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

[Bill Gunshannon]

In article <l2ii3o$h2a$1 at speranza.aioe.org>,
	glen herrmannsfeldt <gah at ugcs.caltech.edu> writes:
> 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. 

The utility of doing this is totally separate from the legality of
doing it.

> 
> (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.

Even if it might not be a copyright infringement for you to use something
you originally purchased but lost the software for it would still be a
copyright infringement and a violation of the law for someone other than
the rightful owner of the IP do distribute it.  the person doing so does
it at their own risk.  The IP owner may not care and may never say anything
but then again, he may suddenly decide to take action and the distributor
of the stolen software wold not have a leg to stand on.

> 
> 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?

Download from where?  Anyone other than the owner of the Ip or someone
given permission by that owner who makes the software available is in
violation of the law.  You may have a right to run it (although, without
the ability to produce a license, I even doubt that) but no one has
a right to distribute it without the permission of the IP owner.

bill

-- 
Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolves
billg999 at cs.scranton.edu |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton   |
Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>