On Fri, 11 Jan 2002 16:47:14 +0100, Stephane Roth wrote: > I have the original package from 1993 on my 80286 here , however since it is > shareware honnesty prevents my redistributing if the author cannot be > contacted for payment any more , what do you think ?
Shareware authors want and hope that their programs get widely distributed. Without distribution there is no hope of their ever getting paid. They have explicitly given the public the right to distribute their software. If they want to get paid, I think it is their responsibilty to maintain current contact information. Lots of shareware has been abandoned by it's authors. Is it wrong to distribute and try abandonned shareware? I don't think so. It is kind and thoughtful to attempt to find the vanished author of old programs, but I don't think there is any moral obligation to not distribute their shareware. Sam Ewalt Croswell, Michigan, USA -- Arachne V1.70;rev.3, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
