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Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

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Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#181

Post by ihaveajob »

kstenerud wrote: post #76

I'm one of those people who would pirate just because I could. It was almost a game, trying to amass as much warez as I could, to the point that 90% of the stuff I got I either never used, or used only once. That changed over time. As my time became more valuable, I couldn't spend all day fiddling with software anymore. I became more focused, downloading only stuff I used a lot. And then it hit me: It would be far ea…

That's exactly why I subscribe to Netflix. Sure, I could spend time looking for the latest movies, especially the latest ones that are hard to come by in more legit forms. But it's just not worth it, and if the fun of mischief is not there anymore, I'd rather just wait 3 months till Netflix carries it.

Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#182

Post by ihaveajob »

mappu wrote: post #78
wting wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, people don't pay for the software. Someday they will, though. And as long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade." -- Bill Gates during speech at University of Washington http://articles.latimes.com/2006/apr/09/business/fi-micro…

"Number two market share goes to Windows pirated, or unlicensed ... That's a competitor that's tough to beat, they've got a good price and a heck of a product, but we're working on it." -- Steve Ballmer, 2009 http://www.osnews.com/story/21035

Another quote by Ballmer, heard in person a couple of weeks ago: "In Russia, we have a great market share, but a bit of a problem collecting".

Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#184

Post by Domenic_S »

angersock wrote: post #43
chasing wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Piracy is different from stealing, yeah. But I find it kind of short-sighted this notion that it's "victimless." Not intending to bite your head off. :-)

A very simple thought experiment: A rap artist is hired by a label to create an album. Said artist later dies. The label goes bankrupt soon thereafter, or perhaps simply folds up shop and leaves the business without auctioning off its assets. I have produced a copy of the album, which I host at my own cost from my server, once these events have transpired. There is no reasonable "victim" left for this crime of infrin…

> There is no reasonable "victim" left for this crime of infringement

The victim is the artist's heirs.

Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#185

Post by Domenic_S »

demetrius wrote: post #106
eshvk wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since the car analogy isn't working: Let me try another one, equally with flaws no doubts. :-) Piracy as we known it is rampant of the coasts of Somalia (Yes, I am talking about real world pirates). One of the reasons why that is happening is the systematic breakdown of the livelihoods of fisherman in the region due to dumping of toxic wastes of those coasts and the free flow of arms. Now, it is arguable that those f…

>> What is wrong with accepting that >> you are doing something wrong and... >> keep doing it if you wish? Because we believe there’s honestly nothing wrong with it. Paraphrasing you: I don’t understand what is wrong with accepting that pirates are doing something right and... abstain from doing it if you wish?

> Because we believe there’s honestly nothing wrong with it.

Your belief is not required. Laws are laws.

Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#186

Post by Domenic_S »

polskibus wrote: post #57

Information wants to be free. Nothing will stop it. Humanity has been copying "proprietary" information forever. People gossip about work and other secrets, copy other people's notes, etc. Computer software is just yet another example of it, the scenery of old Soviet block just puts a bit more contrast to it in comparison to Western experiences. Now, generating a trend, by for example making your information the domi…

> Information wants to be free

You might be too young to have read this in Phrack, but I feel it's apt:

Let me tell you something. Information does not want to be free, my friends. Free neither from its restraints nor in terms of dollar value. Information is a commodity like anything else. More valuable than the rarest element, it BEGS to be hoarded and priced. Anyone who gives something away for nothing is a moron. (I am indeed stupid.) I can't fault anyone for charging as long as they don't try to rationalize their reasoning behind a facade of excuses, all the while shouting "Information Wants to be Free!"

Trade secrets don't want to be free, marketing projections don't want to be free, formulas don't want to be free, troop placements don't want to be free, CAD designs do not want to be free, corporate financial information doesn't want to be free, my credit report sure as hell doesn't want to be free!

http://servv89pn0aj.sn.sourcedns.com/~gbpprorg/2600/infofree...

Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#187

Post by johnpowell »

meritt wrote: post #9

It's always been rumored that Adobe software, especially Photoshop, has been easy to pirate to encourage adoption with a user base that might otherwise seek alternatives. As those people hone their skills and eventually find jobs, Photoshop is the norm and what their employers purchase licensing for.

It was that way for me. Back in 2001 I got a iMac G3 500 while I was in collage. I used a p2p program called http://www.carracho.com/ to get Photoshop and Dreamweaver. The next summer I got a job at the university doing web design. The university bought me legit copies of the software since I preferred to work on My iBook and not the POS they had on my desk.

Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#188

Post by reidrac »

gfodor wrote: post #103
BadDesign wrote: post #60

I think he's completely unaware of the GNU/Linux distributions and the gratis software that comes along with them and the freedoms that that software offers to the user. " “Free software” means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. With these freedoms, the users (both individually and collectively) con…

I don't see how Free software has anything to do with his post. First, there is only good Free software for certain things. Especially when the author was younger, there were no good Free software alternatives for many popular commercial products. Even today, GIMP is no Photoshop, Blender is no Maya, Openoffice is no Office, and the list goes on, and this has been after decades of trying to catch up. The truth is tha…

You're right, there was not other option back in the early 90s: piracy or nothing (specially in countries where it was impossible to acquire some specific software legally). I remember going to a computer shop when I was 13 trying to buy a C compiler, and they gave me a floppy with Turbo C (IIRC) and "copy it and keep it secret".

Things have changed though. It's not a free vs Free philosophical debate, it is about doing something illegal when you have a choice.

This is not just about teenagers. I can tell you that a legal copy of Microsoft Office for home use in Spain is really rare. Same for Photoshop, and other "essential" software that every home computer has installed, but nobody paid for it. It is, in practice, free.

I believe piracy is one of the reasons free software is not more popular, but well... I may be wrong.

Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#189

Post by keithpeter »

kstenerud wrote: post #142
cageface wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably depends on the business, but I know several developers of music production software that can correlate huge drops in sales with the release of new cracks of their software to the exact day . I think we are a little too quick to assume that a pirated copy is not a lost sale.

That would make sense, considering that music production software tends to be viciously expensive, and music producers tend to not have much money.

and there is resistance to using the free software alternatives, thus leading to a cycle where the free software alternatives don't get feedback/criticism.

Teenagers especially are really influenced by brands. I keep suggesting that 'industry standard' = 'same as all the others' and that being a bit different might be a good idea. No dice.

Re: Editorial: "How piracy changed my life"

#190

Post by keithpeter »

gfodor wrote: post #103
BadDesign wrote: post #60

I think he's completely unaware of the GNU/Linux distributions and the gratis software that comes along with them and the freedoms that that software offers to the user. " “Free software” means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. With these freedoms, the users (both individually and collectively) con…

I don't see how Free software has anything to do with his post. First, there is only good Free software for certain things. Especially when the author was younger, there were no good Free software alternatives for many popular commercial products. Even today, GIMP is no Photoshop, Blender is no Maya, Openoffice is no Office, and the list goes on, and this has been after decades of trying to catch up. The truth is tha…

"...they just want to be able to play with Photoshop because that's The Thing."

This is the problem. Marketing is really effective to teenagers as they have not worked out the reality behind the branding yet. So free software gets less feedback and a smaller user base and so it goes...

"commercial software is the standard"

I'm just hoping that using 'the standard' gets a bit old and being different becomes a bit more popular.

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