the moral compass

On the old Select agreement you could. I think you can on the new
Select agreement as well. Sometime when I can work up sufficient
mental energy to care I'll take a look at the agreement document.

Phil

 

Well I was thinking in terms of website knowledge, but you have a point...

 

darsy was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

With the same "reasoning" they've done for the last umm years. Yes,
I'm also a developer, and yes, I buy software if/when I need it or use
Open Source/Free Operating Systems and software. Even then, I try to
contribute at least a little bit if I can...

Heh. There was an article from some Hollywood bigwig or other that was
linked to from both El Reg and /. - Mr BigTwit complaining that kids
would use their mobile phones to SMS or call each other within minutes
after the film finished, thus "destroying the carefully crafted image
of the product".

IOW, they phone their mates telling them that the latest blockbuster
is a total piece of male bovine excrement and the marketing monkeys'
effort went down the drain. More power to their little elbows, sez I.

Given the amount of plastic shite the record companies are selling at
the latest fad, I'm not surprised that people like me (who's been a
regular LP/CD buyer for about 20 years) stop buying. I know I do; I
occasionally buy a CD, but nothing like I used to.

 

Dan White

ITYM most of ukrm

 

SteveH was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

I don't think so.

They don't exist anymore, since the rags worked out that it's cheaper
to pay a freelancer on a per-picture basis. *Lots* of hungry photogs
out there atm.

 

A few hundred pounds! Stick a zero on the end and you're into Autocad
territory. Stick another zero on the end and you're into computational fluid
dynamics software.

Makes Photoshop seem quite cheap by comparison.

If the software is sufficiently essential, they can charge more or less what
they like. In the case of Autocad it seems that Autodesk do. Therefore, I
don't have too much sympathy when they complain of a few people copying
their software.

 

Let you conscience be your guide.

 

Surely either 'once' is often enough to justify it, or it really doesn't
need doing at all.

 

True.

But I'm talking about the home / hobby market. There's a lot of stuff
that can only be done with a full release of a package (such as
Photoshop) - but a home user can't really justify the cost of the
software - hence they get a download.

In a professional environment, then, yes, you're probably right.

 

People should have better things to do with their spare time than ****
about with computers.

Discuss.

 

Stealing from an individual hurts an individual, which we feel guilty or
angry about,

Stealing from a company especially one as large as MS or Sky/ntl seems to be
much more acceptable as it only hurts profit margins.

--

KillaHedgeHog AKA Paul Hendrick
YZF750R Bultaco Sherpa Fantic200
BONY#3 BOTAFOT#101

Remove KHH to reply by email

 

dixit darsy:

i believe we can gain consensus on stealing not being ok.

the question is whether pirating software and cracking satellite
decoders is really stealing, or whether it's charging for software and
services[1] in the first place that's stealing.

a bit like, are martyrs really terrorists, or the people blowing up
their houses and assassinating them and the peace activists that try to
help them?

[1] dammit, that was our taxpayers' money that put that satellite up
there...

 

<G>

 

Completely agree - except that my new PC has arrived today and I am
currently making a half hearted attempt to work out where the myriad of
cables go. I just need to connect all of the sound related elements
together and then I should be ready for the switch on to 21st century
computing.

I then have the fun of trying to make it connect to the net and then
decommissioning my old PC and transferring files etc. Watch out for test
messages cunningly disguised as official posts later on.

 

I will be proactive and place a standing order for a bottle of Chateau
Tesco for each transgression.

 

Paul Corfield wibbled incoherently

I'll start the ball rolling with a pre-emptive request for a pint of
Black Russian then.

--
Lozzo
ZZR1100D, GPZ500S, CBCBCB750RSRSRS
BOTAFOT#57/70a, BOTAFOF#57, two#49, MIB#22, TCP#7, BONY#9,
ANORAK#9, DIAABTCOD#14, UKRMT5BB, IBW#013, MIRTTH#15a/16,
BotToS#8, GP#2, SBS#10, SH#3, DFV#14, KoBV#3.
Url for ukrm newbies : http://www.ukrm.net/faq/ukrmscbt.html
www.mjkleathers.com

 

Well it is a bit different. Say i had pinched some of your code. If I
look at it to "have a try" you would not no. It does not effect you in
any way, other than unknown to you I moght purchase it. If I stole your
bike you would notice strait away as you can't copy a bike...

--
SimonB - South Wales. BOF#32
*******************************
Triumph Sprint ST,
ZXR750L2 Wazimbaki.
Kawasaki Z1R For Sale
*******************************

 

I'll get pirated versions of games which I install and
play once, then remove because it's either shit or it
doesn't run well (enough) on my PC. If I'd have bought
it from a shop, I would be stuck with it because it's
not faulty, yet I wouldn't necessarily have been able
to test it first ... a bit like buying a bike from the
dealers without a test ride and not being able to try
your mate's first either.

However, if I like the game I'll go and buy it.

There's a similar thought about MP3s. If I want a single
track, say "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder, then I have
to go and buy an album because I can't legitimately download
it anywhere. I don't want to spend 12-15 quid on an album
just for one song as I don't like those ones. How do I
get round this?

Also, I've downloaded a few tracks in the past, purely
because I liked them, then gone out and bought the album
having listened to a few more in MP3 format. This I may
not have done if I'd simply heard them on the radio. Again,
if I like something enough to keep it on the MP3 player
then it's highly likely I'll buy the album if they're all
on the same one.

 

Even then, two wrongs don't make a right.

I'm surprised how many people generally seem to be happy with some theft
(e.g exaggerating insurance claims, pirating software, posting to ukrm
during working hours) - or with thieves for that matter (e.g. Norman
Fletcher and Del boy).

Crimes such as embezzlement aren't tried by jury because the average
juror finds concepts such as honesty too difficult.

 

I wish you'd stolen a dictionary from someone.