17 replies to this topic

[PsychoCoder]

On other forums there have been long, in-depth discussion about software/music piracy. I take a very hard line view on this, it's stealing no matter how you look at it or try to rationalize it. As someone who makes my living from developing software it just irks me when people say they think it's ok to pirate something because it's so expensive.

Others have said they dont consider it stealing because you're not taking anything physical. My take is this, pirating software/movies/music is no different in my eyes than walking into a store and taking a CD. The whole "But it's so much money" argument for supporting piracy is, well it's just plain crap in my option. I dont care how much Photoshop costs, that doesn't mean it's ok to pirate it.

Still others say it's ok as long as you end up purchasing the software after evaluating it. Once you pirate a piece of software what incentive do you have to actually purchase it? I'll tell you, none. If you're already using it for free from piracy then why would you go a head and spend money on it?

I've seen others even go as far as saying that piracy is good because it gets your product out there and will eventually prompt people to purchase it. I disagree with this as well. Still others say that companies aren't losing any money from pirating, it's called ROI people. When a company spends millions on R & D and developing a product they count on purchases to recoup as much of that investment as possible, so when you piracy a piece of software and make it available to the masses via piracy you are, in reality, taking money out of said companies pockets because that's profits they're not getting from their investment.

You wont find a single piece of pirated software/movie/music on my network. I just cannot bring myself to steal from developers like that. It's software people, you do not have a right to own something just because you want it. Software is a privileged, not a right.

So, let's discuss this issue, and please keep it professional. There's no need to name call and such just because someone disagrees with you :)

[atheium]

you did great creating a topic that could be easily discussed, however to me i feel like you said too much. those that disagree with piracy see their point of view has already been provided, and those who disagree thinking piracy is ok have no room to talk. A+ for effort thats for sure, but i think this would of fit better in a blog entry rather then a post.

[Alexander]

EDIT: who cares?

Edited by Alexander, 25 August 2010 - 03:24 PM.

[Flying Dutchman]

PsychoCoder said:

Software is a privileged, not a right.

This is where you are wrong. We live in a world where we have plenty of everything and too many people got so greedy that they want to sell everything. Althou I partly agree that all software should be paid for, but on the other hand piracy helps improving software security. Also, did you consider that some people use pirated software only once or twice? Maybe demo doesn't have that extra thing you need to polish your product. I don't work in IT (yet, hopefully someday I will) so I guess I don't understand this fully from developers perspective, but consumers perspective is also important. A lot of piracy revolves around games; tell me, would you be prepared to spend 50€+ for a game that you will finish in an hour or two and never play again? I heard that some game developers distribute somekind of demos via torrents for free and those people who like it can they buy full game.

All I'm saying is that always look from another man's perspective.

My ten cents. :)

[PsychoCoder]

Flying Dutchman said:

This is where you are wrong. We live in a world where we have plenty of everything and too many people got so greedy that they want to sell everything. Althou I partly agree that all software should be paid for, but on the other hand piracy helps improving software security. Also, did you consider that some people use pirated software only once or twice? Maybe demo doesn't have that extra thing you need to polish your product. I don't work in IT (yet, hopefully someday I will) so I guess I don't understand this fully from developers perspective, but consumers perspective is also important. A lot of piracy revolves around games; tell me, would you be prepared to spend 50€+ for a game that you will finish in an hour or two and never play again? I heard that some game developers distribute somekind of demos via torrents for free and those people who like it can they buy full game.

All I'm saying is that always look from another man's perspective.

My ten cents. :)

As I said in my post, you can rationalize or justify it all you want, it's still stealing. As for your question about the game, I would never have anything pirated no matter the reason. If I want something I obtain it legally. There is no valid reason to pirate anything, in my opinion if it costs more than you afford then you dont deserve it. Piracy is not good no matter how you justify it. And owning software is not a right, it's a privilege.

What's wrong with selling your software, are companies supposed to spend millions on R & D and development then just give it away?

[Flying Dutchman]

Alright, maybe I was out of line, a bit atleast. But how can you say stuff like that software is a privilege? Please explain why is that so. Maybe it's not a right, but it's more of a right than privelege if you put it like this.

P.S. If I'm going out of line too much, please stop me but don't lock the thread, I would love to see more responses and opinions.

[PsychoCoder]

In my opinion things like healthcare is a right, software is a luxury (your life will not end if you dont have Photoshop or the latest Call of Duty game, but it could lose your life without proper health care). I dont see anyone locking this thread, you're simply stating your opinion on the topic, which is why I started the thread. It's not like you're offering liunks to pirated items, you're just giving feedback.

[zeroradius]

I agree that piracy is a bad thing. I buy all of my software and agree that it is a privilege not a right. For example dutchman if i walked up to your house and took your computer what would you say? What would be your rebuttal if I argued that taking your computer is ok because I don't have one and they are really expensive so I can't afford to buy one?

If you really need a software and can not afford it you can either look for a freeware alternative or learn what you need to to build your own. I do agree that being able to demo software first is something companies should offer (I would have never bought Adobe cs4 if my teacher had not pirated adobe cs2 for us to use) but that decision is up to the company and will hurt their sales by not offering one, that dose'nt mean you can just go steel it.

I don't think we should call it piracy any more. By calling it that people can easily not think of themselves as thieves. If every one called it stealing maybe some people would feel to ashamed to do it.

On a side note: My best friend pirated Christian music; I thought it very ironic.

[Alexander]

EDIT: Nevermind

Edited by Alexander, 25 August 2010 - 03:24 PM.

[Flying Dutchman]

zeroradius said:

For example dutchman if i walked up to your house and took your computer what would you say? What would be your rebuttal if I argued that taking your computer is ok because I don't have one and they are really expensive so I can't afford to buy one?

My current pc is accually pretty ****ty, so I wouldn't really mind, except the hard drive. But joke aside, that's accually, althou I don't like to admit it, really strong point.
I guess the main thing I'm bothered with is the price of software. I just remembered this one post, which talked about games and explained how the money you pay, is divided. In the end, the developers didn't get even half. Alot went to publisher, some went for packaging, some for advertizing, and so on. I would much rather pay if I knew that all, well most of, money went to developers - it would be a way of saying thank you for creating this awesome app.

[PsychoCoder]

It cannot all go to the developers though, considering it's the company who employs them that did all the R & D, paid for the development, paid for the advertising. So if you gave it all to the developers then the company that employs the developers who created the game would no longer exist, thus no more awesome apps from them. See the vicious cycle there?

[zeroradius]

Not to mention developers still for the most part make great pay. You also have to consider benefits for ALL the employees, bonuses , rent, electric, shelf space, and so on all come from the money the company makes.