An interesting actual situation has arisen: A developer created (and made a restricted distribution of) software that ran under a particular operating system. (Software by alternate producers, to run under that operating system and provide that same kind of functionality, does *not* exist.) Over time, the developer has received offensive e-mails from the users of that operating system. So the developer has STOPPED making software that runs under that operating system; further, the copies he distributed have reached their "expiration date", and have stopped functioning.
ALL "legal" (i.e., copyrighted) copies of that software WILL NOT RUN. Software that *will* run (e.g., once its expiration date is extended) _MUST_ have been changed from the copyrighted form distributed by the author, and therefore must be "ILLEGAL"!! (The developer is not giving permission for any more copies, nor for any modifications to existing copies.)
Mikus Grinbergs
<mikus[_at_]bga.com>
Received on Tue Jul 27 1999 - 22:55:27 GMT
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