*I give up....what a waste of time......

You keep saying people are going off topic & the are NOT.

Here is your assessment:

Quote "The thrust of this thread so far seems to be justifying stealing expensive software like 3D Max. "

WRONG!!! THIS IS NOT THE THRUST OF THIS THREAD OR PAULAS THREAD.

And yes, I'm yelling :)*

And I heard your yelling, even in the UK at 01:30 am, but that doesn't mean that I have to agree with you. Whatever Paula's intentions, the main thrust of the responses, both here and in her thread, is to present excuses for the work of thieves whilst vilifying their victims. OK I'll stand up and say it: "My name is John and I write software", what a scumbag I am that I'm not happy with the idea of people saying that it's OK to steal my ideas because it's difficult to protect them.