Online Piracy: What do you think?

[RoboMan]

I'd like to know your opinions..

What do you think about piracy? Why do you think piracy ever started? What do you think are its causes and consequences?

In my opinion, the main cause of piracy is the high price of essential software, as Office or Media Editors like PhotoShop or Sony Vegas. To start with, i'm highly against piracy and i hold that the main consequence is harming the developers, who need the money for two main reasons:

-as a restore for their work
-to continue developing

What do you think a good measure to take would be to decrease piracy levels?

 

[Wave]

All 3 options in the vote are results of piracy... Pirated software can include extra code which will execute malicious instructions on the system/be packaged with malicious software, you usually won't receive customer support and you won't be doing the developers a favour since you wouldn't be supporting them via paying for the product which they worked hard to develop.

What do you think a good measure to take would be to decrease piracy levels?

There's not really much you can do which isn't already being done, actually. For example, DRM (Digital Rights Management) was introduced a long time ago to help prevent people copying/sharing protected material (such as music, films, etc) yet people still get-by this. How? Reverse engineering. And you can never fully defeat the art of reverse engineering, you can only do your best to help make it harder to be completed (and to help trip-up the analysts performing it).

As for torrents which is commonly used for sharing of pirated material, it has good uses for other things besides this also. Therefore, permanent banning of torrents due to piracy wouldn't work well either. (not to mention pirated content can be shared outside of torrents).

It would be worthwhile for the developer to just focus on improving his product/s and focusing on supporting the people who are using his creations than wasting his precious time battling against hackers who are going around cracking his software and releasing the cracked copies via torrent sites, etc. It's more hassle to keep it under control and depending on who is behind the piracy will depend on if anything can even be done (e.g. people in different countries apply to their own laws).

One of the best things you can do is try to protect your software to an extent where it would be much more time-consuming for an attacker to crack it, thus helping reduce the piracy for that specific software since the hacker may get tired/not bother continuing. However any hacker who is determined enough will spend the time required to break it if it means a lot to them...

n my opinion, the main cause of piracy is the high price of essential software, as Office or Media Editors like PhotoShop or Sony Vegas. To start with, i'm highly against piracy and i hold that the main consequence is harming the developers, who need the money for two main reasons:

-as a restore for their work
-to continue developing

I agree with these points also.

 

[ForgottenSeer 55474]

I think that musicians could after,lets say 5 years put their music on the net for free,they are making so much money anyway.

 

[antreas]

Kill piracy you kill windows i am pretty sure more than 50% of windows users are pirating software or using windows illegally.

Netflix and hulu doesn't have worldwide support so how people can watch movies online? illegal streaming websites or torrents. i don't think anyone can pay 10+ dollars per movie daily to watch a movie or 2 or more if he have free time.

When you using free software you are the product, so someone will prefer to pirate than be the product

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

Good feedback,
I think no matter how you cut it, it's here and will be for the foreseeable future.
You don't even have to "torrent" anymore, some sites have a hidden area that only
certain members have access to, unless invited you would never have a clue, other
sites may hide a FTP server that only paying or invited members would have access to.
For every torrent site there are maybe 2 to 3 covert sites like I listed above. Reguardless
of the impact they are here and will always be a part of the landscape. The only thing changing
is how Pirates access and distribute their pirated goods.

 

[BoraMurdar]

It's like old fashioned criminal, it will always evolve and find a new ways to find a hole in a system. Bigger local or regional ISP tolerance to piracy is leading to piracy maintenance and growth.

 

[RoboMan]

When you using free software you are the product, so someone will prefer to pirate than be the product

I loved this quote

 

[Ana_Filiz]

One reason could be the greed of the developers. No offence though. I will never understand how an IT giant could charge a lot of money for a necessary and primarily software. From here it begins, from the beginning, the first thing a user install after buying a PC with no OS on it. If they sell licenses with $10 for instance i think that they will make better profits than expected. Not all the time less means none but on the contrary less could mean more.

