Hi Peter,
If you go to the everlock web site:
http://www.az-tech.com
and look at their information, there are mainstream products such as games
that use the copy protection method that hj do. Think about it, if the
company who makes the copy protection schemes relied on adaptive technology
as their main source of income then they would not be able to survive.
Which is why logically I would believe that there must be mainstream
companies who use the same copy protection as the adaptive technology
companies do.
Kind regards, David Truong
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Peter donahue
Sent: Thursday, 25 March 1999 1:03
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Jfw authorization disk. Is it good for the blind?
Good morning listers,
I just came in from taking the dog out for his morning airing and while he
was relieving himself I had a thought on this whole authorization scheeme.
Does anyone know how wide-spread the use of these scheemes are? The only
software packages I've seen that employ this type of protection scheeme is
adaptive software for the blind. I understand that Kurvweil used to use
this scheeme but they discontinued using it probably due to prompting, and
perhaps some soul searching on the part of their staff and software
developers. It is my understanding that Window Bridge employs this
scheeme as well. Again these are software packages for the blind. I for
one have not seen this kind of protection scheeme used by any developers of
main-stream software nor do I constantly read front-page headlines of
software poiracy. And there is a lot of that going on out there among John
Q. Public.
This leads me to question whether or not the use of this protection
scheeme is sending the wrong message to the public about the abilities and
the capibilities of the blind. Does it assume wrongly that blind people
are more likely to become software poirates and that we can not be trusted
with unprotected software not to mention the inconveeniences this use of
this scheeme can cause some individuals? What does the use of this
protection scheeme say to potential employers about the abilities of blind
workers; particularly those looking for work in the computer fields? It
seems to me that in it'sown way the use of this scheeme tells them to watch
out foor their top technical secretes. They have blind computer thieves
working for them who are likely to distribute closely guarded secretes, and
software to the public at large. You and i know that this is far from the
truth. The use of this protection method could in the long run be doing us
more harm than good. While it is protecting HJ's business in the long
run it could be hurting employment and educational opportunities for the
users of their products. It seems to me that if Kurzweil can take the leap
of faith and do away with the use of authorizations on their products then
HJ should take a hard look at this question and consider doing likeewise.
Someone suggested that HJ require that perchasers of their products sign a
contract saying that they will not freely distribute JFW or any other
packages produced by them. However we should keep in mind that many
main-stream software packages display a warning notice that potential users
are encouraged to read before they are given access to the software. They
speciffically state that agreeing not to distribute their software is a
term of the licensing agreement for the use of these packages and it simply
stops there. Beyond that point it's a matter of trust and respect on the
part of the software manufacturer. The shareware version of Winzip is
one such package. The use of a special contract as suggested by my
friend could havethe same negative effect as would the use of the
authorization disk.
While I will not play shoot-em-up up here over this issue I do believe
that HJ should take a good hard look at this issue and consider an
alternative that protects their business while at the same time promotes a
positive attitude about the abilities and the capibilities of the blind.
Now that I've aired out my brain I'm going to give the dog some water ande
have some New England clam chowder for brunch. Talk to you later.
Peter Donahue
We're headed for the future and the future's Now!
"We're headed for the future"
"Dreamer"
Peter donahue
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Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
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Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
