[Coco] Duplicating Copy-Protected Games (Z-89) (Was: Coco Digest, Vol 55, Issue 22) (Steve Bjork)

[Andrew]

Steve,

I agree with some of your points and disagree on others.

I don't disagree with the concept of copyright law, an author should be 
able to secure rights to make money on his or her work for a LIMITED time.

However, what we have with the current copyright situation has already 
become a perversion of what I understand the framers of the Constitution 
originally envisioned. A "limited time" does not mean "till the end of 
the universe, minus one day" (something akin to this was said by one of 
cronies involved in one such "extension" of copyright in recent memory). 
Any reasonable person's definition of "limited time" would not be this.

Furthermore, it is my stance that with the case of computer software, 
the period of "limited time" should be very limited indeed - somewhere 
in the neighborhood of 10-15 years seems appropriate. In that time, 
technology (and people's needs and tastes) can easily advance to the 
point where any such software is no longer thought about or used, even 
if a platform capable of supporting it exists. For instance, would I, as 
an average consumer today, think about installing or using, say, Windows 
3.11 for anything serious? Not likely.

When it comes to hardware generations, where it is nearly impossible to 
even procure the necessary generation's CPU's (let alone all the other 
interface chipset), or even floppy drive systems - one can't say that 
full "ready to use" systems are easily available, even on Ebay - if that 
were the case, then an Altair or an IMSAI could be considered viable 
platforms for today (among two possible options).

Neither is, nor is the Color Computer.

Now, I can't legally disagree with the law as it is written - it is what 
it is, warts, kickbacks, and all. It is what we the people have been 
foisted, and if the common person understood (and cared a bit more) just 
what it is being given up, they would recognize just what a piece of 
legislation it currently is.

I would dare say that most former authors of software for old, 
unsupported-by-thier-manufacturer computer systems understand and agree 
with this, which is why so much of this stuff is in the public domain 
now. There are obviously holdouts, such as yourself, who while they are 
well within their rights to do so, are also hindering in some small part 
the preservation of the past.

It isn't that there is precedent - indeed, this is why I am so fervently 
against the way things are today. There are many arguments why current 
copyright law shouldn't be applied the same to computer software, but 
the strongest one should be the ability to learn from the past, and for 
the preservation of historical context. In the past, while many older 
systems have been preserved in a state where they will run (and no 
copies of such systems CAN be found on Ebay), software for some of them 
is virtually non-existant, and in some cases, it doesn't exist at all. 
Many of these machines lie dormant, even though given the right software 
they could run again. It is my contention that a software library of a 
given architecture should be preserved as completely as possible for 
that system as a part of its history - a computer isn't a computer 
without software for it (one could argue the inverse as well - it mainly 
stems from the idea that software is hardware virtualized, and hardware 
is software made real - re, Universal Turing Machines).

We are losing a lot of our computing history, and in some cases 
knowledge (only to be "re-invented/discovered" - and then copyrighted 
AND patented!) - which could in many instances benefit today's budding 
software programmers and engineers.

I think you and everyone else gets my point, so I won't belabor it any 
longer.

With that said - will there ever be, Steve, a time when the community 
could purchase your software rights and release the code (or at least 
the products) to the public domain? Or do you intend to hold onto them 
until your death, and pass them on ad-infintum (ok, maybe that is 
rhetoric, but sometimes it feels this way) to your heirs? At which point 
will they ever enter public domain? Will anyone even be around to care? 
Will any system be around which could run those programs? Finally, what 
would you consider fair payment from the community for this option?

These are real questions - while I can't personally purchase your 
rights, I think the community would certainly like the understanding, if 
not the opportunity, to do so.

I respect you and your work, Steve, but between you and Bill Vergona (of 
CerComp fame), I sometimes wonder just why you hold on to this old code 
so dearly for so little. You certainly can't take it with you...

-- Andrew L. Ayers
    Glendale, Arizona