[DECtalk] decTalk and speech-fx-inc

[Don]

On 7/23/2019 7:15 AM, Josh Kennedy wrote:
> Also, I wonder why, since there is lots of free decTalk stuff floating
> around the internet that is most likely illegal, why nobody has been
> prosecuted or taken to court for sharing decTalk illegally? That is, why
> don’t you hear in the news about blind and disabled people being prosecuted
> or taken to court for illegal use of free decTalk stuff which is technically
> illegal?
That's likely an easy explanation:

I just returned from a 3 hour shopping excursion.  I'm sure I saw
at least a dozen indisputable cases of folks running traffic lights that
were clearly RED -- but apparently not red enough for the drivers
involved!

And, I can't recall seeing ANY cars come to a "full and complete stop"
at intersections governed by stop signs -- unless there was clearly
cross traffic that would have collided with them.

Yet, not once did I see a policeman pull any of these folks over!

Yet, relatively speaking, it is so much easier to "catch" someone
running a stop light than it is to track down the physical addresses
associated with every IP address encountered visiting a warez site
and targeting a specific named file!  You'd have to devote staff to
monitoring all of the likely places for your product to appear,
unauthorized.  You'd have to monitor discussion groups so you would
know to watch for references to "D.e.c.k.t.a.l.k.k.k" and not just
"DECtalk" else the pirates could easily subvert your attentions.
You'd have to legally subpoena the logs from those sites -- even if
they are located abroad.  Then, track down the ISP that issued each
of those IP addresses -- some/all of which might have been dynamically
assigned so the user may vary, over time.  Then, finally serve notice
to the physical address that was responsible for the connection -- and
worry about the issue of figuring out which resident at that address
was the likely thief.

Meanwhile, these staff people (and lawyers) are tied up and not
doing anything to grow your business.

The real cost -- to the pirate -- of piracy is that it leaves you with
stale products and no support.  Who are you going to call to get a bug
in DECtalk resolved?  How likely do you think they are going to
respond to your request?

Look at the date on your DECtalk executable.  Look at the date on
the executable from any of the "more modern" synthesizer offerings.
Is DECtalk so perfect that it doesn't need to be revised in that
time?

If the owner of the IP has a choice between updating a version that
doesn't result in significant revenues and another version (e.g.,
one offered to a toy manufacturer who simply pays royalties on
every unit sold), which one do you think is going to get his attention?