Theos-Talk Archives (May 1998 Message tl00022)

Alexis Dolgorukii wrote:

> Paul's book is a very good piece of work, and one which represents what an
> open and inquiring mind can accomplish with no help whatsoever. The one
> thing he doesn't need to do is "justify" it. It fully justifies itself. The
> only person who seems to feel Paul's book requires justification is K.
> Zeitzev and he has no particular standing from which to make such a demand.

	As a computer professional in New York City, I have come across a
cultural phenomenon with which others may not be as familiar. In the
Soviet Union, there was no such thing as copyright. As a result, most
people from what used to be the Soviet Union, and many immigrants from
that area, do not have an understanding of copyright issues. This is an
issue in New York in companies that wish to keep their computers
piracy-free. There were many computer programmers among immigrants from
the Soviet Union who were willing to work much more cheaply than their
U.S.-born counterparts, so many got hired. When I was a software
auditor, I found that convincing the immigrants not to use pirated
software was like trying to convince them to do the hokey pokey around
the computer every 3 hours; they knew it was the law, but they did not
understand any purpose behind it.

	I am certain that Mr. Zeitzev, coming from the ex-Soviet Union, made
his request as innocently as if an American wrote, "They don't sell your
book around here. If I mail you a check, can you send me a copy?" I
believe that he simply did not realize the copyright issues, and it was
not intended as a request to do something wrong.

	Bart Lidofsky