A major issue in the early 80's was software piracy. Publishing computer software for a large market was a new idea. Software was easily copied from one disk to another. The people forming businesses to produce computer software were dependent on sales to survive. But there was no cultural inhibition to copying computer programs. People spent a couple thousand dollars to buy a computer and they didn't necessarily want to spend a heck of a lot more to get it to do something!
The result was that almost all software was "copy-protected". The disk was written in some way so that you couldn't just copy the contents from one disk to another. (This was, remember, before hard disks for PCs and installation software.) So you had to have the original disk from the manufacturer to use the program. Other companies sprouted with products designed to copy "protected" disks, and it eventually became a big game... new forms of copy protection to foil the copy programs, repeated into infinity.
Our first publication, The Complete Graphics System, originally was copy-protected (in a devious way) as was most software. But it was kind of bothersome, since I was taught to "always make back-up copies of anything important". Disks occasionally had problems, and it seemed a terrible inconvenience for someone who was using CGS when suddenly the disk wouldn't work, to have to send it back and wait a week or so with their project for a new disk.
So a decision was made that would alter the way software was published in the 80's. Others in the industry, such as Al Tommervik, publisher of Softalk magazine, thought the idea was crazy. "You've got a successful company started, and you'll throw it all away!"
A letter was sent and printed in all the computer publications of the time. One magazine likened the situation to Destry facing the entire band of outlaws without a gun. We would no longer copy-protect our applications software. "Please make backup copies for your personal use, but don't betray our trust by making copies for others." Other publishers basically said "it was nice knowing you..."
So
the copy protection was removed.... and.... sales increased! At trade shows, seldom did
more than a minute or two pass without someone coming up to our booth stating "I've copied
all kinds of software, but I'll never copy anything by (insert Forbidden Name
here)! Thank you for giving us software we can really use!" No, the company did
not sink, and sales did not diminish. Instead, the unprotected Complete Graphics
System, Special Effects, and The Graphics Magician jumped to the
top of the charts and stayed there for years. Other companies observed, and eventually
removed their copy-protection. And that was that.
(That's Steve Wozniak's son wearing a Preston "Only you can prevent software piracy" t-shirt.)
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