->
-> In the CD-ROM Fidonet echo you are presently attempting to buy a CD
-> from a person who makes his living buying and reselling used CD-ROMS.
-> Is he breaking the law by doing this, Kit???
->
I have no idea what this has to do with Disney since I have not
attempted to buy any Disney CD-ROMS, but let me correct your message. I
have not knowingly purchased used software in that echo.
Some software allows licensed user to transfer their usage license to
another party by turning over ALL copies of the given software to the
other party. Other software does not. In any case, you don't own the
software itself, rather you own the right to use it on one computer.
Many software lisence agreements prohibit you from loaning, selling,
giving away or in any other manner attempting to transfer the lisence to
another party. This is because the copyright law gives the owner of the
software that right. After all, they are the only legal owner of it.
-> When a student sells her used textbooks back to the school bookstore
-> or to another student, is she breaking the law?  Used bookstores buy
-> and sell used books!  Who sells them the used books?  Law-breakers?
School libraries are the authorized distributors of textbooks and thus
have the right to sell them, take them back, resell them and the like.
-> Oh, and by the way, buying several copies of a videotape with the
-> intention of reselling them is not commonly referred to as "piracy."
-> The term is more appropriately applied to the act of stealing, and/or
-> illegally copying, and selling or otherwise distributing tapes.
I don't think I need to be lectured by you on how to use the English
language. I know what the term piracy means. Any tape that is
distributed illegally is a pirated videotape. Unauthorized distribution
of videotapes is illegal and thus the product of such an act is a
pirated videotape.
-> Since you are a Disney stockholder concerned about company profits,
-> maybe you should think about the reasons why Disney intentionally
-> limits the availability of certain products to given windows of time.
They want to create a gap of a certain number of years between releases
of the film so that they can show it to a new generation every 7 or so
years. BTW, that also proves my point. They own the films and have a
right to create these time gaps. Distributing these tapes during those
time gaps violates their right to conduct business the way they see fit.
So really, the acts goes AGAINST the free enterprise ideals and instead
towards piracy.
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