rec.autos.simulators

We do have the right to create one backup copy of any software that we
purchase.  If the copy protection that is being used now by Sierra (an
others) prevents this then Sierra (and others) should include in their fine
print words to the effect that they will supply us with a replacement CD at
no cost to us in the event that the purchased item fails for ANY
reason....and that includes being chewed by the dog.

--
Best regards,
Bruce.
======
The Stunned Mullet........seriously satirical stuff!
http://welcome.to/the_stunned_mullet
===============================================

--
Best regards,
Bruce.
======
The Stunned Mullet........seriously satirical stuff!
http://welcome.to/the_stunned_mullet
===============================================

Right now, in the other room, in the CD drive of my wife's computer, is a COPIED
cd of JumpStart Baby.  I made the copy the same day I bought the CD, before I
even installed the game on the computer.  When the FBI comes to my door to haul
me off to prison for being a software pirate, I will have to tell them the same
thing I am telling you:

My soon-to-be two year old daughter loves to push the 'open' button on the CD
drive on my wife's computer.  In fact, she loves to push the 'open' buttons on
both my regular CD drive and my CDRW, too, my computer is just harder to get at.
Sometimes, is there is a CD in the drive (like perhaps Jumpstart Baby..because
she is playing with it) and sometimes she takes the CD out.

I don't know if the 2 year olds around your house understand the concept of
"proper handling and storage", but mine doesn't.  Her idea of proper handling
and storage includes rubbing the CD on herself, on the desk, on the computer, on
the monitor, on the floor and across the gritty kitchen floor, data side down.
It also includes biting the CD, putting it in oatmeal or yogurt, leaving it
around for one of the dogs to "investigate", pushing it under the refrigerator
and once, even dropping it through the spaces between the planks on the 2nd
floor deck so it fell to the concrete 12 feet below, where I found it about 3
days later.  The original of that particular CD now hangs when it tries to read
the disk because it has a bunch of deep scratches and divots on it, so I use the
COPY I made to run the program I bought.

Since I am aware that she does this, I copy all the CDs I buy as soon as I get
them.  I try not to leave CDs in the drives on any of the computers so as to
minimize the chance that she will 'handle and store' them in her own special
way.  Who exactly am I ripping off by protecting my investment this way?  I
learned my lesson long ago with a new computer that had a funky floppy drive.  I
installed all of my favorite software on it, including Visual C+1.5, trueSpace
2, and a partition with OS/2 Warp, all using diskettes.  The floppy drive ruined
every diskette I put in it while it read them.  Because I never copied the
diskettes and installed from the originals, I lost all that software.  I swore
that would never happen again, and now it won't because I legally copy every CD
I buy.  CDs are nothing more than another form of data storage, and if it is and
was legal to copy diskettes, it is legal to copy CDs.

blah blah blah.

daxe

I AM familiar with having a two year old that likes pushing buttons and
walking off with the surprises found, and understand the situation.  It does
not, however, exempt you from the obligations of the software license for
those titles from which copying is banned.  Personally, I make a copy of all
originals for which a copy is permitted, but once learned the hard way to
check the license before starting up the CDRW drive (or the floppy drive at
the time).

Michael

P.S.......this didn't help when my duaghter's Barbir game couldn't be copied no
matter which siftware I tried. Of course she ended up scrathing the orginal!

I make a backup of just about ALL of my CD's. What's so hard to believe about
honest people protecting their investment?

Remember back in the dim, dark ages when programs like DBase had copy counters
on the diskettes! Everytime you installed it it removed a licence from the
diskette. You had to then recover the licence from a PC if you were upgrading or
whatever. Good idea until your hard disk crashed and the licence couldn't be
recovered. I remember a very large Australian company going to court to protect
their right to copy these diskettes, using a hardware bit copier. They won and
that was way back in the early mid 80's.

--
Tony Wyss, Editor-in-Chief
Gamers Alliance Sports
www.ga-sports.com
-------------------------------
Network Developer
Gamers Alliance, Inc.
www.gagames.com
-------------------------------
"I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player" - John Kruk

--
Cheers

-Lindsay
(remove "nunspam" to mail me)

You probably can't install or play a game from a tape drive, so the backup would
be pretty useless.  A lot of CDs need a CD to be in the drive, etc.

You also might be unaware that you don't need a CD re-writer to burn CDs, just
to 'erase' and re-write CDs already burned on the drive.  It took me the longest
time to tell helpful but clueless friends that I didn't need all their
commercial CDs they got from AOL, etc. because I couldn't erase them and
(re)write over them.

daxe

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--
Best regards,
Bruce.
======
The Stunned Mullet........seriously satirical stuff!
http://welcome.to/the_stunned_mullet
===============================================