art wrote:
On 4 Nov, 16:20, Denny wrote:

Brian is unlikely to either agree to sharing or to provide a new
copy...


I already have two copies which are paid for so I can
share one with another person or give it as a gift


Nope..
The license agreement apparently reads along the lines of:

This software is copyrighted. It has been provided to
you on the condition that you will not sell, rent, lend, give
away, or otherwise transfer the software to others.

Seems wierd to me that a patent costs a lot of money to get
and requires a maintenance fee every two years to provide
protection in the name of science as well as forcing
publication for public reading Yet a computor program
has similar protection as a trade secret or better which lasts for
an awefull long time and can be used for the prevention
of the advance of science by not making it available so
the science can be advanced.

Different legislative history, different industries, etc.

Copyright didn't used to be that long a term. And, copyright has
interesting things like fair-use and compulsory licenses (thank you
player piano manufacturers).