[TowerTalk] Re:
Mike Lamb
n7ml@imt.net
Mon, 01 Feb 1999 21:32:15 +0000
Interesting Dick. I guess I will take this time to tell a true story about
one of my experiences about 15 years ago when AEA was a young and upcoming
company.
We developed a "software/firmware" product called MBA-TOR that gave you Morse,
Baudot, ASCII, and AMTOR when used with our CP-1 Computer Patch. It was two
EPROMS on a small PCB that plugged into the game port of a Commodore 64
computer. I believe it sold for $49.95 at the time and it came with a manual.
I started getting reports of one pirate that actually set up shop outside one
of our dealers in a major city every Saturday morning and sold a poorly done
copy of the PCB along with the copied EPROMs and a photocopy of our own
manual, copyrights and all!!! He was selling them for $17.95 if I recall
correctly and was telling anyone that would listen that AEA was ripping them
off as evidenced by the big price discrepancy. I had several customers tell
me the story and I could tell that they really wanted to hear my response to
the pirate's charge. I simply told them that I would also be able to sell the
product for $17.95 if someone else would do all the product definition,
initial design, beta testing, de-bugging, manual writing, advertising, trade
shows, seminars, arranging for magazine new product reviews, provide for
dealer profits and customer support!!
Fortunately, that pirate did not branch out across the country, but apparently
he was only one of several doing something similar and I do know that it did
cut into our profits over the years. What is so disappointing is that there
are so many hams that supported this activity.
It is extremely expensive to support a piece of software and to make sure it
is as bug-free as possible whenever it is offered for sale. Knowing that
pirates are circumventing the honest income that a company is deserving of is
very discouraging as evidenced by Brian's decision.
73/Mike, N7ML
dick.green@valley.net wrote:
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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> Having spent the last 25 years in the software industry, in every =
> capacity from programmer to CEO, I have a comment or two about this sad =
> situation.
>
> Software piracy is a disheartening fact of life. In the days before PCs, =
> it was virtually non-existent because only large corporations and =
> public institutions could afford big computers and would not have =
> exposed themselves to the legal liability. With the advent of the PC, =
> piracy increased substantially. Many copy protection schemes were =
> attempted, from passwords to "dongles", but most successful vendors have =
> abandoned them. Some feel that it's futile, while others figure it's a =
> form of advertising. Honest people will eventually buy the software and =
> dishonest people will never buy the software. In other words, you'll =
> never get a sale from the pirate anyway, so there's no point in trying =
> to thwart his/her efforts. Some vendors put a few mild blockades in the =
> way of copying software, like serial numbers, mostly to discourage the =
> casual user from passing the program around. In fact, we put serial =
> number protection in one product intended soley for use by corporate MIS =
> departments simply to prevent them from accidentally copying the =
> software (a staff installer may not be aware of the license agreement =
> and might just assume that it's OK to deploy copies for new machines.)
>
> The advent of the Internet has caused huge growth in piracy, obviously =
> due to the increased ability of people to send files to one another. =
> There are large communities of serious hackers who do nothing but crack =
> protection schemes and trade the pirated software with each other. It's =
> a big status game. However, that's not the biggest problem. The real =
> issue is that increased supply and competition, much of it due to =
> shareware and feeware availability on the Internet, has caused the =
> software consumer's perception of value to drop like a rock. People just =
> don't think they should have to pay much, or anything, to own software. =
> Like many others, I always search long and hard for freeware or =
> shareware before shelling out any money for hobby-related software. This =
> has devastated the economics of the software industry, severely =
> compounding the problems already being caused by substantial cost =
> increases for developing and marketing software. These factors hurt the =
> small companies the most, leading to monopolies like those enjoyed by =
> Microsoft. Only the major companies can survive the attrition of profit =
> margins. If you did everything right (always a daunting task), you used =
> to be able to get rich in the software business. Now only Bill Gates =
> will get richer (as if he needs any more money.) This is why so many =
> computer startups are based on Internet applications. Software margins =
> don't cut it anymore -- the Internet toll bridge is the new frontier.
>
> I'm a user of RITTY, and I must say that Brian is very talented indeed. =
> I don't know why anyone would go back to using a hardware modem after =
> using this program. I found it to be a tad expensive (especially the =
> PACTOR version), but the features and quality were still worth it to me. =
> I am really sorry to see Brian go -- his work will be sorely missed. But =
> I must say that he's one of the few hams I've heard of who actually =
> tried to make a living selling ham software. It's a small market and the =
> customers are notorious bargain hunters. I think it's a marginal =
> proposition at best. It may seem that he was overly sensitive to the =
> piracy, but you have to consider that he had the twin pain of being =
> ripped off and having his life's income threatened. In the future, we're =
> more likely to see software coming from hams, like Ken, who consider =
> writing it to be part of the hobby. Unfortunately, quality will be slow =
> in coming because hobbies can have only so much priority (to the sane, =
> anyhow.) This may not be optimum, but it works -- I can't begin to add =
> up the many hours of fun I've gotten from CT. I'd like Ken to make about =
> a thousand changes to it, but the bottom line is that it does a =
> fantastic job at a very modest price.=20
>
> One last word. Those who pirated Biran's software, and especially those =
> who posted it on the Internet out of spite, should be ashamed of =
> themselves. From the universal praise for Brian's products, it looks =
> like they've killed the goose that laid the golden egg.
