CHAPTER 11
TO COPY
OR
NOT TO COPY
A Summary of Copying Know-How, Know-Why and
Know-Why-Not for Computer Users of All Ages
Written by Steve Bergen and Lynne Schalman
The Original Teaching Company, PO Box E, Lexington MA 02420
A BIT OF COPYING KNOW-HOW
No matter what kinds of tasks you do with the computer, you will start collecting lots of storage disks with files on them. It is crucial that you make backup copies of the storage disks that contain your valuable files. Yes, disks can go bad in many ways–heat, dust and fingerprints. Making regular backups of these storage disks is the sane and cautious thing to do. And if you have a hard disk, watch out for the crash that rivals 1929! When a hard disk drive crashes, you may have only a $50 repair bill, but all your data is gone from that drive in one second! Hard disk drive roulette rivals Russian roulette for foolishness. Over the next 5 years, there is probably a 50% chance that any specific drive will crash. Thou shalt backup!
Then there is the need to back up the software that you have purchased. Software is expensive. If your master software disk goes bad, you may have trouble the company has gone bankrupt! Thou shalt backup!
Some companies include a backup disk as part of the initial purchase. Sometimes you will be allowed to make a backup from the master disk one time only, after which the feature self-destructs. Some disks are copy-protected which means that the software publisher puts special electronic codes onto the program disk to prevent people from making illegal bootleg copies of the software. This, however, makes it less convenient to use the software on hard disk drives and so copy-protection is becoming less widespread.
As Erik Sandberg-Diment wrote in his column (New York Times, 2/24/85):
The most basic of data precautions for any individual employing microcomputers is the making of backups–duplicate copies of the diskettes that hold valuable programs and data. Can there be anyone who has not heard upon first purchasing a personal computer of the absolute necessity of backups? Yet not a week goes by without my hearing yet another tale of woe about some company whose entire disk of records has been devoured by the computers and that’s right, there was no backup. Why?
Perhaps it’s because to the first-time user, backing up one’s data does sound like a bit of a sales push. Or maybe it’s an oversight carried over from a more mechanical age, when paper records did NOT really need to be backed up.
Many companies using computers for years have a policy of not storing data of any magnetic medium for an extended period, say more than six months. At the end of that period, new copies are made automatically and the original medium is then recycled.
Anyone who uses personal computers should adopt the steadfast habit of making not one, but two backup copies of any new program as soon as it is unpacked. If all this sound like high-tech paranoia, consider for a moment what it means to your business to have some of your floppies containing your data suddenly turn out to be useless.
GOOD BACKUP HABITS
Good habit #1: Save your work every 15-20 minutes! This protects you if the power should go off, a phenomenon that always occurs without warning.
Additionally, it sometimes happens that your screen “freezes” and your cursor disappears. Although the cause may be software related or from static electricity, the only usual recourse is that you lose your work and will have to reboot. If you’ve saved every 15-20 minutes, the worst that can happen is that you have to LOAD back the version that you saved at the previous time. If you haven’t saved in several hours or at all, you’re in big trouble and will learn your lesson the hard way.
The final reason for saving every 15-20 minutes is that if you mess up your work at some crucial stage, it might be possible to load up the version saved prior to the mess-up. Perhaps you deleted more records from the database than you intended, perhaps you deleted too many sentences from your document or perhaps you erased a portion of the picture you were drawing. If you saved 10-15 minutes ago, you will usually be able to LOAD back the previous version.
Good habit #2: Never work with just one storage disk! Always sit down to work with a main data disk and a backup. When you are done with a project for the session and have saved for the last time onto the main storage disk, make sure you save for a second time onto the backup disk. Label one disk MAIN STORAGE DISK and label the other as BACKUP STORAGE DISK.
Good habit #3: Keep at least 3 backups of important files and disks! Why isn’t one enough? What if one day you try loading an important file from your master disk and you get a message that says ERROR#56—FILE DAMAGED. Most people stick in their backup disk and try to load the backup disk. Uh, oh, now you get that message again; when you look up ERROR#56 you learn that your disk drive is damaged and is destroying every disk that is inserted.
