"I'm talking about more obvious cases here. Let's say you discovered a 12 year-old had cracked his copy of your software and was using it, more for a hobby than much else as he's not experienced enough to understand it all; would you press charges or not?"
The short answer is "Yes". Juvenile court is where this sort of thing is handled. The example you chose is obvious, but not for the reasons you expected. When I was twelve, I had been in business for myself two years, and had moved out of the house. Your hypothetical person has the capability to crack the security system on the software -- he understands enough. And who indeed "understands it all" -- certainly not me. ;)
You seem to be equating "12 years old" with "innocent" -- it does not match my own recollections. ;)
But if my own security system had been easily compromised, my revenue would have dropped by perhaps 75% -- except for one factor: I would have pulled the product from the market. It would no longer be worthwhile to write and support. I ultimately did so years later for other reasons, focusing on the unreliability of Windows at that time.
I don't think that "ease of copying", which is now true of music and had been true of software for some time, automatically equates to "inalienable right to copy". And there is a large distinction between "copy for me" and "copy for my two, or two thousand, friends".
The record companies do not have a "monopoly", it seems to me, unless you are playing with definitions. I have produced and sold CDs, and have sponsored a couple of music groups. So, your definition would have to include me as a "record company". ;)
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2002-07-07 10:12 am (UTC)The short answer is "Yes". Juvenile court is where this sort of thing is handled. The example you chose is obvious, but not for the reasons you expected. When I was twelve, I had been in business for myself two years, and had moved out of the house. Your hypothetical person has the capability to crack the security system on the software -- he understands enough. And who indeed "understands it all" -- certainly not me. ;)
You seem to be equating "12 years old" with "innocent" -- it does not match my own recollections. ;)
But if my own security system had been easily compromised, my revenue would have dropped by perhaps 75% -- except for one factor: I would have pulled the product from the market. It would no longer be worthwhile to write and support. I ultimately did so years later for other reasons, focusing on the unreliability of Windows at that time.
I don't think that "ease of copying", which is now true of music and had been true of software for some time, automatically equates to "inalienable right to copy". And there is a large distinction between "copy for me" and "copy for my two, or two thousand, friends".
The record companies do not have a "monopoly", it seems to me, unless you are playing with definitions. I have produced and sold CDs, and have sponsored a couple of music groups. So, your definition would have to include me as a "record company". ;)
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