Software Piracy

[Mez]

well vote then say why                    

[SPK]

Let's see....$5 for a blank disk....$2000+ to give towards Microsoft's cause of world domination....I wonder what I would choose???

Open source is the way to go!                    

[DeadEyes]

well in my case its $3.00 for a blank and the burning is free..........free= GOOD                    

[Czar]

*Czar mumbles about blanks for less than $1.60 each...


** Disclaimer **
GATT does not condone software piracy in any way, form or fashion. Software developers deserve your support!                    

[SPK]

I agree with software developers...not gorillas like Microsoft                    

[W1nTry]

Dude I am so not voting on this, feels like a trap....
*W1nTry looks around for hidden cameras in office, deck, bugs in phone....*, they're always watching... listening.... they know what you're doing... all they are waiting for is the chance to to nail ur @$$ to the walll.....
lol... but hey cost of a blank vs. legit stuff... depends on what it is u need to get legit or have acccess to legit I say.                    

[camrE]

We may find software to be expensive, but do any of us really know the amount of work that goes into creating any piece of software. Imagine yourself creating any part of windows XP? We may find software to be expensive, but who are we to put a price or value on someone else work?                    

[W1nTry]

I hear what you are saying camrE, just the amount of effort that went into coding my final thesis for my degree was painstaking, not to mention the hours and hours of testing. The isn't a price that you can tell someone who has put blood, sweat and tears into is too high. However at the same time, look at the the open source community. Their only catch well there is none really. Its free, u can take it, mod it, change it, make it better etc. Ppl who strive for us as a community to work together to improve things on a whole. This site uses PHP doesn't it... last I checked that IS free and we should be greatful that it is... (though I am sure ppl pay for the server its on and the db etc.)                    

[butter_knife]

well you have  a gamble  in  a   way

pay  full price   for a  crappy game  with alot of  control issues, weak story line etc

or  pay ur $5

but   in another  case pay $5  but not  have a  legal CD key (if  the  game requires one)  and u   cant play  MP



                     

[TinyGrasshopper]

I won't admit to doing it but everyone knows that they do. If i was in an economic position not to do it, i unequivocally wouldn't, but then if you can't afford it and you're 14 years old, wouldn't the idea cross you mind at the very least? That the cool thing about games as opposed to movies or music. Game Publishers still care about games and that's why this season has SO many kick ass games and no law suits while the RIAA sued a honor roll 12 year old and the MPAA is suing anyone whose ever pirated a movie, even if it was just once. You think you or I would still be interested in games if we didn't have access to them? But seeing quality being produced would naturally eat at the conscience of some who pirates, and if things were perfect we would all be buying the games we wanted.

as for me i don't pirate i just buy old games or save up                    

[mangoseed_89]

this whole file swapping thing is really rappant in trinidad
but that is mainly because of poor service
and unavailability of certain things in the country                    

[vinion2000]

i dont think that its the fact is that things are unavailable its basically being able to turn a profit. until retailers learn not to charge us for the plain ticket on goods maybe, if govt stop taxing these commodities hard then more retailers will be willing to import them and sell them at a reasonable price.                      

[Rampage]

if you do not wish to purchase people software then go opensource, but doh pirate it, they have families to feed just like us.

                     

[Exar_Kun]

There's probably more pirated than legit software in this country.

Gaming Insutry will start getting REAL tough soon enough.As usual MS  is leading the way,automatically disallowing anyone who has a modded XBox from using LIVE and also blacklisting credit cards of modders from all MS services.                    

[vinion2000]

if you do not wish to purchase people software then go opensource, but doh pirate it, they have families to feed just like us.

Nice

lets evaluate that statement.

if i dont purchase their product, it means that they dont get any money and their families starve. if i go open source that means that they will never eat again cause their customer base has dried up.s ee the problem. the more ppl that use open source the less furture buyers the're going to be for commercial software developers.

now let me define software owners. the're 3 types
those who will buy
those who may buy
those who will never buy

most software developers only care about group 2. these ppl make all the difference in sale numbers and while piracy dwindles these numbers a  problem occurs when limiting piracy. Anti-piracy divides group 2 amoung the other 2 groups. why? simply because some ppl need more interaction than what's provided. ie some need a doom2 incentive (see bellow). limiting access to material makes the harden buyer less open to your product vice versa. case in point Macromedia Flash (see bellow).

Thus in all things a balace is eventually formed. Piracy is thus Controlled rather than eliminated. that means that there is room for ppl to move from never buy, to may buy and to will to buy without eroding the present customer base. Ofcourse factors like disposable income and Cost of living are key to this belief. that is why i think there is a lacadasical approuch to piracy in trinidad. simply from the fact that we unlike the US have a higher cost of living which makes legal gaming more of a luxury than reality. it also explains the explosion in music and movie piracy as well.

sadly Music piracy is the exception to my little rant since its medium has evolved. i wont rant on that since thas a larger topic.

(doom2 incentive = when doom2 was released it was 3 chapters/games of which you got one free. possibly 10-15hrs of gaming free. many of doom's clones followed the formula. they either give you a chapter or the early game free. this ofcourse has been replaced with by demos. )

(Macromedia Flash = Some ppl argue that Macromedia's Flash rise as a web medium is credited solely to its piracy by college and home users. its ease of use and adaptive nature made it the choice of many amatuer web builders and designers and like all things many of these ppl went on to become professionals who must pay licenses for Macromedia products)                    

[Venom]

of course it is illegal, but most plp in 3rd world countries cant afford to pay for software licences,

would anyone on gatt buy the watered down version of xp that microsoft is sellin in china nooooooooooo

we all know it is wrong but we cant help it cause we cant afford it, and we need it
hmm doesnt this sound familiar. just that it is a white collar crime
look around fellas what does this remind you of                    

[TrinireturnofGamez]

software swapping is rampant in Tdad because .
1. Software vendors sell software at extra high prices
2. people are too cheap to pay the regular price anyhow
   The companies don't need most of the money that is lost in piracy , and most of the time don't deserve it eg. Enter the Matrix, windows XP home .  
   If a company NEEDED my money, and i liked its product, i would pay the extra for an original copy .                      

[Czar]

...and most of the time don't deserve it...

Who are you to decide whether a company "deserves" the money that is lost in piracy?? That's got to be one of the most pathetic excuses I've ever heard...come better!                    

[camrE]

I guess it really boils down to ethics. or even respect. I personally find alot of programs to be expensive, or "out of my reach" rather. So i may seek an alternative, like Ramp suggested, go opensource. But that is not always an option.                      

[W1nTry]

Tell me something pplz.. if there were no piracy (hypothetically speaking) and everyone had whatever software they could AFFORD to buy. Where would music artists be? (can u spell radio, concerts and TV ONLY). What about, games... ur neighbour (Mr. Jones) would have the only copy of Doom 3 and HL2 and your computer would be either a Linux or Unix box. OR a VERY BLAND MS box. with all the processing power to do wordprocessing. Imagine having an A64 to surf the net. The point I am making is though Piracy is a hot topic of moral or ethical dealings, wouldn't you say that its because of Piracy that software (to SOME EXTENT) is as popular as it is now? Now think about ppl who copy games and like them so much they buy the real deal... if that person didn't have it in the first place they may not have bothered to get it. Take into account 3rd world countries that can't afford it mostly erego China? or just ppl that can't afford it in general erego college students... last I checked Bill G@tes was a college school drop out that bought a OS from a guy and made billions. COPIED Appl3s design too? (copyright wha???). I think that some level of piracy has been very healthy for the market games,music,software. It sure as hell spreads the word about ur product ALOT faster no?