Get the point? Disks are under one dollar, can hold 140-1400 pages of information and can always be re-formatted and reused. Why not be neurotic and backup all important files and disks on at least 2 extra pieces of plastic.
What’s the ultimate in backup schemes? We know many businesses that have 5 multi-colored disks to backup the data on the 5 weekdays, each day doing a backup onto the daily disk. At the end of each week, there is another backup disk called Friday Week#1, Friday Week#2, etc. Each week the current Friday disk is taken home to be stored away from the computer site. We know of one school where the thermostat kicked on in July and destroyed all the disks with excessive heat, even though there was no fire!
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF PIRATING SOFTWARE
Here are the standard arguments used by many children and adults in favor of copying, in a format that David Letterman could use on television.
#10 ... I never knew there was anything wrong with it.
#9 ... The salesman told me it was fine to do.
#8 ... It does not really hurt anyone.
#7 ... Most people that I know do it.
#6 ... It is virtually impossible to get caught.
#5 ... Software is generally too expensive.
#4 ... I wasn’t planning to actually use the software. I just wanted to have a copy so I could check it out and occasionally play with it.
#3 ... Access to information tools should not be restricted this way. As people realize this, the law will change to reflect the technology.
#2 ... I thought it was okay to buy one package and make multiple copies for all our machines. How can they expect me to buy so many copies?
#1 ... Copying software is no different than photostatting pages from books, copying sheet music or copying records, cassettes or video tapes.
The following opinion, expressed by Twila Slesnick, senior editor of Classroom Computer Learning (October 1984, pp 16-20), supports many of the above arguments:
My best friend is a software pirate, I guess. She and her colleagues exchange copies of programs they like. But they don’t sell the copies to anyone and they don’t exchange copy protected software — probably because it’s too much trouble or maybe they don’t know how.
As for me, I’m not horrified or offended by their misdeeds .... in fact, I’m not sure that casual copying bothers me at all ... what bothers me is the fear that there may be a flaw in my character. Because making copies of disks is illegal, I feel as though I SHOULD disapprove of my friend’s actions. What’s more, I wonder what I would do if I were still teaching?
I’ve been doing some soul-searching to figure out why I feel the way I do. I’ve uncovered two factors that contribute to my attitude about copying software. The first is my knowledge — no ignorance — of the law and the second is my sense of right and wrong. First, ignorance. As many a traffic cop has told me, ‘Ignorance of the law is no defense, lady.’ But no one knows all the laws ... we all rely on our common sense, integrity and gut level feelings of right and wrong to tell us what we should or shouldn’t do. Before the media blitz on piracy, it did not even occur to me that making copies of programs might be illegal. After all, how is it different from photocopying a magazine article or taping a friend’s record (both of which I admit I have done with obvious abandon).
Public ignorance is fading now ... but I don’t think consciousness raising is enough to inhibit copying — the behavior just doesn’t FEEL wrong. It’s like driving 59 miles per hour — people do it and they don’t feel guilty. And that could be the biggest obstacle the software industry has yet to overcome. If a law seems ridiculous, people ignore it... Many of us have trouble feeling remorse over things like copying a rented videocassette.
Teachers ... make up a large subset of those remorseless copies of software. But what is interesting about teachers is that they have an additional incentive to copy: humanitarianism. They’re not copying educational programs for personal gain or pleasure. They’re doing it for the kids. They need extra backups because kids spill soda and smear mustard on disks. And sometimes the district just won’t or can’t cough up the money for the software.
Many other adults have expressed similar opinions in favor of copying software. Let’s hear from some teachers this time.
From Teacher A:
We have over ten computers here and just one copy of Logo. The software manufacturer, Terrapin, won’t even sell us multiple copies at a good discount price. What do you expect us to do if we want to use Logo on our multiple computers? Buy 10 copies at $100 a piece? ... Oh, yeah, by the way Steve, that TC FILER you’ve got is really a very neat program. I hope you don’t mind but I made a copy of it to give to some friends at a local college. Is that okay?