 

[CMLew]

One reason could be the greed of the developers. No offence though. I will never understand how an IT giant could charge a lot of money for a necessary and primarily software. From here it begins, from the beginning, the first thing a user install after buying a PC with no OS on it. If they sell licenses with $10 for instance i think that they will make better profits than expected. Not all the time less means none but on the contrary less could mean more.

It's purely demand and supply. They have the techs. you have the need. So u got to buy it regardless of the price. Same goes to our typical necessity. Imagine if the price of flour goes up sky-rocketed, would people still eat bread, noodles, burger, etc?
In consumer point-of-view, probably it's a gold-digger for IT giants for demanding such a high price for a software. But to them it's strictly business, gold-digger is a pre-requisite of an entrepreneur.

Plus I believe IT giants primary sources of revenue could very well from corporations. Consumers could be just unlucky to pay the price and join in as lab-rats potentially.

 

[anubizz]

I think the main consequence is, like many before me already said, it harms the developers. On the other side many software (GAMES!!!) are released and it feels like they are still in Beta/Alpha. With so many bugs or almost no content it is just no worth the huge price such software often has. Personally I just don't buy it but I can see why people will consider to download it instead. So there are two sides of this: the responsibility of the developer to release a finished product (bugs are unavoidable that's ok no problem here - that's why updates are a thing) and on the other side the consumers who support this kind of developers.

And one other reason I often see/hear about why someone is downloading such Warez is because the accessibility. Services like Netflix, HBO etc. are really nice and I think because of them some pirates stopped downloading movies/series but only if you live in a country with a big range of it. In other countries the same services are not nearly as good as in like america for example. You got only old films, you have to wait an eternity for new seasons of a series etc.
And I think as long as this accessibility problem isn't solved there will be always a huge demand for piracy (ok Piracy will always exist but not to this extend).

 

[NekoHr]

There is interesting article at PCGamer about piracy (games on PC), they made survey and published results.

 

[LabZero]

First of all cracked copies of softwares, games and warez sites are designed to spread malware because in that environment, no one gives nothing without having something back.

Developers and honest people condemn piracy as theft.
Download and share a game causes a damage because of not paying the work of hundreds or thousands of people who have worked hard on that product, and who does not receive money ... for the fun of the pirates!

Also, focus on the question of the consumer that is not damaged by pirates (how some people could says) , it's a wrong line of reasoning, because the developers and, indirectly, the consumers, pay the consequences because of the increase in the price of the product or worst.
For example, in the case of Assassin's Creed 2: the requirement to be constantly online to play the game and savegames saved exclusively on the Ubisoft servers, made a mess.

In fact, I remember some years ago for about three weeks (a huge amount for a fan gamers like me) legitimate users could only play in up/down mode because the servers were going down every minute, many users found themselves in the position of not knowing if the game had saved their progress and many of them were forced to start the adventure from the beginning after many hours of gameplay.

When the problems with the server were solved, a variety of crackers crew had already found a way to go around the antipiracy system ...so those who had paid the game at full price (here in Europe, about 70€) on "day one" found himself being able to play ... after all the pirates!!

In the end Ubisoft with the patch deactivated the antipiracy system, but it took several months. In the meantime, many users used the crack, which almost always ensured the total absence of technical problems, like the pirates.

Another big epic fail that demonstrates the problems that piracy produces!

 

[frogboy]

I am against online piracy in all shapes and form, i have nothing on my machines that is not a free software, or several i purchased or got as a giveaway. I even stopped watching movies online after getting Netflix and doing it all legal now. I never used a torrent to download anything so far and do not plan to in the future.

 

[LabZero]

I am against online piracy in all shapes and form, i have nothing on my machines that is not a free software, or several i purchased or got as a giveaway. I even stopped watching movies online after getting Netflix and doing it all legal now. I never used a torrent to download anything so far and do not plan to in the future.

I agree, considering that most good software are constantly in giveaway, the problem perhaps is that the average Joe does not know what the giveaway are...

