Dan Chisarick spake thusly into the ether:
>
> I'd say that legal ownership of the software has zero to do with
>either the media OR the box. Take a non-game package like Photoshop.
[snip]
>Adobe's license agreement states that the
>contents must be transferred in their entirety by the owner PLUS you
>have to fill out a transfer of ownership form.
[snip]
>Besides, as I
>think was pointed out, you don't "own" the software, you have a license
>to use it.
This only applies to more recent software, as best I recall. Older
software didn't come with license agreements. Or, at the least, they
didn't *make* you read *and agree* to the terms of a license before
using it like current software.
I pulled out a copy of Ballyhoo (the only old game convenient for me
at the moment). It's copyright notice does state:
"The distribution and sale of this product are intended for
the use of the original purchaser only and for use only on the
computer system specified. Lawful users of this program are
hereby licensed only to read the program from its medium into
memory of a computer solely for the purpose of executing the
program. Copying (except for one backup copy on those systems
which provide for it -- see Reference Card), duplicating,
selling, or otherwise distributing this product is a violation
of law."
So it would seem:
a) the thrift store I bought this game at was selling it to me
illegally. ("[...] selling [...] this product is a violation of
law.") Does this mean Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe is into hard-core
piracy just by reselling original copies? Or am I reading this term
too literally?
b) even if this was considered a legal copy, I cannot play it on my
Palm using an Infocom emulator. ("[...] intended [...] for use only
on the computer system specified," which is IBM PC/MS-DOS compatible
computers in this case.) Likewise, I can't play my Apple II Infocom
games on my PC using an Apple II emulator.
License agreements suck.
--
Lee K. Seitz * [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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