>
> 73, Dick, WC1M
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_007E_01BE4DE5.1545D460
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> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Having spent the last 25 years in the =
> software=20
> industry, in every capacity from programmer to CEO, I have a comment or =
> two=20
> about this sad situation.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Software piracy is a disheartening fact =
> of life. In=20
> the days before PCs, it was virtually non-existent because only =
> large=20
> corporations and public institutions could afford big computers and =
> would not=20
> have exposed themselves to the legal liability. With the advent of the =
> PC,=20
> piracy increased substantially. Many copy protection schemes were =
> attempted,=20
> from passwords to "dongles", but most successful vendors have=20
> abandoned them. Some feel that it's futile, while others figure it's a =
> form of=20
> advertising. Honest people will eventually buy the software and =
> dishonest people=20
> will never buy the software. In other words, you'll never get a sale =
> from the=20
> pirate anyway, so there's no point in trying to thwart his/her efforts. =
> Some=20
> vendors put a few mild blockades in the way of copying software, like =
> serial=20
> numbers, mostly to discourage the casual user from passing the program =
> around.=20
> In fact, we put serial number protection in one product intended soley =
> for use=20
> by corporate MIS departments simply to prevent them from accidentally =
> copying=20
> the software (a staff installer may not be aware of the license =
> agreement and=20
> might just assume that it's OK to deploy copies for new =
> machines.)</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The advent of the Internet has caused =
> huge growth=20
> in piracy, obviously due to the increased ability of people to send =
> files to one=20
> another. There are large communities of serious hackers who do nothing =
> but crack=20
> protection schemes and trade the pirated software with each other. It's =
> a big=20
> status game. However, that's not the biggest problem. The real issue is =
> that=20
> increased supply and competition, much of it due to shareware and =
> feeware=20
> availability on the Internet, has caused the software consumer's =
> perception of=20
> value to drop like a rock. People just don't think they should have to =
> pay much,=20
> or anything, to own software. Like many others, I always search long and =
> hard=20
> for freeware or shareware before shelling out any money for =
> hobby-related=20
> software. This has devastated the economics of the software industry, =
> severely=20
> compounding the problems already being caused by substantial cost =
> increases for=20
> developing and marketing software. These factors hurt the small =
> companies the=20
> most, leading to monopolies like those enjoyed by Microsoft. Only the =
> major=20
> companies can survive the attrition of profit margins. If you did =
> everything=20
> right (always a daunting task), you used to be able to get rich in the =
> software=20
> business. Now only Bill Gates will get richer (as if he needs any =
> more=20
> money.) This is why so many computer startups are based on =
> Internet=20
> applications. Software margins don't cut it anymore -- the Internet toll =
> bridge=20
> is the new frontier.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I'm a user of RITTY, and I must say =
> that Brian is=20
> very talented indeed. I don't know why anyone would go back to using a =
> hardware=20
> modem after using this program. I found it to be a tad expensive =
> (especially the=20
> PACTOR version), but the features and quality were still worth it to me. =
> I am=20
> really sorry to see Brian go -- his work will be sorely missed. But I =
> must say=20
> that he's one of the few hams I've heard of who actually tried to make a =
> living=20
> selling ham software. It's a small market and the customers are =
> notorious=20
> bargain hunters. I think it's a marginal proposition at best. It may =
> seem that=20
> he was overly sensitive to the piracy, but you have to consider that he =
> had the=20
> twin pain of being ripped off and having his life's income threatened. =
> In the=20
> future, we're more likely to see software coming from hams, like Ken, =
> who=20
> consider writing it to be part of the hobby. Unfortunately, quality will =
> be slow=20
> in coming because hobbies can have only so much priority (to the sane, =
> anyhow.)=20
> This may not be optimum, but it works -- I can't begin to add up the =
> many hours=20
> of fun I've gotten from CT. I'd like Ken to make about a thousand =
> changes to it,=20
> but the bottom line is that it does a fantastic job at a very modest =
> price.=20
> </FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>One last word. Those who pirated =
> Biran's software,=20
> and especially those who posted it on the Internet out of spite, should =
> be=20
> ashamed of themselves. From the universal praise for Brian's products, =
> it looks=20
> like they've killed the goose that laid the golden egg.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>73, Dick, WC1M</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_007E_01BE4DE5.1545D460--
>
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