[Info-vax] [Attn: HP Employees] PDP-11 OS hobbyist licensing

[glen herrmannsfeldt]

Bill Gunshannon <bill at server2.cs.scranton.edu> wrote:

(snip on lawyers, time, and infringement)

> Sure, and that might be making coffee, but I doubt it.  The assumption
> here seems to be that it would cost HP more than the IP is worth to
> defend it.  I don't see it that way. And, it is irrelevant to the real
> issue which is can someone just post HP's IP on the web. That is illegal,
> and immoral.  It is theft, plain and simple.  Why do people have such
> a hard time accepting this?  Nobody wants to see the PDP-11 OSes freed
> more than I do, but I won;t steal them.  Heck, I have tapes I got from
> Mentec in the basement. But I am not going to load them on a machine
> and use them unless the opportunity to do that in accord with the license
> agreement I signed re-develops.  But it won't.  :-)

OK, how about the more common case of web sites that redistribute
device drivers for current hardware, likely including HP.
Now, it is likely that such drivers are available free on HP's
web site for purchasers of the hardware, and people might even need
to agree that they own the hardware and that they won't redistribute
it after downloading it.

On the other hand, there is much hardware that is now useless as
the software to drive it is not available. (Assuming one has the
host system and appropriate OS version to run it.) So, having
sites archive device drivers and other software needed to run
hardware is useful. Many companies are good at keeping drivers,
manuals, and other software on their web sites for obsolete
hardware, but not all. 

(Some years ago I bought a Gatorbox on eBay and found that the
company supplied the software, along with the activation passwords
on their web site. This was after it was pretty much obsolete.
I think it cost $1 plus shipping on eBay at the time.)

Now, I would say that it is stealing if one were to clone the hardware
and then use downloaded software designed for purchasers of the
original. (Though often it costs more to clone old hardware than
to find someone selling it.)  But using the software that came with
the original hardware but with the original disks lost along the
way doesn't seem like stealing to me.

Now, say someone has a PDP-11 system that had previously been
licenses to run a specific DEC OS. Also, consider that the original
disks and license agreement might have been lost over the years.
Is it fair to download (somehow) such system and run it?

-- glen