Thread: Software piracy

I buy all my software. I don't trust pirate copies unless it's me who's done the copying!

Exile,Exile2 and Exile3 are all excellent games. I have registered copies of all three on an old 486 machine.I keep meaning to copy them over to my athlon and never get round to it. Anyone remember the test of mind or the halls of chaos ?
They might not be graphically great but the gameplay is superb. I have spent many 18-20 hour sessions on the exile games.lol.

im like oskillian
in india too its hard to find home users that do not run pirated software
i use
win98
win2000 prof
office XP
msvstud6
ageof emp
ageofkings:tc

all of thge above and many more are pirated

i am in principle againt it but as a student i simply cannot afford any of the legal stuff

and converted to Rs its impossible
just imagine
$1 = Rs 50

Rs 50 could buy me a huge meal here

so software selling at $50 costs me Rs2500

and pirated costs me Rs60 if i buy it at all sometimes i just get a cd for trial and burn it on my own and return the trial cd free

even the pirates give me free trials
wonder if micro$oft is on this board
coz if it is
i should expect the police to knock on my door tommorrow

i also use linux for a lot of my progging so atleast that is legal

We build R&D apps.

Had to pay for 20+ Win98 lic for computers that no one will ever look at (they don't have monitors let alone mouse/KB). They are just there to number crunch while we code the DSP's.

As for our stuff, we logon with your MAC adress, IP and serial (all encrypted). If you vist we will find you. Lots of work to protect our code/server.

These are also BIG costs to the small player even if nothing gets stolen.

PS At home most of my stuff is on 'loan' though.

I'm just curious...But instead of piracy, does anyone here just wait 2 years for the software to become obsolete, then get it? LoL, kind of stupid idea...I know.

The thing about software piracy is that we all know it's stealing. It is, and you know it! But we all try to excuse it in some way, because we all (well most of us) do it/have done it.

I think this happens because it's practically impossible to get caught.

It's wrong. It's illegal. It's inmoral.

But hey! I'm gonna keep up doing it! I have a selective conscience.

I'm a worthless piece of ****.

Oh well...

adios,
biterman.

I don't have, nor have had pirated software. I personally also believe it is stealing, therefore it is wrong. Some people don't think stealing is wrong... but it is amazing how many people who wouldn't dream of swiping a penny from a tip jar, have no qualms about pirating software. I think it is because, in a sense, it is invisible. It isn't tangible enough for humans to consider it worth anything.. unless they're the ones who coded it, of course.

Anyway, there is so much free software out there, why pirate? I can't think of anything that I can't do with freeware now-a-days. (Yes, even ample clone and unique games.)

>>>I can't think of anything that I can't do with freeware now-a-days.


Make a Macromedia Flash file... or hell... even learn how to use Macromedia Flash.

I use a free compiler... but I wish I had the money to learn how to use a professional VC compiler. I do not right now... so I guess that means I should not learn how to use VC. Hell... if nobody learns how to do it because the software is out of reach, then we all can just close up shop and forget about the computer industry.

All and all, I agree with you Justin. It is stealing because it isn't given away, and that is the only reason why it is stealing.

I wonder tho how many computer literate people we would have in the industry if people didn't borrow programs.

I own WIN98. It came with my computer. Would you hire me (a poor man) with that knowlege only, over a rich man that has WINNT, WIN2000, etc etc experience? If you would... well know that most people wouldn't. I know a lot about computers due to the opportunity to mess with them.

I like to think that I will be helping the industry, and that I will be contributing in some way.

I have developed nothing other than my own knowlege with piracy, and I have shared that knowlege of computers through tutoring children without pay. Perhaps someday your children will learn something from me for free.

My point.... everything isn't so damn clear-cut. Information and software sharing has made the industry what it is today. I am sorry you feel otherwise.

(From now on everybody has to pay my mother to look at me, hear me speak, or read what I write. So all of you that read this owe my mom $40 dollars... so pay up. She didn't do all that work for you to get a free ride from my ideas and words.)

So this brings me to even more....

If you smell perfume in a store and enjoy it... is it stealing?

If you look at the inside of a magazine or read a passage from a book and place it back on the rack... is it stealing?

If art is generally for visual enjoyment and you enjoy it without buying... have you stolen something?

If you learn something from a teacher on the street, should you have to pay him/her?

If you use a piece of software to learn from it, and then delete it from your hard-disk and buy a copy when you are ready to produce.... should it be considered stealing?

IMO, all of those are NO.

When you put it like that i have to agree with you.

But the thing is not all pirating is about developing tools. In fact i'd guess most of it isn't.

I'd say most of it is games. A game is about fun. Your logic doesn't really apply to games. You don't pirate them to learn how to play/have fun, then delete them and buy them.

On respect to developing tools i agree with you; but still there are so many free/OS developing tools out there, that your argument loses alot, that's MHO.

adios,
biterman.

i think commercial software is highly overpriced
and big software companies use the piracy figures as an excuse to hiking that price even higher

>>>but still there are so many free/OS developing tools out there

I agree... like I said, I use Borland's free compiler and make all kinds of little programs. (Also in an earlier post... I buy *all* my games to support game developers--except the ones that are free of course like DOS games, etc.) Major companies use MSVC++ or Borland VC++.

So to some extent I am at a loss for not knowing how to manipulate those programs. I wouldn't feel as comfortable with them as others may.

Granted I could learn on the job if I got the job.

I guess it all really doesn't matter. Piracy exists to different degrees.... and it probably always will. So the points on both sides are mute.

"Developers, developers, developers, developers." --All hail the ideals of an evil empire. Free the world.

I have a question. On Half-Life, the CD can be installed and it does not require the CD to play. When the CD key is checked, and they find that two people have the same CD key, then all they do is not let you join. If they were really against it, shouldn't they do more? So...My question is, is using the same Half-life CD on 2 different computers concidered piracy?

If you ask the software companies (or the law for that matter), using one CD on two computers, even with the exact same user would still be considered stealing. This is kind of stupid if you think about it. When you buy a couch, the furniture dealer doesnt tell you that you aren't allowed to move that couch out of your living room and into another room, do they? That you are only allowed to sit on that couch the room you origionally put it in?

Technically you could uninstall your program, take the CD upstairs (or wherever your other computer happens to be), install it on that computer and play away... Or you could just leave it on both. Thats the convenience of software. Whats the difference?

I've been guilty of pirating games amongst friends in my younger years. I have however always bought application software... Might seem backwards but i just realized that thats how i've done it. For the past several years however, I have bought any games i'm interesting in.

It would be kind of self-defeating to be stealing the same product that you're producing...