From Teacher B:
How can they expect us not to copy the software? It’s just like records, cassettes and videotaping. Look here — the Supreme Court finally ruled that it’s legal to copy television shows. People have been doing that for years. They can’t stop it — it’s the nature of the medium. Okay, so maybe copying software is illegal, but everyone is doing it, you can’t stop it — it’s just the electronic nature of the medium. In a few years, they’ll rule that copying software is legal and we’ll all find out that what we’ve been doing for years is okay.
From Teacher C:
Hey, Steve, can you help me with this PFS: Write program I got from a friend in Connecticut? No, I don’t have the manual; he just copied the software for me. Did I know it’s illegal to copy software? Hey, wait a second he did it, not me, and he’s the assistant headmaster of that independent school.
From Teacher D:
Well, since four of us were buying Apples, we thought we’d buy just two copies of AppleWriter. The company allows you to send for a backup disk. So two of us kept the original disk and two of us took the backups. Then we just photostatted the manual, so this way all four of us can use the same software. Since we’re giving them all this business, this isn’t wrong, is it?
A teacher wrote a letter to the editor to A+/InCider Magazine (June 1986) with a compelling title: Software Copying as Civil Disobedience
Americans have always gone around or ignored repressive, restrictive, old unenforceable laws and regulations. Civil disobedience, to borrow a latter-day buzzword, seems to be the norm rather than the exception in the culture of our country. I won’t belabor the point, but look at the underwhelming success of Prohibition and the 55 MPH speed limit.
As George Bernard Shaw pointed out through the words of Alfred Doolittle, the poor can’t afford morals. Unfortunately, all too many school systems and teachers are literally poor.
[Any] reference to students with one book per course is ill-chosen. A textbook might cost $20 to $25 (as opposed to $39.95 to $49 for a piece of commercial software), but it will last a whole semester or a whole year in contrast to a piece of software that might be useful for just one week.
Sorry. I’m afraid that as long as teachers are interested in teaching the kids in their charge, regardless of the lousy pay and tight budgets, piracy of educational software will remain alive and well.
How about some opinions from parents?
From a parent of a student at a local independent school:
“Hey, Steve, do you know any of the control codes for AppleWriter? Well, no I don’t have the manual. My son brought the disk home today. He said his friend copied it for him, but we can’t figure out how any of the control codes work.”
From the parents of our 15 year old nephew:
Since our son tells us that everybody copies software, we decided to make some ground rules in our house. We told him that he could copy anyone else’s software and use it, but that if WE bought software, he was not allowed to copy it and give it to his friends.
How about some other adults?
A reader writes to Softalk Magazine, May 1982
Piracy is a biased word; it implies theft. As they say, it all depends on which ox is being gored. Mine is my wallet, so my policy on copying is this: if I can get it, I will ... copy-protection is an indefensible, self-defeating, technically impossible, unenforceable, greedy policy.
Finally, let’s hear from the kids. Perhaps the children can lead us as the Bible says?
A 13 year old reader writes to Softalk Magazine, July 1983, pp 38-39:
Everyone copies something in their lifetime for their own use. Does that mean that everyone is a thief because he or she copied a page of music or an article from a magazine?
I like many other people, copy any program I can get my hands on. In fact, I own only two programs that I bought from a store. Everybody I know who owns a computer copies software. What about the schools? Do they have to buy six algebra programs because they have six computers in their school?
Perhaps I wouldn’t copy so much if the price of a program weren’t so high. I’m thirteen years old and I make only fifteen dollars a month. It takes me two months to save up enough money to get a decent program. If I copy programs, I can get up to fifteen good programs without paying a cent in one month! Face it, some programs aren’t even worth their price. I’ll admit there are some that are useful ... but these programs are few and far between.
A 12 year old reader writes to Softalk Magazine, September 1983, p 42:
Although I am only twelve years old, I own an Apple and know quite a bit about it. I am the only one in the family who uses it. I’ve got a confession to make: I am a software pirate. So far I have pirated about two hundred games, utilities and business programs. I have bought only three disks out of sixty-eight, but I have a very good reason. I will keep on pirating software for myself and my friends until software manufacturers find a good way to sell their software items cheaper. Torture me! Arrest me! Beat me! Kill me! You’ll never stop me from copying software. As one dealer says, when one person has a new game, the whole neighborhood has it. And that’s a fact.
