Don't Copy that Floppy!

[Alan]

I hear that web vids are allowed now, so here is a good one. It's not 15 years old yet, but it shows its age. Give yourself 10 mins to watch it.

hpv6_6pCpY8

[Brian]

I just watched two minutes or so, but it sure brought me back to the good old days when we Commodore 64 geeks traded 5 1/4 floppies. Imagine our horror when copy protection first hit the scene! :o

[deecree]

That video is perhaps the most convincing argument in favour of software piracy.

[Edith]

I just watched two minutes or so, but it sure brought me back to the good old days when we Commodore 64 geeks traded 5 1/4 floppies. Imagine our horror when copy protection first hit the scene! :o

In Holland, nobody gives a toss about copyright. I remember my student days when we used to buy a 70-dollar book, share the price, and make copies for the whole group. ;D ;D ;D

[greytop]

In Holland, nobody gives a toss about copyright. I remember my student days when we used to buy a 70-dollar book, share the price, and make copies for the whole group. ;D ;D ;DSo when you become a translator I can cut and paste your work for free?>:D

[deecree]

In Holland, nobody gives a toss about copyright. I remember my student days when we used to buy a 70-dollar book, share the price, and make copies for the whole group. ;D ;D ;D


This is done in the UK too, as textbooks are unaffordable by students.

[guapo]

I caught a glimpse of the old Flight Sim program that I know I bought, because it had a manual an inch thick. I guess the rap artist approach was an attempt to be cool :cool: A reminder of more innocent times...

[Edith]

So when you become a translator I can cut and paste your work for free?>:D

Maybe I created the wrong impression here. I meant photocopying, not copying texts and claiming to be its author.

Those textbooks I mentioned were obligatory; we had to read them in order to pass our exams but we couldn't afford them. That's why we photocopied them: so we could read them. There were simply not enough copies for all of us in the department library! We didn't copy the books so we could claim we had written them, we just needed to pass our exams.

Anyway, our department also photocopied chapters to add them to their readers, which were then sold to the students at a very low price. I don't know how it is these days but back then, everyone did it. We even had special photocopy shops catering to students. This has got nothing to do with cutting and pasting texts. I have never ever used anyone else's texts claiming them to be my own, nor have I ever done any 'cutting and pasting', not even in school. I do use quotes, though, and I always mention the source in my footnotes. That is what we have been taught to do at university.

At home I have got a small archive full of binders containing photocopied versions of books and articles for research purposes (I'm not employed as an anthropologist but I do some research on my own). Most of these books and articles are out of print and the margins of the photocopies contain many of my personal notes and commentaries as well. I have also got photocopies of Ph.D. dissertations etc. which are hard to come by and which I need for my research. Some researchers even sent me a copy of their dissertations and articles for that very purpose. Some photocopied articles cost me a 'fortune' because I obtained them from university libraries. I often photocopy rare books obtained through interlibrary loan for future use at home.

If someone wants to photocopy my MA thesis for the same purpose, fine by me! :) These days, some people even put their dissertation or thesis on the Internet because they believe other people may benefit from reading it. IMO, too much copyright legislation may actually harm the spreading of knowledge. The only people who really benefit from this ligitinous paranoia are the law firms!