VERY 'dodgy' ebay seller!

[Amithony]

Nothing the Amiga community needs more than people like you, fighting the lost cause and helping the idiotic law "clamp down" on the distribution of 20+ year old software which even the original software developers couldn't give a toss about.

 :roll:

I have to agree. Everyone does something dodgy at some point in their lives. How would you like to be treated in those instances? Since we are on the topic, why not crusade against downloaded videos and MP3s which the creators DO give a toss about.

[Amithony]

tone007 wrote:
I've got nothing against a little piracy, but trying to make money selling illegal copies of software is just plain cheesy, and clearly against eBay's rules.

Fair point i suppose. But i guess if you need to police what everyone else is doing, you must be doing something dodgy yourself. I don't condone piracy, but when the software is getting harder to find and the authors are past the fact that the Amiga is ageing technology, picking on the odd pirate isn't going to help. There are greater "causes" that could be pursued if you are so vehemently against casual copying. How much did the guy make from Alfred Chicken? Sounds a bit ludicrous to worry about to me. Look at the payouts executive directors get for screwing over companies. There's your cause if you're bored or a tad bit too self righteous.

[Amithony]

fatboy wrote:
You guys are the first to complain about what 'killed' the Amiga in the mainstream (apart from Commodore themselves), and piracy was a factor as to why many software companies
stopped supporting the Amiga.

Piracy was what helped solidify and build the Microsoft empire. I know this for a fact as i used to work for them. (I hope that the Amigans don't hold it against me. I'm still an Amiga fan in every sense of the word Piracy acted as the biggest commercial that MS ever had and actually worked out cheaper per unit sold in some respects than TV and radio! It has only been lately that they have cracked down (circa XP SP2 I believe). Microsoft's mantra / mission was to have their software on every table of every resident in the world. It was an aspirational target that was built on the piracy that helped their brand get around. Is it still wrong? Probably. Are they earning enough to pay the bills, definitely. Have you ever copied a song from the radio or used a VCR to tape something off the TV? How about reading a magazine at the newsagent without buying it? If so, you are just as guilty. I find it laughable that you try to make a parallel to piracy rather than the poor marketing of Commodore which is renowned for the failure of the Amiga.

[Amithony]

fatboy wrote:
@ Amintony

Simply highlighted that piracy was a FACTOR not the overall cause of the demise of the Amiga brand?

I certainly don't care deep enough to get involved with some 'heated' debate......I'm off to play on my A1200!  :-)

Probably a good idea. Everyone has a right to their opinion, but no-one has the right to say theirs is necessarily right.  

[Amithony]

motorollin wrote:

Amithony wrote:
Probably a good idea. Everyone has a right to their opinion, but no-one has the right to say theirs is necessarily right.  

Really?

--
moto

Yes. Really.
Except we ALL know that the Amiga is the best system that was ever made, period.

[Amithony]

motorollin wrote:
@Amithony
So I have the right to say what my opinion is but I don't have the right to say that I think it is the correct thing to believe? How ridiculous...

--
moto

Touchy subject I see. I can think of many examples of late, can you? Our world has been changed by people trying to force their beliefs on the world. My point was that we had the right to believe what we believe, but not the right to jam it down other peoples throats because we think we are more right than they are. I'm not saying what the ebayer did was right, i was saying stoning him for it isn't right either. But again, that's my opinion.

[Amithony]

Love your work. This is exactly my point. You have the right to that opinion also without anyone flaming you for it.

[Amithony]

@moto

No sarcasm was intended. I just felt passionately about the topic of software piracy vs preservation. I just wish that there was a ruling that made software more accessible after say 20 years with the permission of the software authors. I'd hate to think that we'll all be reduced to emulation as the competing systems become more powerful and we slip back into the nether. The person purchasing the software can choose not to at the end of the day.

[Amithony]

motorollin wrote:
@Amithony
I believe that in some countries there is a law which states that if software is no longer available it is permissible to distribute it, even if it is still within copyright. This would probably apply to a lot of Amiga software. However, I don't think that law extends to selling the software for a profit.

--
moto

This is true. But i think at some point everyone has done something they aren't proud of. Does taking him to the ebay police help anyone? Seems a bit harsh to me, that's all. I think we were talking about Alfred Chicken. A game worth crossing the road for?  :-P

Oh well. I guess we can agree to disagree. I would prefer to have a world crawling with casual copiers than to lose the software forever. Maybe that's one for another thread.