A high school student posts this notice on the computer room door:
Do not let the school tell you what to do. Copy all you want. The school’s place should not be to make moral decisions for you. Decide on your own if you find duplicating a disk for personal use unethical.
A few facts. The copying of software is unlike shoplifting, since shoplifting involves the loss of property on the store’s part. Copying involves loss of potential profit, a profit which often would not have been made. It may remove this possible money from the state, but uncaught speeding takes money from the state, as does unpaid parking meters Thus you must place its moral value in your own life and decide how bad it is.
Note that the school distributes photocopies in class, does not stop the public performance of legally or illegally recorded music in chapels or for music used in student films. And should not.
NOW LET’S REVIEW THE FACTS
Fact #1: Copying computer software without authorization violates the U.S. Copyright law. It is a federal offense. Civil damages for unauthorized software copying can be as much as $50,000 or more and criminal penalties include fines and imprisonment. (Source: ADAPSO—see address below)
Fact #2: Most software companies struggle financially. Over half the companies in the last 10 years have gone out of business. Producing software is often a labor of love, particularly for educational software.
Fact #3: The copyright laws of this country have evolved over the last two hundred years, are part of our American heritage and do not exist in all countries today. As with many American privileges, we should be careful about what we take for granted. Here are the basic history facts:
On May 31, 1790, Congress used the power given it in Article 8-2 of the Constitution to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writing and Discoveries. This act provided for 14 years of protection. In 1909, the term was extended to 28 years plus a possible renewal of 28 more years. In 1976, the term was extended to its current length, the life of the author plus 50 years.
(Source: Young Creator’s Contest, Box 17, Washington DC 20540)
Fact #4: The widespread copying of music tapes has not been so innocent. A recent NY Times article states that most troubling to recording companies is the increasing tendency for consumers to tape a friend’s record rather than buy their own. Kal Rudman, publisher of the Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, states that “The copyright violations of home taping and counterfeit of music cassettes steal between $1 billion and $2 billion a year.”
Fact #5: It doesn’t matter whether or not the disk is copy-protected. Some people think that you are allowed to copy unprotected software. This is completely wrong. Because of hard disk drives, it has become most impractical to copy-protect software. That has been one of the driving reasons for unprotecting software. The copyright laws are not in any way related to whether or not the disk is copy-protected!
Fact #6: You are allowed to make back-up copies for archival purposes in the event that your original copy fails. Such copies are not to be used on a second machine at the same time as the original. (Source: Software Copyright Interpretation, The Computing Teacher, March 1985, page 10)
Fact #7: Multiple-loading or booting one disk into multiple machines is not proper unless specified by the manufacturer.
The legal concept has to do with the proliferation of simultaneous users. The law is designed to protect the copyright holder from loss of sales. If Bank Street Writer is sold for use on one machine — and it is — and you load it into 15 machines, one after the other, so that all 15 are in use at the same time, you are hindering sales. Thus you are in violation of the law. The fact that you can physically load the contents into multiple machines is irrelevant. The key element here is proliferation of simultaneous users. (Source: Software Copyright Interpretation, The Computing Teacher, March 1985, page 10)
Fact #8: Many software companies offer site licenses and multiple disk lab packs as attractive alternative for schools: Scholastic, Sunburst, Microsoft, Tom Snyder, ISTE, LCSI, Dubl-Click, Aldus and so on. Other companies will make some arrangements for schools if contacted. And then there are companies such as Sunburst and Tom Snyder Productions that explicitly allow multiple-booting of some of their software products.
Fact #9: It is not so complicated to explain the proper use for taping television shows for educational purposes.
