Article About 'The Menace Of The Software Pirates' From 1985

ChurchHatesTucker points us to an article from Electronic Games Magazine from 1985, available via Archive.org, entitled Menace of the Software Pirates. You might notice that much of the article sounds familiar. My favorite part is where they explain that there's no software coming out of the UK, because of the fact that "piracy has flourished unchecked" in the UK and now "no company wants to spend time and money creating an innovative program knowing full well that the better it turns out, the greater the likelihood that the vultures will rip it off." Uh huh. In the meantime, special thanks to the folks who violated certain copyrights to help preserve this article for posterity...

This kind of article really does demonstrate the old adage, "the more things change, the more they stay the same." Though it's also quite noteworthy that the article highlights some software companies who believe that there are better ways to fight infringement than using DRM. It highlights two alternative strategies: the first is adding additional bells and whistles to the packaging, including various scarcities. The second is by being nice: actively resisting DRM, letting consumers know that, having a really strong replacement policy and keeping prices reasonable. Of course, these are the kinds of strategies that folks are suggesting again today, but which most software firms still seem resistant to embrace. Those who don't understand history may be condemned to repeat it... and without a little copyright infringement to preserve this piece, perhaps we wouldn't even know about that history.

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Source: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110912/02234215900/article-about-menace-software-pirates-1985.shtml

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