I wrote this paper to find out what others think about piracy. This paper is based on my thoughts and observations of others that pirated software. I hope you all like it...

Many people think that illegally downloading games is a good solution that saves money and gets you around paying for stuff you can get for free. I can tell you that I own all of my software by purchasing it at the store. I never used to pirate, even way back when games were on floppies and all you had to was transfer the files from one to the other. Over the years, there have been countless numbers of people that have posted on websites wanting a working online key. There are other posts around websites asking for cracks and hacks around many features that verify that you have genuine software. You can’t get a good working key from a keygen or cracking site, since they’re all outlawed. You have to look on countless sites that give you spyware and ads to find a crack to “get around” software CD-KEY validations. When the issue is brought up, I always think to myself, “Why go though all that trouble?”. My solution is very simple: buy the game! People that buy the game get a good CD-KEY to use, and you're supporting the people that made the game! I got my original and expansion of Call of Duty, a game that one out of every 25 people pirate, BOTH TOGETHER for $25 at fry's electronics. This example proves that it's not expensive to purchase a game, or an operating system. I purchase all of my games and my Windows XP, and I don't have to go through the trouble like many people do. I have seen the strategies of piracy, and find it very funny that people go through all that trouble to find a keygen, an activation crack, an online hack, a good key or hacks to get around Genuine Product Checks just to skip paying a little bit of money to PURCHASE the game. I think it‘s very strange that I can brag to 25% of Americans that I can validate my Windows XP software online and download from Microsoft.com, and all I had to do was the right thing. I paid only $90 for my OS, without any regrets. It feels good not to be afraid to register my software, or be able to pass Genuine Product checks without fear. Many people have to search cracking sites to find an activation crack for their Windows XP software. All I did was push a few buttons, let it connect and that’s it! Going through pain to find a working key, crack, whatever takes the fun and meaning out of the game when you have to work to play it. Buying the game or software is well worth not going through any trouble to get around product checks, it supports the developers and it is the right thing to do. I think everyone should purchase their software, rather than pirating it.

If anyone agrees or disagrees, feel free to reply either way. I’d love to hear from both point of views.

Hello Cptn_Sargos and welcome to GIDForums™.

Very interesting write up and one that I agree with for the most part. Here are my viewpoints:

1. For some people I think cracking a code or a game is part of the fun itself. It gives a certain sense of accomplishment.
2. Getting XP for $90.00 is pretty good. It must be a Home edition and an OEM. But lets go with an office machine If you want professional and want the full version it is about $200.00. Then lets add on $250.00 for a copy of office standard. That is $450.00 in software alone. I can build a pretty good system for about $500.00 and I have to spend the same amount on the software? I know that there is OEM and it does save some of that money, but at times the OEM can be quite a hassle.
3. The hardware activation with Windows can be quite bothersome as well, esp. if you are a hobbyist and change your hardware a bit. Every time you change hardware, you need to reactivate your windows. And you can't do it on line you have to call and the call generally takes about 20 to 30 minutes. In all fairness to Microsoft, they are pretty good about reactivating the software from my experience.
4. Lets take another of my favorites: AutoCad. AutoCad with a full LDD add on costs about $3500.00. Generally upgrades are about $1000.00. AutoCad has about a 2-year product cycle with about a 4-year upgrade cycle (they won't honor an upgrade on a product after a certain length of time - so you would have to buy new.) So about every two years, you are in a forced upgrade, even if the current version is working fine.

Anyway, I don't condone piracy in any way. I just don't buy the argument that software is "cheap". It is by far the most expensive thing on a computer and it has less of a lifetime than the hardware. I just wish software companies were a bit more competitive. Unfortunately the two examples that I gave don't have any competition and therefore they can hold you hostage.

Also one suggestion if I may. When you post something longer like that you may want to break it a bit with a new paragraph or two. It makes it a little easier to read.

Thanks for the post!

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To piggyback on what dsmith said, if you simply need an operating sustem, Linux is the way to go if you're not afraid of learning more about your machine.

And as an alternative to $250 for M$ Office, grab Open Office from openoffice.org -- it's an extremely robust clone of Microsoft's office suite. There are many alternatives to the high-priced software for those on a budget. It may take some searching, but they are usually around.

There's also many quality shareware versions of popular utilities (games are a different matter). But again, shareware should be purchased if you find it useful.

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During the election they said Obama could only be elected when pigs fly. Well, we currently have an epidemic of Swine Flu. Coincidence?

