Short:        Graphic Art by William F. Maddock
Author:       wmaddock@icon-stl.net
Uploader:     wmaddock icon-stl net
Type:         pix/art
Architecture: generic


Artwork created using FRACBlank, ImageStudio,
Image Engineer3.41 and, in some cases, pre-
existing photography. To the best of my know-
ledge, any pre-existing photography used is
freely distributable and royalty-free.

This artwork shows what can be done on the
Amiga Classic without spending your life
savings in the process. Every software package
used for these pictures is shareware or other-
wise freely distributable software.


---------------------------
PIRATE. 

1. A person who reproduces copyright material without permission.
   Usually by hacking away any copy protection. The cracker.

2. A person who distributes the crackers illegal work.

3. A person who infringes another's copyright or other business
   rights by using the crackers illegal work. The user.

Now let us look at these in a little detail.

1. This person is altering the copyrighted material and ending up
   with a program based on the authors original code, but not the 
   authors work. This person has therefore infringed the authors 
   copyrights.  The process of removing any copy protection, esp. for 
   internet software usually ends up with the hacker placing backdoors 
   into the program that he or his pirate group may access the users 
   computer at will. This enables the cracker or pirate group to access
   new software that they can crack by taking it directly off another 
   users computer.  If this program was serial numbered or had a keyfile
   then it will appear that the user has given away their registered 
   software freely to the pirates.

2. This person is the worst of the three. He is making available
   the pirated software for any other person to use. The "wares" site
   will usually be part of a pirate groups setup and monitored.  This
   way any person that accesses this site is logged and the pirates will 
   usually take as many other people down as possible if they are caught.

3. The person who accepts and uses the cracked software. usually, without
   their knowledge, also providing the pirates with new products to crack.
   If the user stopped using the pirated software, a few things are likely 
   to happen;

   a, The crackers cannot access any new products to crack as they will
      not have any hacked programs on the users computer to access his /
      her machine.

   b, The authors of legal software will sell hundreds of new copies that
      would otherwise not have been bought.  This will encourage them to 
      produce better products as they will no longer need to spend as much 
      time improving their copy protection.

   c, The crackers will get bored and may direct their talents to writing 
      new software themselves.  Again this will benefit everyone.

   d, The distributer will no longer have anything to distribute.  Where 
      there is no demand, there is no supply.

   e, The Amiga will move away from the image of being a platform for cheep
      pirated games.

   f, The user will feel better in him / her self that they are using legal
      software and therefore helping the Amiga market and not helping to kill
      it as they are now.


Take a look @ http://www.the-awa.u-net.com/ and look in the exclusive/bonus.html
there is a link there to "save our platform" you WILL find this of interest I hope !

Gus Haines.