[doctorwho]

I started writing shareware in 8o's and even then there were alternative "marketing" and distribution methods to print, like BBSes, SIMTEL20 (and other FTP archives), usenet, user groups, shareware CD's and sharing among friends. It worked pretty well actually. There was abuse of course and it started a whole anti-piracy industry. Protection techniques cost a lot to create and maintain and they didn't really solve the problem. SaaS is so popular today because it practically eliminates piracy. Developers get paid for what they build or they go broke because nobody wants what they've built.