[rick888]

"Companies of all sizes rushed into the digital space because it was where the future, customers, and money were. But offering software, music, books, movies, and anything else as a digital download to a person who actually purchased it is and should be no different than when the customer bought a pack of floppy disks for install, a vinyl record or CD, a hardback or paperback, or a VHS or DVD. I posses as much right to re-sell or give away anything I purchased in digital form as I do to re-sell or give away my CDs, cars, home, motorcycle, or whatever else."

As stated by many of the people defending piracy on HN, software isn't a tangible item. So why should it be treated like a pack of floppies or a paperback book?

You aren't buying software outright. If you were, it would cost $100,000 rather than $100. You are purchasing a license to use it, which means you can use it once (and sell it if you want to one person). However, you aren't allowed to copy it to your friends.

"Copyright and "licensing" are out of control. If I'm only renting software, then charge me the price of renting it and stop saying I purchased it. And, like other rentals, take on the responsibility of fixing problems I have with using the software, much the way a landlord or Enterprise Rent-a-Car takes on responsibility for your rental."

Would you also be willing to pay a monthly fee for software that you download? Why should a company fix your problems forever when you only paid them a one-time fee?

[billybob]

"Would you also be willing to pay a monthly fee for software that you download? Why should a company fix your problems forever when you only paid them a one-time fee?"

1) Companies who sell physical goods generally offer a limited-time warranty, not forever. Software can do likewise. They can also specify what they don't cover - ie "if you install this on an OS other than what we listed, or use peripherals that come out in the future which we couldn't have anticipated, and something doesn't work, you'll have to pay for support or updates to get our help." 2) I wouldn't expect a company to spend more supporting their software than they make by selling it. But a company SHOULD help their customers get their software working because it's good customer support, and because "fixing my problems" may well mean improving their software. If they're unwilling to put forth reasonable effort, I'm happy to use their competitor's product.

[rick888]

"But a company SHOULD help their customers get their software working because it's good customer support, and because "fixing my problems" may well mean improving their software."

It might improve their software, but most likely it will be a huge expense of time and money. Most of the time, when there is a problem with installation or usage of a windows app, it's not related to the application. Another problem is that there are many people that will blame you for any other number of problems with their computer. I've worked in both tech support and application support for 10+ years.

It's a liability for any company that wants to offer support, which is why they should charge large fees for any type of support.

[Retric]

You’re not buying your car outright or it would cost the full 100,000,000$ it took to design the model. Yet, you can still sell it to a third party, modify it, and take it apart to see how it works. I really don't see why software is any different. If I buy a copy of word from an office supply store, I should be able to do anything I want with it outside of selling copy's to other people. EULA that don't give new rights are unenforceable in that case because you already had an implied contract at the point of sale.

However, I suspect a EULA can gain some teeth by granting you new rights aka downloadable content etc.

PS: If you had free time and money you could probably buy software and sue to get it to work without signing a EULA. Now I would avoid doing this with Microsoft, but a smaller software shop is probably the right place to create a little precedence.

[rick888]

"You’re not buying your car outright or it would cost the full 100,000,000$ it took to design the model. Yet, you can still sell it to a third party, modify it, and take it apart to see how it works. I really don't see why software is any different."

If I give sell you a copy of a binary file, feel free to take it apart and learn from it. Just don't expect me to give you the source. This would be the equivalent of a car company giving you the design blueprints.

You also are paying for the parts+the labor and work it took to actually create it.

Unless you are fighting for the ability to give away copies of the software for free, what's your point? You can legally sell your license to most software as long as you uninstall it from your systems.

" If you had free time and money you could probably buy software and sue to get it to work"

To get what to work?