[AJD] JD Manual scans on CD

Dean VP deanvp at att.net
Sun Mar 6 13:13:49 PST 2005


Ron:

I'm glad you corrected that because I assumed it had just come out wrong due
to sentence structure. I feel totally inadequate at times trying to express
my thoughts in writing. English is a second language for me, the problem is
I can't figure out what the first one is!  :-) 

I would like to paint a little mental picture of how this could be looked at
a little more personally. Suppose you had decided, after your accident, to
hang up the pilot license, and convert all the stuff you had learned about
your business into written training class materials and your plan was to
make a living putting on training classes to future pilots who wanted to
learn the ins and outs of the business you had been in. You would put on
training seminars around the country supported by all your written materials
and presentation materials. 

Turns out, after considerable investment of time and money you were able to
grow the business to where you were making a reasonable living at your new
venture. Then unfortunately, someone secretly video tapes one of your
sessions and copies all your written materials and takes all that
information and starts offering and successfully selling these same training
sessions at 1/4 the end user price of yours. Your business gets hurt to the
point of not being able to make a living at it anymore and your now limited
resources are such that you no longer can afford the legal expenses to try
to correct the wrong. 

I see a lot of similarities in this when illicit copies are made for
profitable resale of copies of JD's original CD's or even manuals.

However, there is one mistake that JD is making in my opinion. That is their
pricing structure allows plenty of room for less than honorable competitors.
One of the guidelines we used quite often in the business I was in was:
Make sure the cost of entry is so high for a competitor so that he could not
afford to enter the market.  Protect our intellectual rights and price the
product as low as possible so that the return on investment period for a
later competitor would be too long. In other words:  "Keep them out of our
tent"

What I believe JD has forgotten is that they have long ago received a
payback on their original investment so their Cost of Goods and amortization
of engineering costs have been returned many times over. If JD wanted to
they could block out any future competition. With predatory low prices and
it still would be profitable for them. Any time a company has an
unreasonably high price on their product they are just creating an umbrella
for lower cost alternatives. They have created the artificial environment
and are now having to live with it. 

It is a bit like their circular pricing strategy on low volume two cylinder
parts.  The volume is low so the prices have to be higher to make money.
Then the volume falls off even further and the prices have to go up even
further. Then reproductions show up at a lower cost and JD loses the
business totally. That may be their end objective anyway. Just allowing us
to believe they haven't abandoned us collectors. Ah, the webs big business
weaves. 

Dean A. Van Peursem
Snohomish, WA 98290

I'm a walking storeroom of facts..... I've just lost the key to the
storeroom door 


www.deerelegacy.com

http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm



-----Original Message-----
From: antique-johndeere-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:antique-johndeere-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of
Ronald L. Cook
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 9:58 AM
To: Antique John Deere mailing list
Subject: Re: [AJD] JD Manual scans on CD

I really need to amend this posting.  Stealing IS wrong!!!!  Even if you 
do not make money.

Ron

Ronald L. Cook wrote:

> Lou,
>     We have done business.  You are okay in my book.  I do not want to 
> upset you, but probably will.  I agree that stealing and copying are 
> wrong if the intent is to make money.  Two questions.  Why do you have 4 
> DB1293 CD's and why can't you sell them at what the market provides as a 
> price?
> 
> Ron
> 
> Louis wrote:
> 
>> Dean,
>>
>> I am with you!!  If these other guys had produced something at their
>> cost and intellect, then had someone come along and make a cheap
>> knock-off, they would change their tune real fast.
>>
>> Bottom line: Wrong is wrong.  These people making copies and selling
>> them are stealing.  It is not the same as lending a your shop manual to
>> a buddy.  Your buddy is hopefully going to give you back your manual.
>> Plus, this is most likely done without the exchange of money.  Where
>> this guy is taking something that is copyrighted and protected and then
>> copying it.  He has no financial risk involved, other than the cost of a
>> CD.  So go ahead and try to justify how this is right.  Remember when
>> you have to justify something, it usually isn't right!
>>
>> Like Dean, said, it makes our legitimate copies worthless.  Then people
>> question them when we do want to sell them.  I have 4 original copies of
>> DB1293, I can't sell them right know.  I won't get what they are worth,
>> because this other guy is selling pirated copies, below the original
>> selling price. 
>> Chris, I contacted Deere a few weeks ago and reported these copies.  You
>> can't report it directly to ebay if it isn't your trademark, copyright,
>> etc... 


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