Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Napster and Software
Author: Jacob Levy Posted: 7/13/2000; 9:46:26 AM Topic: scriptingNews outline for 7/12/2000 Msg #: 18561 (In response to 18550) Prev/Next: 18560 / 18562
i call it the awareness...You can't do that with software. People are smarter, they find what they need, and niche products like Frontier (not everyone needs it, even though I'm sure Dave would love it if they did :) can't afford to build awareness.
The question remains, how to protect bits on the internet. I fully believe Dave when he says that if you steal his stuff all he's going to do is suggest you look in the mirror :). That's about all the recourse anyone has -- look at the music industry, which believes that their bits are being stolen en masse. If they haven't yet succeeded in shutting anyone down, why should Dave even try? It costs money, you know, to defend your stuff legally.
Again I must agree with Dave: I'm willing to pay for what I use. I download a lot of music from Napster (RIAA: so sue me :), and I've paid for what I keep. I want to pay for what I keep if I don't have the record, casette or CD yet, and I want to try before buying.
Frontier offers that model. You can download and try for sixty days. Lots of software has the same model, WinZip comes to mind (21 days trial), I've paid up and I will again when I get an upgrade if they ask for it, because it's a lifeline, must-have piece of software.
It's the no-parachute jump-out-of-the-plane model. Seems to work for Dave. Why doubt his word?
Jacob
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