Chapter 6. Warez (Software Piracy)

Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.

MARK TWAIN

When people started selling the first computer programs on paper tape, tape cassettes, floppy disks, and CDs, people discovered that they could easily copy a program and share it with their friends. Such blatant copying prompted the programmer of an Altair computer BASIC interpreter to write an open letter to fellow computer hobbyists, urging them not to copy or pirate software illegally:

AN OPEN LETTER TO HOBBYISTS

By William Henry Gates III

February 3, 1976

To me, the most critical thing in the hobby market right now is the lack of good software courses, books and software itself. Without good software and an ...

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