Don't Worry About Copy Write Protection!

[Fyron]

I was going to post about the "calm down" stuff, but Phoenix-D already covered that. Thanks.

Furthermore, Fair-Use doesn't cover your completely. It only covers the production of a single backup copy.

I was speaking of fair use in a reasonable sense, not what may or may not be on the law books. Politicians almost never have any understanding of the real world in any case. Any law that prohibits me from making an excessive number of backups, mix tapes, etc. for personal use is an unrealistic law. CDs/DVDs are extremely fragile media, and it is unreasonable to force people to have to buy them again when they break. CD-Rs are even more unstable, prone to more random failure (even sitting in storage) than the originals. Hence, making 2 or 3 backups greatly increases the odds that you will actually still have a backup in a few years. So does using a copy regularly instead of the original. This isn't quite as relevant for movies, which are rarely used compared to music and game CDs.

What is important is the license to use the music/movie/software/etc., not the physical media itself. We are already there in the corporate software market, just need to go further. Game CD keys of yore were also going in the right direction, since they are a concrete embodiment of your purchase license (except when you download a keygen, but that is beside the point). The heinous CD copy protection schemes (especially the ones from Starforce and Sony) were three steps backwards.

[Azselendor]

Fyron, my calm down posts were in direct response to your overblowing of my statements - and I stand by them. I know there was no flaming, but the sarcastic remarks aren't helpful discussion either.

Fruthermore, you say that laws prhibiting the number of backups you can make is unrealistic, but explain to me how many backups does it take to become unrealistic. Let's suppose you backup SE4 10 times? What possible reason would you have to do that? I can understand two or three, I myself make a backup of all my program disks every couple years and keep the originals safely stored and exclusively run off the backup copies and destroy the old backups once I'm done - I love my sheds-anything Snapper mulcher.

As for registration keys, Microsoft seems to have some good ideas with office 2003 and similar.


Sivran, american culture today is a price-senstive, fast-service-based culture. Few people today appreciate good quality customer service anymore. Most people want more for less as fast as possible. The only exception being Gas which americans have proven to tolerate continual price hikes with little serious response.

I beta tested a program about 8 years ago where the developer encoded a system that would check the registration codes whenever you completed the automatic update at my suggestion after several early betas were leaked. We also decided that if the same registration code was used more than once during the update process, that it would disable the program and flag that registration so if anyone else attempted to use that registration, they would be alerted their version is pirated and the program would default into a trial/cripple-period.

The system was actually very successful, the developer caught 2 pirates and identified about 15 downloaders who didn't know any better and was victimized by the pirates.

Pheonix-D, making a backup, then loosing (in your case stolen) the original copy doesn't count as piracy. In the same item, I wouldn't count people who convert their cd's into mp3's and then wind up having their cd's stolen out of their car as pirates.

As for my point about individuals, I shouldn't need to explicitly state each and every iota of what it means. It should be common sense that I am refering to people who make software solely for bypassing copy protections.

furthermore; "" Individuals that make the software can be made liable for infringment suits if their software is involved in piracy" "

I didn't say anything, I specifically stated software.

And I think people are forgetting that these are just ideas being thrown out for discussion, I get the distinct impression that some of you actually think this is a piece of legislation ?!