Date   : Mon, 30 Jan 1995 17:02:26 +0000 (GMT)
From   : Chris Rae <clr1@...>
Subject: Re: Re : ROM Images and Acorn

Thought I'd give my tuppence worth seeing as everyone else has. I've 
picked this msg to reply to but it's relevant to most of them.

For those of you who weren't on the list from the start, we've actually 
had a similar discussion to this before but nobody decided to release any 
code. Check out the newly-formed archives, maybe. Or are they the ones I 
haven't sent Mark yet? Oop...

> > This would not encrypt the files, but make them unavailable for general
> > access.  Possibly skirting on illegal though.
> 
> Aha! But PKZIP does allow for file encryption with a password. So it could be 
> done.

I don't really think this is the point. The thing is, say we were all 
writing a program which read AutoCad version 1 files. I mean, AutoCad 1 
was superceded donkey's years ago and the chances are a lot of us would 
have it already but there is no way you could release the program. It is 
still protected by (C), like the BBC ROMs.

With all due respect, the issue of whether or not the BBC ROMs are useful 
or not is not really relevant; it's the fact that they are copyrighted 
material and therefore you cannot copy them. I mean, just because a 
program that tested the reaction of rats to early 1960s sitcoms wasn't 
really useful doesn't mean to say we can distribute it willy-nilly to 
everyone who might have it already on another system.

This is a personal view and I don't know the detailed ins and outs of 
copyright, so I could well be wrong. However, it looks pretty sound to 
me; BBC ROMs = (C) = no (C)ing.

;-)

Chris

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