Thread: The end of piracy - according to this dude

  1. #31
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    My favorite security measures are along the line of "shaming" users. Let's face it, crackers weren't going to buy your product anyway, but perhaps casual users who think it's OK or "not really stealing" can be shamed into buying or at least not stealing anymore if you show a big splash screen at startup, displaying the licensed user's name, company, etc.

    Anyway, what I wouldn't give to have developed a product that people thought well enough about to crack.

  2. #32
    Woof, woof! zacs7's Avatar
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    > Let's face it, crackers weren't going to buy your product anyway
    Actually a lot of them buy it just to crack it...

  3. #33
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zacs7 View Post
    Actually a lot of them buy it just to crack it...
    Err... I would argue that. What usually happens is they either crack evaluations versions if these aren't crippleware (full featured software once activated) or have access to retail versions if they are crippleware or retail download only. I would think maybe a few buy software in order to crack it, but not "a lot of them" do it. Commercial software on the other hand is easy to get your hands on and either crack it or simply distribute it. Not all illegal software is the result of cracking. I know we know that, but it's good to keep that in mind.

    There's nothing romantic about cracking. They aren't digital era Robin Hoods who spend their own money to give everyone "free" software. They aren't even doing it to give everyone "free" software. They do it for selfish reasons of pride, recognition, the idea of having a bigger john, even basic criminal instinct.

    ...

    Meanwhile the argument piracy will always be around and we should concentrate our efforts elsewhere seems... you know, odd. Drugs will always be around and yet the methods and technology involved in catching dealers and couriers is ever evolving.

    What perhaps should be done is lowering the hype and forcing the media to not be so ignorant. There's nothing worse than computer magazines that like catchy titles. Scum equivalents of The Sun. And these are predominant, whereas scientific oriented computer magazines can be counted with the fingers of one hand.

    Solutions can be developed and implemented that target specific environments or situations. A search for more ideal and encompassing solutions can and should keep being investigated, be it software or hardware. When certain solutions are found, they should be announced for what they are worth and what they aren't worth.

    A solution that claims to be the end of piracy is going to be meet by skepticism (at best) from the general population, and scorn and contempt by those in the industry. So, if the interest is in entering the market and profit from that solution, that type of announcements will always receive an ear pull from any marketing department in the world. That is, that's a terrible way to sell a product of this nature. This is particularly true because a product like this chip cannot benefit from the easily fooled. It needs to meet the requirements of the software and hardware industries which are much more knowledgeable than some 4th grade The Sun reader.
    Last edited by Mario F.; 05-28-2008 at 09:19 AM.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  4. #34
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    Meanwhile the argument piracy will always be around and we should concentrate our efforts elsewhere seems... you know, odd. Drugs will always be around and yet the methods and technology involved in catching dealers and couriers is ever evolving.
    I fail to see how those two even relate since one is about illegal software and another is about something which truly affects a society and therefore should be monitored. Cracking and hacking affect sales but do so only for the company and publisher that wrote and/or published the software. It eventually raises prices....so we've heard...but does it really? For the most part games are still in the 50 dollar range for a good game. That hasn't changed from the early to mid 1980's. Atari 2600 games were about 50 bucks when they came out. Pitfall was 40, Yars Revenge was 50, etc, etc. Games today be they for the PC or console are still in that range. Of course you have the 'game of the year' packs that try to get you for 60 or 70 or the ever so unpopular tactic that Microsoft employed with Flight Simulator 2004 when they released 3 different versions that were essentially not all that different from each other.

    Now has Windows or Word or any other apps really gone up that much since the 80's and 90's? I'd venture to say they have only gone up in response to demand. Usually high demand or high ratings equals high price and vice versa. We know illegal copying goes on and we know the numbers behind the losses but have companies really gone out of business because of this?
    That is information I doubt we will ever be privy to.

    I'm not saying illegal copying and such is not a problem but I am saying trying to prevent it on a wide scale is next to impossible. There are ways to completely root it out...however they cannot be implemented in the free market scheme we have in software and hope to succeed. This chip 'thing' will die off just like all those in the past that have tried to do the same thing.

    GTA IV made $310 million on release which tells me there are a lot of people out there who are absolutely willing to pay good money for good products - or at least products that catch their attention. There is probably going to be another $100 million lost to illegal activities but I don't think Rockstar is gonna complain about the 310 million. Sims 2 has made millions with their little doll house simulator. I think there are enough people out there that will pay the money to support the industry to keep the industry thriving. There are always crooks but I still think the crooks lose in the end.

    I've also seen copy protection schemes actually prevent honest users from using the product. Preventing the users who do pay for your product from using it to prevent the crooks who are going to use it regardless of what you do is a bit crazy in my book. I can copy every game and piece of software I own right now by just going to websites and downloading this or that. The scheme used is not preventing me from copying software. I am.
    Last edited by VirtualAce; 05-28-2008 at 07:18 PM.

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