Yesterday I received messages from both "wizkid" (Mike Tran) at Sirius
and Peter Beruk at the SPA. They both elected to reply to me offline
rather than pursue what I had hoped would be a provocative and
informative discussion on this newsgroup. Mike continued to demonstrate
elementary behavior so I'll spare you his reply. Peter essentially said
that, while disturbing, nothing could be done unless a report of
software piracy was received on an individual or company.
My response to Mike at Sirius was to get and use his own account so that
he can exercise the right to free speech on his own dime and using his
own name and not on behalf of the computer services company who made the
unfortunate decision to hire him. That would give a clear path for
well-deserved flaming.
Can anyone tell me why would someone post a message on a newsgroup that
can be read by any one of tens of millions of people around the world
and yet become indignant if the message is brought to the attention of a
specific professional association, or the firm paying for their access?
Further, why would such a person post a message in favor of stealing
software on a newsgroup designed for people who make their living with
software and _not_ expect a negative response? It's curious.
Susan Archer
>> Peter Beruk
> Director of Domestic Anti-Piracy
> Software Publishers Association
>> Dear Mr. Beruk,
>> Recently a message was posted to several newsgroups regarding pirating
> software. The original message was apparently from an international
> source but has since been deleted, at least from my news server. What
> concerns me is that the following individual from a US company responded
> in this way:
>>wizkid at sirius.com wrote:
>> > Don't buy anything from the software companies! $500 for Pagemaker or
> > Adobe Photoshop. All we pay for is the damn advertisting that they do.
> > Support pirate software!!! They blame that they lose money from
> > pirating. yeah right. Look at how much they make. people can't affored
> > to buy 5 disk for $500. Damn software manufactures rip us off, and we
> > let them, what a joke!!!
>> This person is from Sirius Connections, part of Sirius Solutions at 340
> Townsend St., Suite 540, San Francisco, CA, 415-284-4700. Is there any
> action that can be taken to protect our industry from people like this?
>> Your input would be greatly appreciated.
>> Susan Archer
> Director
> Software Testing Institute
>sarcher at metronet.com
