I'm glad at least one person understood my point. I simply suggested
that if these programs could not be obtained from any legitimate
source, and if no other accessible program could be found that would
perform the same tasks, then we should consider sharing them with each
other. It is not the ideal, but rather a last resort. The alternative
is to wait for someone to develop an accessible program while the rest
of the world moves ahead. And the fee I mentioned was just to cover
expenses not to make a profit.
By the way, I never said it was legal. I said there probably would not
be any legal consequences. Microsoft and Intuit have more important
things to worry about than a few blind people sharing outdated
software. They don't care about these programs and they obviously
don't care about blind customers. If they did, they would have made
the new versions accessible. No company wants to bring this case to
court. First, the old programs aren't available and the new ones
aren't accessible, so they couldn't prove damages. Second, they would
get allot of bad publicity. Making inaccessible software is not bad
for public relations because most people don't even know the problem
exists. But it would be bad for a company to be perceived as going out
of its way to prevent blind people from getting the only programs they
could use to do finances.
Technically, those who criticized me are right. But I live in the real
world. I'm a musician and certainly would not want people making
illegal copies of my CD. But if someone I knew had a rare old record
that I loved and I couldn't purchase it anywhere, I would not hesitate
to make a tape of it.
If anyone has further comment, write to me, not the list.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tusing <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Friday, July 02, 1999 12:55 AM
Subject: Re: quicken 98, money 98, and finding these programs
>Dear David,
> it is sad that 9 years after the ADA, certain companies do not
see the
>wisdom of making their programs accessable to the disabled. It may
come to
>having to share programs--not because any one wants to save
money--but
>because they aren't accessable. I am still trying to get back the
Money 98
>program I lent to a friend. I am interested if any one has a copy of
Money
>98. thank you.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: David Scrimenti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Thursday, July 01, 1999 6:19 PM
>Subject: Re: quicken 98, money 98, and finding these programs
>
>
>> I'm sure there are many blind people who own these programs. If the
>> companies that make them are no longer selling them, I don't see
the
>> harm or legal consequences of making copies. If you have a CD
>> recorder, you can get CDs for free at comp USA, staples, etc. If
>> someone has these programs, make them available to other blind
folks.
>> You could just charge a small amount for your time and shipping.
>>
>> -
>> Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
>>
>
>-
>Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
>
-
Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
