Date   : Mon, 21 Nov 1983 22:54:52-PST (Mon)
From   : pur-ee!uiucdcs!parsec!kolstad@ucb-vax
Subject: Re: Reply to:Re: Call for Osborne Execu - (nf)

#R:sri-arpa:-1373900:parsec:48000002:000:1039
parsec!kolstad    Nov 21 16:02:00 1983

[re: Jerry Pournelle's confusion about selling cars, leasing apartments, and
trading software]

While it is perfectly legal and acceptable for people to sell their car
(and transfer titles through state authorities) and sublease apartments
(with the ensuing legalities of sublease signing), it is typically
illegal and unethical for people to trade, say, their copy of Wordstar II
for my copy of SuperDuperWriter.  I believe this is the kind of trade which is
discouraged on the net.

If the net were to allow such (I believe illegal) trading to go on, then
few major companies could support it (as their reputations would follow
that of the network).  I believe the net would then shrink drastically --
a happening I would dread.

To use an appropriate analogy, the net would also discourage people from
typing in first editions of, say, the sequel to "Mote in Gods Eye" so
everyone on the net could enjoy it without the hassle of paying the bookseller
to obtain a hard-copy and sell it ...

                               Rob "not really holier than thou" Kolstad