They may be shown to students during the first 10 consecutive school days after the date of recording and may be retained for up to 45 days for teacher evaluation only; beyond these two guidelines, all educational use of television recording is improper. (Source: The Copyright Primer, page 41, American Library Association, 50 East Huron St., Chicago IL 60611)
Fact #10: It is not so complicated to explain the proper use for photostatting printed material for educational purposes. Single copies of a chapter from a book, an article from a periodical or newspaper, or a chart, diagram or cartoon may be made by a teacher for use in teaching or for preparation. Multiplies copies of an article can be made only if these four conditions are satisfied:
• Brevity: poems must be less than 250 words, articles must be less than 2500 words, excerpts of books must not exceed 10% of the work, but no copying of consumables such as workbooks, exercises, standardized test, test booklets is allowed.
• Spontaneity: the copying and moment of desired classroom teacher use are so close that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply for permission.
• Cumulative effect: the sum total from one author should not exceed one article or two excerpts, no more than 9 instances for one course during one class term, no copying of consumables such as workbooks, exercises, standardized test, test booklets.
• Repetition: no copying shall be repeated with respect to the same item by the same teacher from term to term.
These rules are not so complicated after all. The Copyright Primer makes all this information quite clear, even including a question and answer format!
Fact #11: Information is available! The Copyright Primer is available from The American Library Association (50 East Huron St., Chicago IL 60611, 800-545-2433). The Computing Teacher from ISTE (1787 Agate St, Eugene OR 97403, 800-336-5191) and ADAPSO (Suite 300, 1300 North 17th St, Arlington VA 22209, 703-522-5055) are excellent sources. The Software Publishers Assoc (1730 M St, NW, Suite 700, Washington DC 20036, 202-452-1600) produces numerous handouts, videos (Don't Copy that Floppy and It's Not Worth the Risk) and the free program SPAudit (Mac and IBM) which compiles a software inventory of each hard drive. Albert Silverman's book The Copyright Game: A Strategic Guide for the Computer Software User (Intellogic Press, PO Box 3322, La Mesa CA 91944 or via his slvrmn@netcom.com mailbox).
Fact #12: It is not so hard to create a school policy. Sample policies are now enclosed in all Scholastic packages. Or you can write the Office of Technical Assistance, 131 Livingston St., Brooklyn NY 11021. The ISTE Software Copyright Committee suggests the following guidelines:
• The ethical and practical implications of software piracy will be taught to educators and school children in all schools.
• Faculty and school employees will be informed that they are expected to adhere to the 1976 Copyright Act governing the use of software.
• When permission is obtained to use software on a hard drive, network or site license, efforts will be made to secure this software from copying.
• Under no circumstance shall illegal copies of copyright software be made or used on school equipment.
• The [head of each school] is responsible for establishing practices which will enforce this copyright policy.
OUTSIDE OF A SMALL
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
Thank goodness that some people have chosen in the last decade to take a stand and voice their opinions, even if they are in the minority. Phil Ochs wrote a song called Outside of a Small Circle of Friends. When it comes to the software piracy issue, that is the way it has seemed. Fortunately, if you read enough and talk to enough people, you can find some people who agree with you. The Bob Dylan song called Obviously 5 Believers (which interestingly uses the same music as Norwegian Wood) suggests the need for a critical mass of faculty at each school who believe in software honesty! With at least 5 believers, it is generally reasonable to raise the obvious issue!
From a teacher at Beaver Country Day School:
Well, I ordered Appleworks for the school and since I have an Apple at home, I wanted to get myself another copy. Considering the fact that the disks are not even copy-protected, I thought about how easy it would be to just copy the software and use it at home. But the more I thought about it, I just couldn’t do it. The more I thought about it, I just didn’t WANT to do it.
From Dick Baker, headmaster of Noble and Greenough School:
I would say that our approach to the copying of software — illegal copying of software — is perhaps the best ethical thing that we do. Clearly , the use of the Xerox machine is one of the worst things that we do. (Dick took the very first Teaching Company computer course in BASIC programming back in 1982 and was subsequently a guest speaker at Summercore 86, the year the Celtics won #16)
From a teacher at Concord Academy:
My son is the only kid in the neighborhood who is not allowed to copy software. None of his friends’ parents care a bit about this issue and as a result our son thinks we are being completely unfair to him.
