"Roger Halstead" wrote in message
...
And fair use says you may make a backup copy of your software, yet MS
sets up FS to prevent this. Two wrongs don't make a right, but I have
no sympathy for MS in this case either.

Two wrongs don't make a right, but IMHO using a "no CD crack" for the
furtherance of legitimate use (i.e. archival copy) isn't a wrong at all.
Just because something's illegal, that doesn't necessarily make it wrong
(and vice a versa).

By the way, Microsoft was one of the last companies on the copy-protection
bandwagon, other than a brief flirtation with it in the 80's. It's been
standard practice in the games market, by ALL companies, for over a decade.
Not sure if you're singling out Microsoft or not, but if you are, they don't
deserve it. All of the software publishers are equally guilty of putting
their own interests ahead of their *legitimate* users.

The perversion of the DMCA is one aspect as to removing users rights.

Exactly. One of the most ridiculous provisions of the DMCA is to prohibit
ANY circumvention of copy protection, regardless of intent. I've yet to
read about a serious attempt to contest this in the courts, but IMHO if such
a case does come up and the DMCA isn't found to be unconstitutional at least
in that area, we can pretty much give up on our country ever being again
what the founders intended.

Pete