It has been released in the US at least, and distribution is restricted to those who are Jehovah's Witnesses. I have learned that there are signs on the literature counter at Bethel stating that you must show your Medical Directive card to reveive a CD-ROM. I won't tell you how I got mine, since I don't want my source to dry up.
WT 2001 CD-ROM
by zev 35 Replies latest jw friends
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Jourles
"creating an ISO image...." I was thinking the same thing Simon. All you need then is a cd-r and whammo, life's water free. It could get slow though if a bunch of people wanted to peer it from you. You would probably have to limit one person at a time or something.
Our 2001 CDROM is on order now. Whenever the shipments come in I could make umpteen copies and mail them out if people would like. Heck, I would even pay the shipping for you fine people. It would be for a charitable reason.
Simon, you were reading my mind again on the second part - tearing the CD down to make it available in html or pdf format so that it can be viewed off of the web. The only problem is that the WTS could really come after you if they found where it was. I know I could not risk hosting it. Definitely password protect the directory leading to it though. And only give out the password to known people. I have quite a bit of Lucent documentation stored on my servers only because it is faster than browsing over to Lucent's website and viewing it there. Password protect the directory and they will never know it exists elsewhere.....
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COMF
Please put me on the list of people who need a link to the ISO image.
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NeonMadman
Just for the record, here's the letter you get when you first install the program:
Dear Brothers:
We are happy to provide for Jehovah's Witnesses a new version of Watchtower Library. Please read the following six points about proper use of Watchtower Library and answers to questions that you may have. The License Agreement, which will be presented later during the actual installation, sets out in legal language a license covering copyright protection. If you accept the license and thus will use this electronic tool in your Bible research, indicate your agreement after reading it.
YOUR USE OF WATCHTOWER LIBRARY
1. What constitutes proper use? Watchtower Library has been designed for your personal use. Hence, you may copy, print, or excerpt from the data for your personal use. But you may not distribute the program or large sections of the data to others who do not own Watchtower Library on CD-ROM. Nor may you copy, print, or excerpt from the copyrighted data to prepare and distribute books. Please do not put the program or data on the Internet or any public network.
2. Who may have a copy of Watchtower Library? Watchtower Library is a research tool for Jehovah's Witnesses, not for the public or for institutions such as schools or libraries.
3. May I copy the program and data onto my hard disk and then not use the CD-ROM? Yes, that is possible with this version. Less disk space is involved when you access the data from the CD-ROM itself; however, the speed of some operations is significantly improved if the data is stored on the hard disk.4. If I personally own several computers, may I copy Watchtower Library 2001 and/or its data onto these? Yes.
5. May I make a duplicate of my CD-ROM as a backup in case I lose or damage my original? Yes, but this does not refer to duplicating the CD-ROM for others, which would fall outside the realm of personal use.
6. May I write commercial software or utilities that employ the program or data from Watchtower Library? No. It is not proper to charge for or to receive money from writing or distributing any software that employs the Watchtower Library program, utilities, or data.Edited by - NeonMadman on 4 January 2003 12:13:46
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Lady Lee
jumping up and down - hands flailing the air and yelling
I only have the 95 CD. Would love to get my hands on any of the others
Now hiding under the desk after making all that noise
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Jourles
OK, I see a few glaring inconsistencies here in this letter.
Good to see they are actively concerned about copyright law:
sets out in legal language a license covering copyright protection
How does one become an owner of this CDROM? Are you required to purchase it for a set price? Or is simply ordering it and not paying for it from your Kingdom hall literature counter considered owning it? If that is the case, would it not be better for the WTS to allow copies to be distributed among those in your congo from one original copy? That would save them thousands of dollars in manufacturing costs alone:
But you may not distribute the program or large sections of the data to others who do not own Watchtower Library on CD-ROM
This sounds like a request and not a firm rule. Like any request, you can choose to follow it or not. Leave out the "please" and you have a direct statement:
Please do not put the program or data on the Internet or any public network
Who may have a copy? Note a loophole here. If you are still technically a witness, you may have a copy. It does not matter if you are irregular or inactive. As long as you are not df'd or da'd you may own a copy:
Who may have a copy of Watchtower Library? Watchtower Library is a research tool for Jehovah's Witnesses.
This next part makes this CDROM available for use on the web it sounds like:
May I copy the program and data onto my hard disk and then not use the CD-ROM? Yes, that is possible with this version.
Now what did we learn from Microsoft about copyright law? Windows XP is a good example. Before, you could place multiple copies of MS's OS's on several computers that you owned. With the release of XP, this changes. You now have to purchase a copy for each individual computer due to their unique copy protection scheme. In this case, if the WTS has worded their license agreement in the affirmative, you can now do this below:
If I personally own several computers, may I copy Watchtower Library 2001 and/or its data onto these? Yes.
Again, what exactly constitutes ownership of this CDROM? Do you have to buy it or what? Or is just being a jw the only prerequisite?
May I make a duplicate of my CD-ROM as a backup in case I lose or damage my original? Yes, but this does not refer to duplicating the CD-ROM for others, which would fall outside the realm of personal use.
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Jourles
Forgot to add - with previous copies of this CDROM, you needed the CD to operate the program. It pulled the data from the CD and so no reference data was ever stored on your hard drive. Now that you can run the entire program from your hard drive, even if the reference material is in some sort of proprietary format, it should be simple to rip into pdf or html to host on the web.
I heard that you do not need to have a word processor open either to copy and export the material. Just highlight it and copy. Paste it anywhere you want to. That is a nice feature.
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Dogpatch
I have some of the original (not copies) Watchtower CD-roms (originals) for sale 1993 up to 1999. If interested, email me at [email protected].
Randy Watters
Net Soup!
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JosephMalik
Thank's No One. That is good to know. Thanks.
Joseph
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Farkel
: 2. Who may have a copy of Watchtower Library? Watchtower Library is a research tool for Jehovah's Witnesses, not for the public or for institutions such as schools or libraries.
The Watchtower receives free, but does not give free. There again, they spit on the words of Jesus. What if the only thing that could save some people's eternal souls was to be found on that CD, and those souls desiring to have their souls saved were not given that CD because they didn't have the money to "donate" for it? Would Jehovah murder them at Armageddon because of the Watchtower's insistence on not freely distributing that CD to anyone who asked for it?
To put it another way, would Jehovah kill humans who the Watchtower ITSELF sabotaged by insisting on people buying that CD when some people who dearly wanted it just couldn't afford it?
This old saw definitely applies to the Watchtower Printing Corporation: "In God we trust. All others pay cash."
Farkel
Edited by - Farkel on 4 January 2003 17:54:11