the price of "cheap software?" ============================================================ By Franklynn Peterson & Judi K-Turkel ============================================================ VOL 3 #146 ========== We turned down a consultancy and a speaking engagement be- cause we won't work with computer crooks. We hope you avoid them also. It isn't easy. They're all over, maybe even in your kids' schools. First we agreed to consult for an Iowa fundraiser whose typ- ists across the U.S. use different word processing programs. When the first typist called with a question about WordStar, we re- ferred her to Chapter 14 of her manual. "I don't have Chapter 14," she said. "We only copied 10 chapters." We asked if she'd copied the program too. "Sure." We called the fundraiser, explained that copying a copy- righted program is stealing, and when she decided against doing anything, we resigned the account. Just a few days later, a teacher's group asked us to talk for our usual fee on a pet topic: whether computers are needed in classrooms. When they said, "We also want you to cover how to copy programs for other classes and to send home with students," we told them no thanks. Acquaintances ask how come -- since we're so pro-consumer -- we don't support illicit copying as a way of "getting cheap software" when some program costs seem way out of line. But it's not cheap. In fact it's so expensive, computer consumers can't afford it! We've watched companies that make some of the very best programs go bankrupt because folks who loved these programs were copying instead of buying. The irony is, it's not the sellers of $500 and $900 programs who are falling belly up. It's the people who price their gems at $45, $75 and $150. Some software makers fight back by building in copy protec- tion devices. These keep most people from making copies (although every software author knows 264 hackers who are racing to defeat every protection scheme). But it means we're stuck buying pro- grams that can't make backup copies to put away for when the Great Computer Gremlin spills evil spirits on the original. One annoying protection device keeps the program from running on a hard disk computer unless the original program you bought remains in the floppy disk slot. Other software firms take a different approach. One major educational software maker told us in confidence that he follows a common pricing practice. If a new game or educational program should cost $19.95 retail, he's going to charge $29.95 to cover his losses to illicit copycats. That's a 50 percent surcharge (ITAL) you're (ITALS END) paying for the other guy's piracy. The same exec confirmed that schools are among the worst computer crooks. How ironic, that schools shell out thousands of dollars to buy computers -- which can't do a thing without a steady diet of good programs. And then they cheat the creative authors whose copyrighted intellectual property makes the dumb machines work. It's such a problem, another company's exec told us of vetoing his marketing department's plan to sell their su- perb computer education program to the schools. Some corporations used to routinely let employees make ille- gal copies of programs. But they're beginning to recognize that it's bad policy. If you encourage -- or even permit -- a worker to steal somebody else's property, you're tacitly saying that stealing from you is okay too. For some companies, it's caused more than just second thoughts. A few have been hauled into court and embarrassed per- sonally and financially by expensive, well-publicized law suits. Among the most public pirate-chasers is Lotus Development, which hasn't lost a suit against companies caught making copies of its popular 1-2-3 program. Ken Wasch, Executive Director of the Software Publishers Assn. (SPA), told us that it and its members act against not just companies, but individuals. "The worst offenders seem to be 14 to 16 year olds," Wasch said. "We call on their parents and schools." In many states, if a teen is caught, parents must pay the damages. In pursuing youngsters, the SPA generally avoids publicity. But the culprits' names can end up in data bases of criminals at telephone, credit card, and computer software companies. "We swap information," Wasch says, "because we've found that software thieves are often credit card and telephone company defrauders." If you're thinking about copying a good program bought by a friend, we hope you'll rethink the idea, keeping in mind what you'll really be doing. ============================================================ (1) You'll be keeping the cost of programs high. ============================================================ (2) You'll be keeping good programs copy-protected and unweildy to use. ============================================================ (3) You'll be keeping company with thieves and may be prosecuted like a criminal. ============================================================ (4) Most important, you'll be cheating out of his rightful royalty income the author of that program you like so much. ============================================================ Provided By Elric of Imrryr & Lunatic Labs.