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I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

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Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#191

Post by trotsky »

robotresearcher wrote: post #187
trotsky wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows XP launched more than 10 years ago. What I said was true for Vista (5 years old) and 7 (2 years old) and is true for Windows 8 afaik. I'm not sure what your point would be - that you'd pirate Windows 8 because you didn't approve of the ease of use of an activation system they deprecated 5 years ago?

Why should he/she approve of the system that makes his legally licensed software not work just because it's 5 years old? If it didn't have the license activation anti-feature, it would work just as well now as it did 5 years ago.

Because the blog was titled "I'm pirating the Next Version of Windows" (because I feel it will be too difficult to activate) and not "I'm pirating Windows XP"

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#192

Post by joshma »

vectorpush wrote: post #150
MatthewB wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm...interesting. I see the difference you are trying to illustrate but to me, obtaining something illegally that was intended to be purchased is stealing. We're talking about the same thing though:)

If they were the same thing, then that would mean downloading a copy of Star Wars is equivalent to pocketing the Star Wars DVD in your entertainment center. When does the act of stealing occur? If I download a torrent and then delete it without watching/playing/listening, did I steal it? If so, then does that mean repeatedly copying the file to and from an external hard drive is repeated theft? Does it become stealin…

It's equivalent in an ethical sense, not equivalent in the legal sense. I think it's perfectly fine to call it stealing, since it embodies the core meaning "steal" is meant to convey. You're depriving another of something that is rightfully theirs, control over their creative content. Let's not get pedantic here, lest we devolve into discussing what "to steal the spotlight" means.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#193

Post by astrodust »

Drbble wrote: post #173
astrodust wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has been pushing for less DRM, not more, and would rather people bought into their platform without being held hostage. It is not an easy thing to convince publishers that no DRM is the way to go, yet the music companies reluctantly agreed. Considering Apple is the number one retailer of music, ahead of Wal-Mart, this seems to have worked out quite well. Rentals are hard to market because in the digital domain…

Apple is only anti DRM for the rights of music and movies and phone companies. They love DRM when they own the rights. Cf App Store. Amazon broke through with DRM free MP3 originally.

Amazon was an important pioneer in selling DRM free MP3 files, but they couldn't break the back of the whole industry like Apple managed to.

As for the App Store DRM, I'm not sure how that's any different than Steam, which everyone seems to agree is a great model for both customers and developers.

Apple's App Store and Steam both allow you to install the same application on multiple devices.

I'm not sure if you can point to a better model that's been successful in the past. Some indie developers have done alright with DRM free games, but they depend on community goodwill to keep themselves profitable, something a large corporation has a much harder time doing.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#194

Post by Stormbringer »

Karunamon wrote: post #154
Karunamon wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless he took a physical copy off of a shelf somewhere, he didn't steal anything. Pirated, ripped, copied, used without paying for, there are about 20 possible verbs to describe the act of using software without purchasing a license. Stealing is not one of them. I know I'm beating this horse fairly hard, but it's something that people need to be aware of.

Not sure why I'm being downvoted here. It's an absolute fact. Piracy isn't theft.

Since your audience includes people who hope to be paid from their creative efforts, your argument that not paying for said creative efforts is perfectly fine may meet with disapproval.

TL:DR; it doesn't matter what semantic games you try to pull, if you're a cheap bastard you're still an ass.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#195

Post by jongalloway2 »

gurkendoktor wrote: post #163
kmm wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree. This is only a possibility for some people. I gave up on Windows about five years ago and have been a happy Linux user since. I don't have any pirated software at all on my system. But most people aren't ready or capable of learning a whole new operating system they have to install and manage themselves (unless Linux comes preinstalled on the computer). And most importantly, almost everyone uses certai…

My family got by for a long time on a legal XP + MS Works. They then had to pirate the real MS Office because teachers at school only accept PPT files, and OpenOffice's export was too broken. I buy all my software but I still can't really blame them.

Office 2010 Home And Student is $119 and it gets you Powerpoint, Word, Excel, and OneNote.

If that's too much, though, I'd recommend just using either http://office.live.com or http://docs.google.com. They're easier to use, the files don't get lost, they have all the features students will need, the documents auto-save, they're available on any computer with an internet connection, it's easy to share the documents (read-only or read-write) online, and the services are free. I've set my daughter up to write all her papers online, and it works great.

If you haven't tried http://office.live.com, you should check it out. It's really a slick.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#196

Post by jongalloway2 »

jcnnghm wrote: post #46
gm wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious: What activation key is "100" digits long? I've never run into such a one from MS. The really long activation keys I've run into are not from MS and are ones you can cut/paste (ie, not the ones used to install the OS fresh).

http://www.kodyaz.com/articles/how-to-activate-windows-7-by-... Go down about half way. It's actually 54 digits, not 100. But the IVR isn't 100 percent accurate, and I have found I usually have to enter at least a few of the sets multiple times. And the voice system is one of those unskippable ones, so you can't just start entering numbers again right away after it detects a mis-enter. You have to listen to a 30 seco…

Why would you need to do this? No internet connection?

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#199

Post by nazgulnarsil »

joshma wrote: post #192
vectorpush wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they were the same thing, then that would mean downloading a copy of Star Wars is equivalent to pocketing the Star Wars DVD in your entertainment center. When does the act of stealing occur? If I download a torrent and then delete it without watching/playing/listening, did I steal it? If so, then does that mean repeatedly copying the file to and from an external hard drive is repeated theft? Does it become stealin…

It's equivalent in an ethical sense, not equivalent in the legal sense. I think it's perfectly fine to call it stealing, since it embodies the core meaning "steal" is meant to convey. You're depriving another of something that is rightfully theirs, control over their creative content. Let's not get pedantic here, lest we devolve into discussing what "to steal the spotlight" means.

control over your creative works is not a right, nor should it be.

Re: I'm Pirating the Next Version of Windows

#200

Post by vectorpush »

joshma wrote: post #192
vectorpush wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they were the same thing, then that would mean downloading a copy of Star Wars is equivalent to pocketing the Star Wars DVD in your entertainment center. When does the act of stealing occur? If I download a torrent and then delete it without watching/playing/listening, did I steal it? If so, then does that mean repeatedly copying the file to and from an external hard drive is repeated theft? Does it become stealin…

It's equivalent in an ethical sense, not equivalent in the legal sense. I think it's perfectly fine to call it stealing, since it embodies the core meaning "steal" is meant to convey. You're depriving another of something that is rightfully theirs, control over their creative content. Let's not get pedantic here, lest we devolve into discussing what "to steal the spotlight" means.

It's equivalent in an ethical sense

In terms of quantifiable impact, I think there is a clear ethical distinction between flipping bits on a disk and taking possession of material property.

You're depriving another of something that is rightfully theirs, control over their creative content.

Yes, but "control over creative content" is a nebulous concept that bares only a thin resemblance to things that we can determine are absolutely present (or not present, as in the case of theft)

Let's not get pedantic here, lest we devolve into discussing what "to steal the spotlight" means.

This is exactly my point. I don't think the difference between "to steal the spotlight" and "to steal a spotlight" is a pedantic distinction.

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