From: nobody@alpha.c2.org (Anonymous)
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 1996 19:33:48 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Novell & Microsoft Settle Largest BBS Piracy Case Ever
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960115223141.25666A-100000@rwd.goucher.edu>
Message-ID: <199601160904.BAA27439@infinity.c2.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


jlasser@rwd.goucher.edu (Jon Lasser) wrote:
> End of goverments = decline (but not end) of software markets?

It's already happening anyway.  In a few years (if not today) Microsoft is
going to be hard pressed to come up with excuses why someone should pay $90
for Doze-95 when they can get a Linux CDROM for less than $20 (or ftp it
for free).  With WINE and DOSEMU, that Linux system will run most of the
same software too.  Willows software recently released their own windoze
emulator for Linux for practically nothing (there is a small fee for
commercial use, free otherwise).

Look at Netscape, giving away their browser for free and how Microsoft
finally gave in and did the same because they couldn't sell theirs.

Selling software is going to become practically impossible within a few
years, and prosecuting piracy will become even more fruitless.  Rather,
more and more companies will give the software away for free, and sell
their expertise.

Sure, they will still package it nicely in a box to sell it to corporate
types who are afraid of ftp, but what they're really selling is not the
software but the tech support number.  Anyone can get more software than
they will ever use from the various ftp sites.  Mr. Corporate Executive
doesn't want to waste his time checking out the latest offerings on the
net, but he will pay to have a reliable program delivered to him that
can be installed easily, by a company that will be happy to answer his
questions about it.

Companies like Red Hat and Walnut Creek are doing brisk business selling
cdroms full of software that you can get for free.  You can search the net
for interesting stuff for months on end, or you can get all the best stuff
on one disk from them for twenty bucks.

And look at Sun Microsystems - they're giving away all their software for
free.  But when someone wants a reliable network server, who are they
going to call?  Sun.  Software doesn't sell, but expertise does, and
giving away well-written software is an excellent way to demonstrate your
expertise to a large audience.

The concept of copyright is pretty much dead; the free market has invented
new solutions.