The Logic Off Topic list

From: David <david@...>
> I've been wondering about that for a long time:

This stuff isn't hard.  Once you accept that creative people have the right
to decide what happens to their creations, everything else falls into place.
Examine the etymology of the word "copyright" - the "right" to determine
under what circumstances a work may be copied.

[I'm a little hesitant to bring this up, but have you ever read "The
Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand?  A flawed work, but the feistiest, easiest to
grasp treatise on IP (intellectual property) that I'm aware of.]

> If I legally buy a license for my software, can I modify the code for my own
> personal use, if I know how to make the program better, or better suited to
> my needs? Then, is it legal to freely distribute the hacked software to
> someone who owns a legit copy of the original software? Is it Legal to
> inform others of the possibility to hack their own software?

The people whose hard work created that intellectual property have the right
to decide, and they'll tell you in your license agreement.

> Examples:
> ProTools (digidesign) distributes a free 24 Tracks audio DAW [Digital Audio
> Workstation] software. Someone posted on the ProTools forum pretending to
> have hacked into the soft, making it possible to use more than 24 Tracks.

I would be shocked if there was not language in the license agreement
strictly forbidding such actions.  That covers the letter of the law...

... The spirit of the law is also, *clearly*, being violated.  The whole
idea of distributing various levels of software, a la Logic
Micro/Silver/Gold/Platinum is to sell more powerful software for more money
and less powerful software for less money.  This hack isn't frivolous or
inconsequential, it's vicious; it's a direct attempt to remove the cripple
from crippleware.  

Is this not obvious?

> That post was quickly removed from the forum....

What, are you entertaining conspiracy theories here?  _Of course_ it was.
I'm GLAD it was, and you should be, too.  Some vandal wants to bust open the
lock to Digi's warehouse in the middle of the night and summon the
looters... 

I don't want to see software that I use hacked.  I want as many people as
possible who might be tempted to use cracked software to be FORCED to buy
it, through adequate copy-protection mechanisms and support incentives.  I
want the software developers to make money, because then I'll get better
software.

> Is it Legal for a regitered user to get a hacked

To answer your question directly: No, it's not legal.

> By the way, did you see, SDMI has been cracked.

Inevitable.  Are you happy about it?

> Hey, is it OK to buy a Book and add pages or remove some or change their order
> for your personal use? :)

Is it OK to buy one newspaper from the vending machine, grab all the
remaining papers and put them in a pile next to the machine so that everyone
who wants them can take them?  That's what that Digi poster did.

> I'm waiting for your opinions.

I'm hoping that you're open to the idea that people have a right to make
money from IP, and that you're not out to simply rationalize illegal
behavior that happens to be expedient.  I get the feeling it's the latter,
but that you're not irretrievably lost to the dark side.  :)  By the way,
discussing hacks is not permitted on the LUG.  It does a major disservice to
the dedicated, creative people who have built this amazing software program
to publicize information that might help people rip them off, and I wish
that you had been more circumspect in your post.  At the very least, I hope
you get warned by the listmod, and I would have no argument if you were to
be banned as a consequence, regardless of your intentions.

> -- 
> David  //  6am eternal
> http://www.mp3.com/6ameternal

David, what's your last name?

-- Marvin Humphrey 
Mastering Engineer...Graphic Designer, emeritus
Mr. Toad's, San Francisco, California, USA
CD design website - http://marvin.mrtoads.com