The following message was posted on alt.binaries.fonts by "Try Out", who makes a case for letting everyone download all fonts from anywhere, while respecting copyrights when it really matters. Here we go: Article 159166 of alt.binaries.fonts: From: livres@anet.net (Try Out) Newsgroups: alt.binaries.fonts Subject: Re: adobe & Robin Hood team up :) Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 17:25:48 GMT That's not all the question here - basically it is as simple as: a type designer designs a font ( I do not mean the one a day stuff - ; a well done family, build out and everything in place, which can take the better parts of a year or years to do). The font is aquired from ADOBE or any other Vendor. The Designer (Author) would like to receive some compensation for his handiwork - BUT there is very little or zilch coming his way? As , the Vendor would sell, let's say 200 copies and every copy out there would be bootlegged just 4 times. Do the math!! Adobe makes millions? Do YOU want to handle just the payroll for adobe? or all the other expenses? You have to have some knowledge about corporate structure and cost of running a business as large as adobe or any other. A MILLION in revenue means hardly anything. You can have 15 million in revenue and still close out at the end of year with a loss. Or - you're in business for a change and you provide service as a designer or service bureau. You plunked down all the cash, have all the mac or pc or unix equipment, let's assume for a moment you even have - as it should be - the individual license of the software for each computer or the proper multiuser license. Add it all up - minimal Equipment: 2 G4 , 2 19 or 20 inch screens, a postscript laser print 1200 dbi or better, a rip with matchprint , and a good software rip runs you anywhere from 10 to 20 k. Quark, illustrator, corel, pagemaker, word, suitcase, photoshop etc. A nice collection of type at average 30 $ a pop. All paid for, and the lease, the insurance , the payroll, the supplies, etc. And the first customer walks through the door: 20 pager in Photoshop 5.5, but wait, you just have 5.0, well - wipe out your credit card and order the update and any other one: Because you will find out that every Garage or living room designer always walks in with the latest update, which you need to be able to open if you want the business. But you are a reliable, Provider, you buy all the software there as a certain amount of your clients get's a copy from a friend. That is there it starts: Overhead calculation makes or brakes a business. If you provide service and sell the service for money or goods to a customer and you WOULD have used a unlicensed piece of software, his merchandize is tainted, as it is created with the help of unlicensed software, which can as a result void his copyright as the chain of evidence is broken. Especially working for the all mighty film industry this is an substantial issue -design something for them with a font you can't show that you own the right to use it. It renders the copyright worthless. So - you can't really use all the free fonts and software so ready available out there to start your business, you buy it all and you put yourself into a position with a higher cash advance or overhead and a higher nut to make than all the fly by night designer who walk through your door which yet another update you hadn't even noticed in the papers yet. What does that has to do with adobe and the others, it's just the larger picture, that's all. I post fonts - yes - but also emphasize that one should have the ability to work with a font or a software (that's why we have the tremendous amounts of DEMO software) to familiarize ourselves with the products, if you're a typographer and not just a hack you know it takes time to use a font just right, especially if you don't rely on auto kerning and tracking. So - yes - download, learn, get better at it -but than YOU USE the SOFTWARE or FONT for Business, buy it, get your rightfully owned license. But you will have an edge, as you have already familiarized yourself with it, and don't have to cold start with the manual in hand and trying to make a deadline. This is not intended to start a discussion - just my 2 cent's worth as somebody out there in the midst of it. try out