Don't think twice it's all wrong

        or

             I can't even see the trees never mind the wood.

                 An article by J G Johnston

It was a typical early spring afternoon. The afternoon sky still
had its winter darkness and the rain was pouring down. I was in
the attic, under artificial light, assisted by an electric fan
heater. I was looking for a guide book on computer adventuring
which I knew was 'just there'.  As I pulled the storage boxes of
computer software about, I gradually came to the conclusion that a
method review was urgently called for.

I came the same road as most of us "older types" -
ZX81/Vic20/Acorn ; Spectrum/C64/BBC (or even 464/6128 Amstrad) ;
on to Atari/Amiga then the PC/Mac.

While I kept little of my Atari software, I still had some books,
cables and hardware attachments. With my Amstrads, I still have
books, tapes/3" disks and odd bits. The four ZX81s I have are
well provided with books and tapes.

However I have to say, my Speccy collection is out of control.  I
say this simply because I have developed a sympathetic kink in my
thought machinery. I cannot see anything Spectrum related, at boot
sales or in the local newspaper, without feeling the need to
enquire, with a view to purchasing the items offered. I do not use
them! - Just collect them!!!

Sitting up there in the attic, I tried to figure out the cause of
this apparent malady that I was suffering from. Gradually it came
to me that the problem stemmed from the fact that I seemed out of
date with my thinking. The whole pile of Spectrum, and other
computer, equipment, books, tapes and discs were there to prove to
myself that I had broken no copyright on the games etc  that I
have in my emulators on the PC.

I don't even need to personally move the software from computer
tape to the PC. All these games and more are available on the
Internet, in a form suitable for the emulators I have in use. So
if I don't want to waste my time converting the actual tape, I can
simply download the program and use it. Good! Fine!  What happens
if I come across a program/adventure, on the Net, that I want and
don't have a tape copy in my archive? Do I download it anyway,
justifying my actions by the amount of other tapes I possess ? -
or do I wear my halo and not use it ?

There are, I know, many authors who have passed their work on to
the Internet, with varying restrictions but at no cost to the
user. I also find that many of the adventure related sites have a
disclaimer at the start of their pages. This points out that the
site operator has taken all possible steps to ensure that no
program on his site is breaking copyright laws. The closing line
takes the form that "if you object to your copyright work being on
display here for free distribution, send your objection to the
site operator and it will result in the removal of the said
software from the list"

I know that many rules seem to be disregarded or broken on the Net
but this is due mainly to the following.

1. What is legal in one country may not be legal in another and
the Net is world wide.

2. Attempting to defend your copyright in every country served by
the Net would be cost prohibitive for anyone to pursue.

However, I do feel that the time is fast approaching when self
discipline will not be sufficient and legal guidelines will have
to be laid down, so that we can still enjoy our hobby without the
fear of breaking the law (including any current copyright laws).

Remember The Following Points.

1. Would-be vendors will be quickly discouraged, if after one sale
they find their stock on display on the Net for anyone to down
load free.

2. Wherever you visit on the Net, you leave an invisible
fingerprint. The site operator can then send down to you, on the
same link you made, any messages or advertising he wants. So
tracing users of any given site would be very, very, easy.

And then I thought "Blast!!!" and switched off the heat and light
in the attic and came downstairs, without the book, to have a
restoring cuppa and watch some mind destroying television.

And then I thought . . . . . . . . !








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