CompuServe Messages

#Software Piracy

    31-Oct-91 00:50:36
Sb: #38867-#Software Piracy
Fm: Robert Hayes 70314,2302
To: Mike Roth 73316,1075
They have the right to police transactions, certainly. But they have no power to do so. If JoeBob sells BettySue a pirated copy of Lattice C, what is CIS to do? They can't take Betty Sue's word for it against JoeBob's; even her sending the 'pirate' disks isn't proof in court of law, because there's no evidence that she got them from JoeBob. The only way CIS could get proof against somebody would be to set up a sting operation – which means that THEY would have to buy bunches of software from people. It's not worth their time. The only people with jurisdiction are the FBI, and I can't see them getting involved for – at most – a $500 transaction.