[John Robertson]

Yo, weegee, i thought we called a truce. When you ask WHAT LAW, are you seriously asking me to cite chapter and verse on local and state laws, or are you saying that no restriction could possibly exist? Many states have specific laws restricting carrying foodstuffs from one place into another--the reason being, they want to know the source of food contamination, if the need arises.

Then you go off on the restaurants and the bars and the this and the that...we're talking about bringing your own food into a movie theater. In most places, it's illegal (see above), but in ALL places, the theater's policy prohibits it. Now go take a birthday cake into a restaurant (by the way, most restaurants charge a fee for handling those outside cakes).

[flutters]

Kinko’s was sued several years ago for photocopying ‘copyright’ materials. It was a shock to the printing industry. It was always assumed that if the customer paid to have a document reproduced then the printer would not be held responsible. Wrong. It changed the entire industries practices. Now, one can’t get anything photocopied without copyright documentation. However, now, it’s almost a mute point with the Internet/computer.

You’re right Weegee, protecting a copy is the responsibility of the ‘owner’. A perfect example is ‘rollerblading.’ The “Rollerblade company” had to introduce a new word to describe their new product and to protect their copyright -- ‘in-line skating’.

YoYo, Zipper, & Escalator are some words that once were registered trademarks, but they became generic because their owners didn’t protect them. Xerox is a great example of a company fighting to protect theirs.

Along the same lines, how far along do you think computers would be without piracy? I don’t think Bill Gates would be where he is now if it weren’t for ‘software sharing.’