I have a tablet PC that doesn't have a cd drive. I know for obvious reasons they want the CD in the drive for the NEC software out there. Has anyone seen NEC on CD for computers that will allow you to put the whole thing on hard drive and pull it up with out needing to lug along my external? Or is there a work around?

You can do that with the 2005 handbook. Not sure how they will set up the 2008.
Don

You can look into emulation software, it lets you take an image of the cd and it appears on the system as a cd in a drive

Don, your answer is actually what I was hoping to get. So if I go to the bookstore on this site and order the CD for $93 and some odd change, that is the one your talking about?

Jps,
No, you need the handbook (the one with the code and commentary)...the $169.95 on at the site bookstore for the 2005 code. The license permits you to install it on 2 computers.
Don

FWIW, I have the '08 CD...it's loaded into a desk top and my laptop. (NFPA 'allows' 2 set-ups)
CD remains in the office.

Lap top also hase '02 & '05 loaded, and '05 Handbook.
Waiting for '08 Handbook CD...

John,
So you are permitted to load the NEC on two computers this this year? In 2005 you could only do that with the handbook.
Don

thanks guys, very helpful. I think I'll get myself a Christmas present. I wanted the handbook.

Any clue what the license says about public display? Can I use the material for a classroom? At some future time I'd like to get a projector and have code sessions with the guys. Between you and me and the other thousands of hits on the site I'll do it regardless of the license, but I'm just curious if any one knows. Is it screen size or audience size that requires permission?

Maybe I'm thinking of the NFL where you aren't supposed to show the game in public on a screen over 52" or something.

So I shouldn't be inviting my neighbors over to watch the games this coming week on my new 65" 1080p DLP HDTV? They probably don't want me saving it on the DVR and skipping the commercials, either, I'd imagine...

The topic came up on a radio show last year when a superbowl charity event was canceled because of licensing or rebroadcast restrictions. Now I wish I remembered the details. They got into how the bars were supposed to pay royalties on games on TV's over a certain size and how churches that were having superbowl parties on the jumbotron were also in violation..

But this might all be NFL specific, not copyright law and have nothing to say about me bringing the NEC to church to show on the jumbotron.

The copyright warning on my 2002 CD says;


A strict reading of that would say that if you cite the code on a violation card you would have to seek permission of NFPA/pay them first. Personally I think that if this is adopted as a public law, which it is, they gave up their rights.
This whole idea of "copyrighted laws" flies in the face of the illusion of American freedom. The whole idea that this is the law but you have to send $140 to a 3d party to see it and you can't tell anyone about this law without paying them more money is ridiculous.
This is a boondoggle, pure and simple. People are getting fat on the NEC and they spread the money around through the manufacturers, "educators" and political bribes enough so it will continue. The entire industry generated by "code churn" does little to improve safety but it does add a lot of cost to the building business.

Sometimes the whole mess reminds me of "Spy vs Spy" in Mad magazine.

That the entire code making process may be flawed by design is a topic for another day.

My own view? Well, rhetoric aside, those who publish codes have to change their business model. There already exist several publishers who make "high for the industry" profits publishing works that are in the public domain. These publishers realize that the profit lies in the added features: illustrations, colored text, commentaries, etc.

The NFPA has insisted upon a different model. If they could, they'd charge you every time you read it, or recited if from memory. So, you can expect their products to be as 'user unfriendly' as possible. They see us as the "enemy."

Don:
I sent you a PM, don't know if it went though?
Yes, two (2) computers can be loaded with the '08 NEC CD (bought from NFPA) Legally!

Last year we got new PC's in the Mini Office, IT guys tried to load in the '05 NEC & Handbook.....no way! They wound up calling NFPA IT guys & got another key code for 2 downloads each.

Amazing how that works!

The kids @ the high school look upon secured CD's/DVD's as a challenge. So far the 3 (2-14 YO and a 15 YO) have not been stumped. They actually check out CD's/DVD's from the library, break the security, and make a copy. I challenged them on the 05 code about 2 months ago and it took them all of 10 minutes to breach the security lock and make a clean copy.