Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Objectivism Research Cd-rom

Rate this topic


Jason Fowler

Recommended Posts

109(a) allows you to "sell or otherwise dispose of" the book. This doesn't explicitly include the right to lend. But if you read 109(d), you find that the rights given in 109(a) do not extend to people who acquired the copy by loan, lease, rental, etc. Assuming Congress knew what they had written in 109(a) when they wrote 109(d) (an assumption that may not always be correct, but which courts will make nonetheless in an effort to make the law as internally consistent as they can), then we can assume that it is possible to legally acquire a copy by loan. Otherwise, Congress wouldn't have had to strip you of the right to "otherwise dispose of" it in 109(d). So if it's a book, I think 109(a) allows you to lend it. 109(B) disallows lending of computer software and CDs (and possibly DVDs) "for the purposes of direct or indirect commercial advantage."

Perhaps this law is telling me that, not only can I loan out my copy of AS, but that I can charge rent on it, too? And I can only loan my AS audiobook out if there is no direct or indirect commercial advantage in doing so?

Of course, case law interpreting this sort of stuff might be of some use here.

-Q

Edited to add: PS: Here's a great parody of how to convey an orange.

Further edited to disable emoticons.

Edited by Qwertz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I've said, Dr. Peikoff deserves better than such willingness to believe his attackers without question or doubt. I don't presume any vice or malice in that error, not here on OO.net. For honest people, it's very easy to suppose that other Objectivists are also honest in their reporting of the facts. It can be damn hard to imagine the motives for the lies commonly told by supposed Objectivists about Ayn Rand, Leonard Peikoff, and others. Yet serious suspicion is warranted, particularly for the claims of people who have unjustly attacked AR, LP, et al -- or aligned themselves with those attackers. I didn't see any such suspicion on this thread -- and that's why I chimed in.

You're right; I did at first take it at face value. I didn't fathom that something else may be at work. I figured it was a simple matter of getting a few testimonials to Dr. Peikoff and, being a reasonable man (to say the least), he would renew the license. Not only didn't I imagine that Phil's statements could be misleading, but I also didn't imagine that he meant to accuse Dr. Peikoff of anything other than not knowing the details of why this product is useful to us.

The funny thing is that I'm not in the habit of being oblivious to shenanigans. But I just figured that we are all Objectivists and why would anyone possibly be less than totally honest?

Of course now I see that was a bit naive. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given Phil Oliver's ongoing participation on The Forum, the prime source of vicious attacks on Dr. Peikoff and other Objectivist intellectuals over the past year ...

I invite Objectivists to see for themselves, first hand, whether there really are "vicious attacks" on THE FORUM or simply occassional questions and polite, factual, reasoned disagreements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're right; I did at first take it at face value. I didn't fathom that something else may be at work. I figured it was a simple matter of getting a few testimonials to Dr. Peikoff and, being a reasonable man (to say the least), he would renew the license.

Given the evidence actually available, that would seem a reasonable conclusion. To reality check that conclusion, it couldn't hurt to get those testimonials out to Dr. Peikoff on the assumption that he is a reasonable man who will treat your opinions seriously and fairly.

Not only didn't I imagine that Phil's statements could be misleading, but I also didn't imagine that he meant to accuse Dr. Peikoff of anything other than not knowing the details of why this product is useful to us.

Since you have no first-hand evidence to the contrary, it would be wise to trust your own observations and judgement.

The funny thing is that I'm not in the habit of being oblivious to shenanigans. But I just figured that we are all Objectivists and why would anyone possibly be less than totally honest?

Why would you assume dishonesty in someone when you have no evidence for it other than someone's accusation.

Of course now I see that was a bit naive. :(

There is nothing naive about trusting your own observations and treating other people as innocent until proved guilty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is Phil Oliver.

I have no intention of wasting time in a prolonged discussion here, but to set the record straight on a few items: first, my CD-ROM has been fully legally licensed and sanctioned for years now. (I sell it, as does ARI via the Ayn Rand Bookstore.) Any suggestions to the contrary are at best ignorant and at worst libelous.

With very few exceptions, the feedback that I've gotten has been strongly positive, and by almost all accounts, the CD-ROM has been of significant benefit to those studying the world's greatest philosophy from history's greatest genius, which was my intention.

Regarding any of my comments on Dr. Peikoff, if anything I say is incorrect, then feel free to correct them - if you actually know them to be incorrect. When I said that he does not value the CD-ROM, that is a statement of fact, to the best of my knowledge (and I know more about it than you.) In fact, I doubt that he would hesitate to even say so if directly asked.

If I have some negative assessment about the man, it's after a slow process of discovery, after years of defending him (and Ayn Rand and ARI) against smears from the likes of Diana Hsieh (whose shrill "reformation" is unconvincing.) My respect for Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and ARI is undiminished. I will, sometime, give the "full story" regarding why I'm not going to pursue renewing licensing for the product, but it will not be here, and it will probably not be soon - but I will say that I am hardly the first person (including a number of individuals associated with ARI) who's been alienated by him.