You make some very valid point Capt, most of which I agree with. Your point on software being cheap, I guess, is in the eye of the beholder. I agree that under $100 for an OS is a good deal, I know I paid more than that for an OEM W2K years ago and even if it were in the $200 range it was worth it for the very reasons you point out. I will say that I won't buy another Win OS though. I have 2000 and dutifully keep it up to date at the MS site. BTW, I have no qualms about loading or reloading it on another of my home machines. Computer hardware comes and goes in my house but the underlying OS has remained the same. Technically that would fall under the realm of piracy but I do believe there are finer points to that argument.

For example, one of the reasons I purchased some of the MS products I use for WORK (like Office Small Business) is that I use it for work. They are relativly expensive but since they are expenses to the cost of doing business and looking professional about it I think they were wise investments. The same goes for smaller products (less than $50) that I use on a regular basis. I find I am more likely to do so as long as I can get a downloadable copy to test out before plunking down $25 bucks on it. If it works and I use it, I'll buy a licence. If it doesn't work, off to the recycle bin. If I don't use it that much, I may or may not delete it. But I don't really see a problem unless I notice that I am using it regularly. I think you just have to look at the what, why and wherefore and be fair about it. Someone sat down and coded the program up. I doubt they released a commercial product hoping no one would pay for it.

I can't really say I have paid every shareware fee I should have. It would be nice but just not true.

As far as dsmith's example of the price for a good commercial CAD program things get tough. No real black and white there. What if you just want a copy to play with? I know I'm not writing a check for $1000 in the hopes the product is good. For years I used a product called the Video Toaster and it's associated 3D package. I did much reasearch and made the purchase knowing I was trying to use it in a commercial manner. But that research involved going to Demo Shows in the area and actually sitting down with the product, asking the reps questions, visiting other local studios (the toaster was really kick *** at the time) and sitting down with the modeler, layout and switcher before even considering buying the product. Now, LightWave is priced way out of range for a hobbiest. I would love to use it on those evenings when modeling and animating would be for fun, not for profit. I wish I could, but I have no intention of spending more than I did for my bucket truck on a program I use for enjoyment. Sorry NewTek, I really loved your product. But they priced themselves right out of my range. Luckily, I still have that working Amiga4000 with the toaster so I could still play, but bought that in 1990, it's a little aged now.

Walt makes some good points. There are options and as the Open Source movement gets larger and larger there are more options. Maybe this will help some of the monster producers of software solutions to price at a more realistic level. One of these days I must dig out my old laptop (you know the one that can't operate away from a power cord anymore) and give the open source route a true run. I have heard many good things about Open Office and it seems that it would fulfill my needs nicely.

So we have more options for not being a pirate these days. Shareware seems to be as dead as my old VT. It still exists but most I have tried are so hobbled you really can't get a good feel for the program. I really hope the Open Source Commercial products find their niche and fill that gap. That way, if you are savvy, you could compile and try their product (providing you have the compiler to do so) and hopefully, you would then say,
"This thing rocks, I think I'll pay for the product."
Once again though, it comes down to policing yourself, something that no amount of Crippleware or complex keying systems can do. And hope pricing comes back to a reasonable level so people would be more likely to pay you for your product.

But $20 for something simple or single tasked or $100 for something you use commercially (and can paypal pay for) opens your market worldwide. Then lowering the price becomes a numbers game. If you sell 1000X more product than you would have a 50% decrease in your price will still net you WAY more than it would have. But that's for the marketing folks, not a blue collar computer junky like me...

Thanks Cptn_Sargos, maybe your post will at the very least get some people thinking.

Mark

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Interesting. Most shareware I've used has been pretty robust. In some cases (audio editing for example) the saving has been limited, but full funcionality otherwise.

Shareware programs I use constantly
ZTree -- console based file manager, blows away M$ Exploser in speed and features
FileBox Extender -- remembers recent and stored directories for easy navigation during open/save common dialogs. A real timesaver
PKZip -- 'nuff said
CompareIt! -- a great file compare program

If you want a list of other shareware and freeware programs I like, let me know... I'll compile a list.

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During the election they said Obama could only be elected when pigs fly. Well, we currently have an epidemic of Swine Flu. Coincidence?

Walt, it's been a while since I shot off my mouth and had it stuffed with some reality. Those are some excellent examples of what is good about the system. I really do appreciate it (as I sit here playing with ztree and eating crow). I guess I spoke from my own experience though. I had run across more crud than cake and may not have been giving the system much of a chance as of late. (being a bbs'er that had to upload to get download credit in days of yore) The types you spoke of (save disabled type) don't fall into the group I was ranting about. So long as the software functions so you can properly give it a go I don't find them to be of the crippleware category.

