[thelist] Org Chart?

[aardvark]

> From: Andrew Forsberg <andrew at thepander.co.nz>
[...]
> Where I come from (sure, New Zealand is way out in the sticks, and we
> sleep with sheep to keep warm, but still) theft is unlawfully taking
> something that belongs to someone else (an individual or
> organization). I know the United States is a weird and wonderful place
> (well <cough/>), but since when did abiding by the shareware / trial
> license for a software package constitute theft?

obviously we've all glossed over some things and treated them as 
assumptions... so let me clarify a bit...

when you download shareware/freeware, there is a license... for 
freeware, it's pretty damn simple... you can use it... for shareware, 
there is a restriction (period of time, number of edits, color of your 
cat) on when it is no longer free for you to use and when you must 
pay for it...

so, if you keep using CoolFoo 2.0 after the 30 trial expiration, you 
have violated the license to which you agreed by installing it...

now, the perception of theft is different for many people... for me, 
breaking any agreement to which i have agreed, and which denies 
someone money, is theft... you may view it as a breach of 
contract, but decide it isn't theft... that's based on your own ethical 
code, and isn't something i'm trying to qualify here...

either way, i consider it wrong...

however, no, i never asserted that abiding by the license 
constituted theft... i was talking about the real assumption and the 
real examples of people using software outside of the licensing 
agreements...