Dr. Peikoff is highly intelligent and has done some great things, most notably writing OPAR, to his everlasting credit, but I suggest that it's unwise to iconify him, and to beware of those who place personal alliances and agendas over facts and logic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now I would like to remind participants that one of the forum rules regards topicality -- stay on topic, the first post defines the topic. This thread's topic is the Objectivism Research Cd-rom; it is not whether A attacked B, whether the attacks are just or unjust, whether A is evil or irrational or whatever. It is very difficult to maintain the mental discipline to stay on topic -- I strayed in getting off into questions of copyright law. So let us have only discussion of the Objectivism Research Cd-rom here. Personal attacks are not acceptable. Baseless conjectures are also not acceptable (remember, primacy of existence, not primacy of consciousness).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Members who have not bought this CD may be interested to know that it might not be available after "about March 1, 2008".

I was sorry to hear that it might not be available in the future, but at least now I know I need to buy one for myself before next March. (I already bought one as a gift to a friend, and have heard good comments from satisfied users of this CD; just never got around to buying one for myself...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Moderator Note:

As some of you may notice, several posts were deleted from this thread. These posts contained personal attacks which are not permissible on this forum. To those who had not read those posts, the thread may seem slightly disjointed. This really shouldn't matter since as David has already pointed out, any further posts in this thread should be on topic regarding the CD-ROM.

Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Hey, everyone:

In case someone was planning to order but forgot, tomorrow is the last day to order Phil Oliver's Objectivism CD-ROM. I have a copy myself, and though it lacks in aesthetic grandeur, it really is worth the bucks as it stands. It's a huge monetary savings on the material, and the search feature is also good.

Apparently, he will donate the CD to the ARI, which may publish it again in the future. But for now, tomorrow's it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, everyone:

In case someone was planning to order but forgot, tomorrow is the last day to order Phil Oliver's Objectivism CD-ROM. I have a copy myself, and though it lacks in aesthetic grandeur, it really is worth the bucks as it stands. It's a huge monetary savings on the material, and the search feature is also good.

Apparently, he will donate the CD to the ARI, which may publish it again in the future. But for now, tomorrow's it!

I would also urgently advise that you purchase this CD before it goes 'out-of-print', as it were. The Lexicon is good and all, but with Rand, you often need the context, to get a more developed understanding of something. Say, human rights for example. The Lexicon gives you many good selections from her writings, but often, you want something a bit more. You have other questions which she (usually) has already answered.

It's also great, as I have found, when writing essays. B) Clemson applicants will know what I mean.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The CD is produced and sold by Phil Oliver. The original words are copyrighted by Ayn Rand, and permission to copy was granted by her estate. That permission is not unbounded, and you'd have to discuss the terms with the relevant parties (and emphatically not here). When supplies are limited and a license expires, the object necessarily becomes "out of print", in the sense that new copies cannot be freely (and legally) made. Ask Phil.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 years later...

I like the search feature on the Oliver Computing version. It permits searching for "one term or phrase" near "another term or phrase" within the literature contained, with a modifiable word count that can be changed in the preference settings.

A negative are the minor errors contained. Italics where there shouldn't be, Some missing italics. OCR errors substituting l's for f's, 5's for S's, etc.

As the books become available on Kindles or other e-readers, the convenience of having them electronically in one place, as well as complete a set is as made available would be a positive. I'm not aware of customized search capabilities, unless there could be a third party software written to perform such a feat.

Edited by dream_weaver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/28/2006, 5:51:43, McGroarty said:

A bit more help for anyone having problems. If you get an error about a missing license file...

Thanks Mr. McGroarty!

On the newer, 64 bit Windows, the Research CDROM software seems to have problems when the path in the shortcut contains "Program Files (x86)" - i got an error about the missing license file.

While "Program Files" would be OK, this directory is reserved for 64 bit applications and I did not want to install the software in it. Therefore, during the installation I specified the path "c:\Programs\Oliver Computing\The Objectivism Research CDROM", which did the trick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 years later...

Hello from Alberta Canada.

My wife bought me Objectivism Research CD-ROM, The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, many years back.

After promptly mis-placing it, I rediscovered it today and attempted to play it.

Having no luck it getting it to work I searched around and found this discussion.

I've been going around in circles for hours with no luck getting it to work..

As I'm essentially computer illiterate, I have a question please.

My desktop has Windows 7 and can it play this CD??

Any assistance is app appreciated !!

Thanks

Randy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm running it on Windows 10. If it won't run directly off the cd, there is a way to toggle the install to the 32bit as AlexL indicated in the post prior to yours. 

I don't want the CD physically in the computer in order to run it, so I copy the contents of the cd to my hard drive and run the install from the copied files.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...