From a music teacher at Wooster School:
No, I never photostat sheet music or copy cassette tapes, but I know lots of music teachers that do. I’ve always felt that copying sheet music or tapes was in some symbolic way undermining the sense of intellectual achievement of the artist. That’s the same as copying software. To copy a cassette tape so that someone else can use it is the same as stealing software.
From the headmaster of a New England independent school:
The argument against software pirating makes considerable sense. One of the striking polls that we did recently with our faculty last year involved asking ourselves which personal characteristics in our student we most wanted to foster and which of those desirable characteristics were prevalent in our students. Moral sensibility was rated quite highly by our faculty as a desirable personal characteristic. However our students were notably lacking in that quality, by our own estimating either before or during their high school experience here. I am convinced that a school without a moral center of some perceptive sort is simply not a school community. If our schools want to be viable institutions within American society, they must lay claim to some moral code and some moral center, even given — and because of — the vacuum of moral relativity that passes for a moral climate in American society these days. On an issue such as computer pirating, we simply have no choice other than active discouragement of that practice and absolute refusal to engage in it as teachers and administrators. The same should go for copying of other copyrighted material, as painful as that may be! It may take some terribly creative thinking from the adults in our schools to abide by the laws and to give our students thought-provoking materials, but I am convinced that we should get to that.
From a New York Times article about Joe Clark, “Lean on Me” principal
The helping professions seem stuck in an era when the challenge was to free people from overstrict consciences, while today’s task is to provide children with coherent environments and limits, with adults firmly at the helm. Many children are not given the wherewithal to develop a mature personality, let alone a conscience... Those who find Mr. Clark overly strict should know that the consensus among experts is that serious disturbances in growth and development occur when children are deprived of discipline and the assurance that their behavior has consequences.
From a software publisher, in response to a reader:
Sorry, piracy doesn’t imply theft. It IS theft. There are no two ways about it. When you take something that doesn’t belong to you, it’s got a simple one-word definition: stealing. IF that’s the definition of a pirate, then yes, you’re a thief. And if you steal because you can’t afford the software, then you had no business buying a computer in the first place.
From Mark Pelzarski, president of Polarware:
The enclosed product is supplied on a disk that is not copy-protected. It is our intent to make this product as useful as possible and we feel that with application software, the ability to easily make your own backup copies is a great asset.
We ask that you not abuse our intentions by making copies for others. The result of such activity only helps promote the unfortunate existing situation of most software being protected, and in our opinions, less usable. We hope that the commercial success of non-protected products such as this one will signal other publishers that copy-protection is not necessary and help reverse the trend in protected applications software. At Polarware, through policies such as this and our pricing, we are trying to look out for your best interests. Please help us.
From the Spellswell manual, a dictionary for the Macintosh:
We encourage you to make a personal backup copy before using Spellswell. Use the backup copy and file the original. Spellswell is not copy protected.
You may make backups for your use only. Giving people ‘trial copies’ or keeping a copy and selling the original are a violation of our copyright. You can encourage people to behave honorably by pointing out the reasonable price and good support that you receive and suggesting that they buy their own copy.
Spellswell is sold for use on one computer. If you plan to use Spellswell on more than one Macintosh at a time, you must purchase other copies of Spellswell rather than copy one Spellwell and distribute it. 
From a sign on a Kindergarten wall at Shady Hill School:
Respect yourself ... Respect others ... Respect your environment.
One of three community principles at Noble & Greenough School:
Honesty is one of the essential values at Nobles. Any form of dishonesty is unacceptable.
From David Thornburg, (A+/InCider Magazine, March 86) in his article What’s Turning Teachers into Thieves?
Quite frankly, I feel more pity for the junkie that steals from a liquor store than I do for the teacher who steals. Educational software houses are dropping like flies, and many of the ones that are still in business are on the ragged edge of success. Software theft has reached epidemic proportions in this country and unless something is done about it, the developers of educational software will move into another business in which they won’t get robbed blind.
