Hi Jerry and Brian :)
I am usually the one who harps about the legal issues concerning
'copies of software' so I am probably one of Brian's Idiots, morons,
"professional" psychos (sic) But I don't think I am a psycho professional
or otherwise... and I looked up the other two word's definitions... nope...
not those either... hehe... tho' I do like to have fun with life... I
am, though, trained in Information Security... and a Software Developer...
and that makes me worried that people think it is ok to steal software... I
don't want anyone "giving away" copies of the software I developed and sell
to make a living. I also will take appropriate legal steps to enforce my
trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property rights when necessary.
Brian may or may not realize that just because a company quits
producing or even supporting a piece of software does not mean they
automatically and/or immediately release the rights of ownership to said
software. I personally still maintain the rights to several packages I
have written over the years ... and the intellectual rights to all that I
have written since I cut my first 'for pay' code back in '82... I am young
:)
Remember, copying software without paying for it... or obtaining the
right to copy is illegal... and depending on the value of the software
(last I researched it is based on MSRP) the crime could easily be Grand
Theft or higher.
Also, HP is required by law to "aggressively" enforce it's copyrights
(they last long after the entity holding them dies/ceases to be) and it's
trademarks.
Since, HP does monitor this list and it's employees monitor the list
and the University, where the listserv is housed monitors the traffic of
this list... HP may already be considering whether or not it needs to take
appropriate action.
The operator of the listserv may also be required to inform the
authorities of attempts to pass software illegally through any listservs it
operates. Just as it may have to inform the authorities of any and/or all
activities observed that violate the laws of the United States.
But there is something other than just the simple issue of theft of
property (same as if you were to steal a HP company vehicle from a parking
spot in a resturant's parking lot) there is the issue of professional
courtesy.
Do you want someone stealing (and yes that is what it is) your software
that you have developed and sell for a profit? This is what you are doing
if you obtain a copy of software that has not been released into the public
domain as either shareware or freeware.
Licence agreements actually are more of open-ended leases... most of
them do have clauses in them that require you to return the media and
remove the software from your machines when you cease to use it. Also,
there are clauses that cover your actions when you either give it away or
sell it to another entity.
I would like someone from HP's sales/legal staff to let me know if it
is legal to "give away" HP 3000 software? Microsoft allows for it as
long as you give the original media to the new owner and destroy all
archive copies of the software.
I know that HP has released some of the HP 3k's software and utilities
into the public domain... but do they plan to release all of them? This
would seem to support their goal of helping the 'homesteaders' but I have
not seen or heard anything about that...
Thanks,
Art Bahrs, CISSP # 33678
=======================================================
Art Bahrs, CISSP Information Security The Regence Group
(503) 553-1425 FAX (503) 553-1453
|---------+-------------------------------->
| | "Jerry Fochtman" |
| | <[log in to unmask]
| | om> |
| | Sent by: "HP-3000 |
| | Systems Discussion" |
| | <[log in to unmask]
| | DU> |
| | |
| | |
| | 11/23/2004 11:31 AM |
| | Please respond to |
| | "Jerry Fochtman" |
| | |
| | |-------------------||
| | | [ ] Secure E-mail ||
| | |-------------------||
|---------+-------------------------------->
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| To: [log in to unmask] |
| cc: |
| Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] RPG Compiler |
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
At 01:05 PM 11/23/2004 -0500, Brian Donaldson wrote:
>Sending me idiotic, psycho, covert hate mails to my personal email address
>doesn't do anything to me. It is water off a duck's back. I laugh at you
>all, especially PAUL EDWARDS and CHUCKIE CIESINSKI. Don't ever email me
>again, you two idiots.
Both Paul and Chuck provided appropriate responses (based upon the e-mail
message snippets shared with the list) indicating that there are legal
software licensing and copyright issues involved. Apparently, based upon
your comments in a response, you do not feel compelled to abide by
copyright/licensing issues given that HP has discontinued the
platform. The fact that they are sensitive to these types of issues and
chose to politely point this out, when compared to the responses they
received, shows a marked difference in the professional integrity
demonstrated by Paul, Chuck and yourself.
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