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Subject: Re: Copy protection policy for chess software

Author: Fernando Villegas

Date: 13:11:34 11/02/97

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On November 02, 1997 at 13:14:11, Peter Kasinski wrote:

>As technologies change, so do copy protection methods and our attitudes.
>I paid for enough chess programs to make my wife weep, here is my vote:
>
>1) the dongle - no thank you.
>
>Bought ChessBase 3.0, 4.0, will not buy the new one because of copy
>protection.
>
>2) Diskette with a small install counter - no thank you.
>
>With the PC industry changing weekly, I am adding memory, cards,
>transplanting CPU's, motherboards more and more frequently. Each time
>the counter goes down... I will not buy programs that ask me to mail my
>disks back so I could get three more installs (for three more months?).
>Farewell TascBase 2.0.
>
>3) Manual look-up - will tolerate, but manuals do get lost sometimes.
>
>But I can still run Sargon 5, Colossus X (why - is a reasonable
>question)
>
>4) Diskette must be present to play - will tolerate.


As a man that also has his wife weeping because too many chess programs
purchases, I would like to add the weight -if has any- of my own
experience and wishes about this. I buy no less than 4 or 5 chess
programs a year, I almost feel myself as one of the guys that keeps this
industry running and so I thing I deserve -we deserve- a better
treatment in this issue. Limited count of installations cannot be
tolerated anymore. I have just lost my last install for Wchess and
certainly I will not buy a new Kittinger product if he continues with
his meagre politics in this affair. The CD refuelling is OK, no danger
of diskette damage. Certainly there are people that right now are
copying CD rom, but always there will be people that violates safety
devices. Should us pay fot them with a lot of nuissances? They, the
violators, will get what they want anyway, but us will be damaged
without reason.


>Slightly more annoying than refueling from a CD. But I can still run my
>Socrates 3.0 and Mirage (unlike TascBase, WChess, Chessmachine Madrid -
>among other programs using method no. 2).
>
>5) Refuel from CD - fine with me (will upgrade annually)
>
>Especially if the CD comes with more than one copy of the program (like
>Genius, Nimzo, Fritz, Rebel 9)
>
>6) Very high install count - fine with me (will upgrade annually)
>
>M-Chess, Rebel, Hiarcs have all done that.
>
>7) No copy protection, world-class software - Chessmaster 4000, 5000,
>5500, Virtual Chess. Are they all losing money?
>
>8) World-class software free - thank you Professor Hyatt.



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