I agree that the simplicity of disk copying makes it easier for people to be thieves, but this ease is no excuse for people who consider themselves civilized. People — especially teachers — should be discouraged from thievery because they believe it to be wrong, not because they believe it to be hard. The renunciation of illicit disk copying may be too much to ask of the public at large, but I am ashamed to think it may be too much to ask of teachers. Teachers who steal software aren’t stealing from a faceless corporation; they are stealing from a flesh—and—blood person who has dreams and desires for a happy life. These dreams get shattered each time a copy of a program is stolen. At least a junkie with a gun has the courage to look his victim in the face.
AND NOW IT’S YOUR TURN...
As with many issues, we listen and reflect but ultimately decide for ourselves. Legally, copying is stealing; practically, copying is foolproof. No one is going to catch you and legal fees make prosecution prohibitive. As Bob Dylan once said, “To live outside the law you must be honest.” And now you’ve got the rest of your life to see what you think and how you wish to respond to this issue. We urge you to keep several things in mind.
Consideration #1: Freedom of Choice
You are allowed to change your mind. Whatever your current actions regarding the improper copying of paper, music, video and software, it is comforting to know that we can put the past behind us and start fresh. At one school, where over 200 students and teachers had bootleg copies of AppleWriter, the computer coordinator stood up the next year and announced to the school that “we’ve screwed up and need to start clean.” All illegal copies were returned, discussions ensued, but everyone felt quite positive about the new policy and educational value for the community.
Consideration #2: Intellectual Property
Given the reality that part of what we are trying to do in schools has to do with respect for intellectual, artistic and aesthetic endeavors, it seems incumbent on us as educators to take a stand on this issue. As Mitch Kapor from Lotus Corporation has said, “Copying software is the theft of intellectual property.” To argue that physical property is to be respected more than intellectual property smacks of incredible materialism. To argue for convenience and to plead financial need smacks of the very same expediency that we deplore in politicians and stock brokers.
Consideration #3: It Won’t Go Away
The copying issue is not going to go away. As more people use computers, it will only get worse. As technology advances, we will have more and more things to copy. Once upon a time, it was only paper. Now we have software disks, cassettes and video tapes. Eventually, we’ll be able to copy color prints from Art books. By the year 2000, we’ll have a book-duplicating machine that produces bound copies. No, the issue will not go away.
Ultimately we must all deal with the copying issue in the same way that we deal with issues of lying and cheating. Those two problems have always been around and we haven’t solved them as a society. The only comfort is that some parents take pride in addressing these issues within their family and some schools take similar pride within their academic community.
Consideration #4: Role Models
It has been said that 3 forces used to be responsible for the moral development of children in our society: religion, family and school. Well, increasingly, our family structures have changed and religion has dwindled in importance for many people. Doesn’t this suggest that teachers need to be positive role models for children even more now than ever?
To hear the story of a history teacher who hired a student to help him break the codes of Geography Search so they could make illegal copies is amazing. Last year, at a workshop, a computer coordinator told the story of how she walked into the computer room one day and found a science teacher copying all of the school’s software for personal use. When she confronted him, he dared her to do something about it, including turning him in to the headmaster. And so it goes — we go forward by technological leaps and bounds and yet our sense of human decency makes such little progress.
And so the final vote is yours, since each person has to decide how he/she wants to walk this line. If you’re a teacher, you might keep in mind some of the favorite rationalizations used by your next student who gets caught cheating on a test or plagiarizing a paper:
• Don’t you realize, Teach, how many other students do this?
• So what if I cheated on the SATs? I’m not really hurting anyone.
• It’s the nature of the medium. You give us pencil and paper tests that make it so easy to cheat. You have us write papers at home making it so easy to plagiarize. It’s just the nature of the medium.
• This is the first time I’ve been caught in 6 years; most of us students know how hard it is to get caught.
