How would you like it if someone
were to steal something from
you? You would not be happy about it,
would you? If you owned your own
business, you would not want anyone
to steal from your business either,
right?
Using copyrighted software that you
did not pay for is theft, and there is no
justification for it. This practice is
often referred to by the name "Software
Piracy." Theft of computer software
deprives many people from the revenue
that would have been generated by a
legitimate sale. Programmers, software
companies, vendors and others depend
on the sale of their products for their
livelihood. In addition to the ethics of
not copying programs, it is illegal and
carries a very stiff penalty.
Shareware is a method of distribution
for software, rather than a type of
software. It is neither inferior, nor less
powerful than other commercially
available programs, and is often better.
Shareware programs are free to copy,
pass around, and try out for a
reasonable amount of time. Most
shareware programs are copyrighted
and require the registration (and
corresponding fees) of the program,
with the author, following the trial
period.
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Freeware is similar to shareware, but
does not require registration or
payment. Many of these programs are
copyrighted, however, so you may not
sell them as your own or modify them.
There are not as many freeware
programs available as there are
shareware programs, but many of them
are just as good as the shareware
programs.
The SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
PC USER GROUP, INC. does not
condone copying, distributing,
trading, or using illegal copies of
programs. We encourage our members
to abide by these same rules. Only
legitimate shareware and freeware
programs are allowed in the club
library and on the club BBS. If we
become aware that any program is not
legitimate it will be removed. If you
have any software to demo at the club
meetings, it must be either a legitimate
copy of a commercial program, or a
shareware or a freeware program.
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