Thanks again for the links, if only for ztree (I can see why a console guy like yourself likes that one!) which will most likely end up on my list of purchases. That is a nifty trick filebox xtender does with the push pins (except it doesn't seem to grab my shell window) looks like something that could sell me on it alone. Collapse and stick to the screen. Nice.

That's one of the reasons I like it here, there always seems to be someone to refute ridiculous statements like mine you quoted with factual replys.

Mark

now to find something lying around here to dislodge my foot from my mouth. You don't have a link for that do ya?

__________________
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work."
--Thomas Alva Edison
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--Benjamin Franklin
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."
--Hugh Downs

Good points everyone. This is getting really interesting

Pkzip....now that brings back memories!!

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A perfect example of "different strokes..." Those are the two features I find useless in FileBox. They got in the way more than they helped for me...

I didn't mean to imply all shareware was good, and your experiences were wrong. I've seen a few that were bad myself. It seems you have tried way more shareware than I have and have simply hit more clunkers than me.

Memories? I've never stopped using it. I remember when it was called PKARC. Then another archive programmer who had a program called ARC made some legal noise about copyrights so PKARC was changed to PLZIP. The other program no longer exists. I think it croaked shortly after...

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During the election they said Obama could only be elected when pigs fly. Well, we currently have an epidemic of Swine Flu. Coincidence?

This is the exact reason that I despise crippleware. What if the author chooses to disable one of the features that I might like. The things you find useless were the things that caught my eye and frankly, that I am using right now for a firefox page with a number of tabs open full of doc webpages for fltk and a diff tool. I tend to have 5 to 7 open pages (although the firefox tabs helps cut that down) so for me it is very useful.

Disabling "features" is a very common trait of shareware that is in place for the very reason Capn posted to start, piracy. By removing various "features" the author can change the face of the program drastically effecting the number of people who may use your program enough to purchace a licence for it.

Then you have the basic time trial software. I don't mind this variety so long as it does not lock you out of things you have done with the software. I have tried out software that creates things in a proprietary way (let's say a cataloging software) that times out after 30 days. Now the effort you put into trying the software can really be counter productive to getting someone to purchase a licence. I much prefer the variety that allows you access to what you have done (at the very least) and perhaps goes the "can't save anymore" route.

On the open source / free software side the argument clouds even further. When you can have access to the source and have the ability to build your own software there is nothing to stop you from never compensating the author(s). Now it has become a right/wrong issue of compensation. There is nothing to stop the end user from never paying the author except their own rules of right and wrong. Even then though, there are ways to cripple the end user. Not providing a makefile comes to mind. Using an arcane compiler would do the same. Both violate the spirit of open/free software without actually breaking the rule. Someone with a good understanding of the build process could, most likely, get past these hurdles but the average user would then be more restricted.

So unauthorized use of your product will be something that is always going to be a "price of doing business" for the author. One thing that I have seen cropping up is the open/free software that allows you to purchase a licence that allows you better access to the author(s). With a large complex product this may be a good solution. The licence holder has access to author created binaries and support that goes hand in hand with the publicly available source. I mean seriously, what is the percentage of possible users that could take a few hundred source modules and compile them on their own compared to the number of people that would not be able to use the software unless it comes with a reliable build system or available binaries? Not being able to download the source and do the,

autoconf
configure --myoption-choices --other-stuff
make

routine does limit the number of people that could use your product without provided binaries. Yet, the author could still point at their repo and say, "It's all there, I have held up my end of the open/free bargin."

I once read a statistic in a trade paper that the cable system I was working in had something like a 35% piracy rate. For years, you could just climb up a pole and hook in allowing you to get most if not all of the service without ever having to pay a dime. Prosecuting someone for this was so costly that unless the Cable Company wanted to spend some serious time and money they had no option except to unhook and try to make it difficult for the next time. But pirates being pirates would go to amazing lengths to re-connect. Piracy for the sheer fun of the attempt. They might not even watch that much tv. The real problem was when they provided this service to others who would never be able to do it themselves. Relating this to our software discussion goes back to dsmith's point that many people that pirate software do it for the fun of being able to, not to actually make use of it themselves. So as long as you are under the open/free implications someone could take your product, turn it into a binary and make it available to all, even if they never intend to use it.

Hmmm, I didn't quite intend this to be yet another showcase for my windbagedness yet here I am again.

I figured that from the beginning but thanks for the clarification anyway. You are correct that I have tried a large amount of software of this type and yes, I have hit many a clunker along the way.

Once again Capn, thanks for this discussion. It is really the only way to fight piracy, by trying to change public perception/opinion. At least IMHO.

Mark

__________________
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work."
--Thomas Alva Edison
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--Benjamin Franklin
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes."
--Hugh Downs