THOU SHALT NOT DUPE
THE NO COPYING — GOTTA BE HONEST AT NOBLES — BLUES
A Short Presentation/Performance at Nobles each Fall
I've got the no copying software—gotta be honest at Nobles—blues
I've got the no copying software—gotta be honest at Nobles—blues
All I've got is my own good word to lose
I've got the trying to bring Nobles
kicking and screaming, into the 90s blues
So don't let us down
You can be honest if you choose
In the middle ages, says Dr. B
Plagiarism was the place to be
But the times they are a changin says Bobby D
And we’re moving into a new century
I should have taught at that other school
Where copying disks is considered cool
But, Bakes, he told me to take a risk
So I'm giving my word, I won't copy that disk
A sign just went up on the Wittenberg Door (Steve Bergen: there’s your note on the door, Reggie)
It says I’m tired of hearing about this copying thing no more
So let’s move on to other WORDS we don’t like
I’ve got the derogatory blues when I hear them faggot & dyke
FINAL CHORUS
I've got the no derogatory—gotta be decent at Nobles—blues
I've got the no derogatory—gotta be decent at Nobles—blues
All we've got is our own respect to lose
SIGNATURES WANTED: Honesty is clearly a personal thing, even if one of our community principles states that “Honesty is an essential value at Nobles; any form of dishonesty is unacceptable.” If you are willing to support us in our quest to be a community where we strive to be 100% honest in our ever-increasing use of computers here, we would love to
have your signature on The 1994 Wittenberg Door outside of the computer lab. But if not, we appreciate your honesty in NOT signing. Feel free to post your own opinion in this doorway, since there are many perspectives that one can take on this issue.
MUSICAL
ARRANGEMENT FOR THE NO COPYING SOFTWARE BLUES
This arrangement for piano of the No Copying Software Blues by Ben Schwendener © 1997, cheese-us publishing. Ben’s first CD — Witness of the Sun — does not contain this song. Maybe his second CD will!
G C G G
I've got the no copying software—gotta be honest at Nobles—blues
C C G G
I've got the no copying software—gotta be honest at Nobles—blues
D C G D7
All I've got is my own good word to lose
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE ON WWW.SUMMERCORE.COM
• Go to WWW.SUMMERCORE.COM; click on Honesty & Acceptable Use
• Or go directly to WWW.TEACHINGCOMPANY.COM/HONESTY.HTML
1. Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) from Global Network Navigator's is a Gopher link to a variety of K12 schools' statements about appropriate student use of the Internet
2. Acceptable Use Policy Examples provides an overview of the problems caused by Internet access in schools and a variety of Acceptable Use Policies formulated by many different schools
3. Bad Bad Countries ... Countries where piracy is quite rampant (site found by Gil Gunn)
4. Business Software Association (BSA) posts a lot of information on their web site about software piracy and copyright laws
5. Combating Software Piracy ...What is software piracy and how to combat it. (site found by Ray Lam)
6. Copyright and Fair Use information at Stanford University Libraries found by Terry Horrigan 10/18/96
7. Copyright and the Law Also a lot of info, includes Q and A and myths about Copyright. (found by Ray Lam)
8. The Copyright Website Very many good links, site found by Mrs. N
9. FAST (Federation Against Software Theft).. cool graphics, (Mrs. N)
10. Florida International University Code of Computing Practice ... This is pretty self explanatory (site found by Gil Gunn)
11. IBM's web page... has cool graph on piracy ... found by Rachel Shorey
12. Latin America Software Piracy ... Latin America could see fourfold economic growth (web site found by Rachel Shorey)
13. Lucash, Gesmer & Updegrove is a law firm that publishes the Technology Law Bulletin and specializes in copyright issues
14. Microsoft's informative page on piracy and copyright laws. ... Look at the menu icon for other MS pages on licenses/piracy (site by Gil G)
15. Origins of Copying that Floppy ... When personal computers first came on the market (web site found by Rachel Shorey)
16. Softlok Software Piracy Statistics ... A great statistics page on piracy losses. (site found by Ray Lam)
17. Software Publishers Association (SPA) posts a lot of information on their web site about software piracy and copyright laws.
18. Systems Supply, Hanover MA ...Software Piracy, A summary of types of piracy and the effects of it. (site found by Ray Lam)