Re: [NTLK] Shareware/Freeware Licenses

From: System Support Products, Inc. (sspi_at_ix.netcom.com)
Date: Thu Sep 06 2001 - 11:09:12 EDT


At 12:20 AM -0500 9/6/01, John M. Powell wrote:
>If I left my car on the highway (ie: ABANDONED it, not 'had a flat')
>and someone came to snag a few parts, you think I care? I left it
>there because I no longer wanted anything to do with it.

    Please reread the comment I was responding to:

> I'm just going to add here that, no matter what the copyright laws say, it
> is up to the copyright holder to protect it. If they don't, or choose not
> to... (IANAL)

    Where do you draw the line with this? You may say your car with a
flat is "parked", I say you left it there too long so it is
"abandoned". Thanks for the parts.

    One thing I'm not addressing is *true* abandonware, where the
company that holds the copyright does not exist and the rights were
not sold. I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not going to pretend to know how
the law would apply. But if the copyright is still held by *anyone*,
it is illegal to infringe on that copyright, whether it is your
favorite program or not, whether you like the company or not.

    Regards,

    - Lou Forlini
      Software Engineer
      System Support Products, Inc.

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