"winston19842005" <bjjlyates@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:C360194E.69A1%bjjlyates@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Ok, got a question for you guys.
>
> Hopefully, it is on-topic...
>
> If you had a BASIC compiler for a long-dead computer, that you bought 20
> years ago, and have no way of reaching the author or company (I have
tried
> for about the last 10 years)...
I'd release it and still sleep well at night. If a company does hold the
copyright,
the usual procedure is to contact the offender and request the software be
withdrawn. Only if the initial request is ignored do companies sometimes
(rarely) actually look to the courts for a cash settlement. I used to
work
for a
company with a legal team of hundreds of people. One day one of their
lawyers
asked me to make copies of a piece of commercial software for the entire
staff.
When I asked if that was legal, he said, "Don't worry, <name of company>
is
a lot smaller than us. If they try to bring us to court, we can stall so
long they'll
be bankrupt before we'd ever have to pay them a dime." It would be a
Pyrrhic
victory for the smaller firm. Their concern wasn't whether or not it was
legal,
only whether or not they'd be caught and punished.
I guess might makes right.
Tom Lake
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