 

[Ink]

Opinions are my own.

Piracy remains in the grey area, it's neither good or evil.

It's an exploit of a product or service with it's own risks.

 

[nclr11111]

Well, i´m having a slightly different view on some aspects then what´s written above!
Let me start off with that i don´t think piracy is justified but i like to view it as a grey zone rather than black and white.

I do agree with that piracy hurt the developers, esp smaller ones or thoose with niched products and customers, but otherwise i see piracy as a kind of catalyst.
By catalyst i mean something that forces or speeds up a reaction/change in a static system that never would have changed otherwise. I don´t think we would have had Spotify, Netflix, HBO etc as the service they are today if there weren´t for piracy. On the other hand we see the negative effects as discribed above with sw and games not working due to measures taken by the companies to prevent piracy that in the end affects the customers rather than the pirates etc.

Once in time i was a "pirate" in the sence that i did download mostly softwares etc. The reason being i love testing new softwares and didn´t want to be limited to trials which in many cases were crippled of functions and/or limited in other ways. If i really liked the software i usually bought it IF i could afford it which i didn´t all the time. In thoose occations i did "steal" it.
One classic example is Windows. I have paid for one (1) license of Win7 but i have 4 computers at home. My reasoning was if i pay for a product i´ll be damned if someone tells me on how many computers i can install it. I know it´s a faulty reasoning but with a corporation as big as M$ i don´t feel ashmed about it! All of my other SW are free or bought and i have a subscription for Netflix and Spotify but only one copy of Windows.

Call me a hypocrite but i would still not pay for more than one (1) copy of Windows, but i´d love to support smaller companies with good sw by buying theirs which i also do now that i have an income!

Sorry for the wall of text, but i just couldn´t stop myself..... And this is just my opinions, not an invite for flaming!

 

[ZeroDay]

Online Piracy: What do you think? I think....Do I get my own eye patch and ship? If so, I'm in...

 

[LabZero]

Well, i´m having a slightly different view on some aspects then what´s written above!
Let me start off with that i don´t think piracy is justified but i like to view it as a grey zone rather than black and white.

I do agree with that piracy hurt the developers, esp smaller ones or thoose with niched products and customers, but otherwise i see piracy as a kind of catalyst.
By catalyst i mean something that forces or speeds up a reaction/change in a static system that never would have changed otherwise. I don´t think we would have had Spotify, Netflix, HBO etc as the service they are today if there weren´t for piracy. On the other hand we see the negative effects as discribed above with sw and games not working due to measures taken by the companies to prevent piracy that in the end affects the customers rather than the pirates etc.

Once in time i was a "pirate" in the sence that i did download mostly softwares etc. The reason being i love testing new softwares and didn´t want to be limited to trials which in many cases were crippled of functions and/or limited in other ways. If i really liked the software i usually bought it IF i could afford it which i didn´t all the time. In thoose occations i did "steal" it.
One classic example is Windows. I have paid for one (1) license of Windows 7 but i have 4 computers at home. My reasoning was if i pay for a product i´ll be damned if someone tells me on how many computers i can install it. I know it´s a faulty reasoning but with a corporation as big as M$ i don´t feel ashmed about it! All of my other SW are free or bought and i have a subscription for Netflix and Spotify but only one copy of Windows.

Call me a hypocrite but i would still not pay for more than one (1) copy of Windows, but i´d love to support smaller companies with good sw by buying theirs which i also do now that i have an income!

Sorry for the wall of text, but i just couldn´t stop myself..... And this is just my opinions, not an invite for flaming!

I understand your point of wiew.

 

[Logethica]

Very Interesting Question ..
I like all of the above posts for different reasons.
I think that it is a very complicated issue...Often Legality & Ethics do not go hand in hand.

Personally I could generalise and say that I am Anti-piracy,but I think that it depends on whether the specific system that governs the "legal" route is more ethical than the "illegal" route,or the "grey area" in between.
I am Anti "Movie Piracy" as I think that to own a legal copy of a film that costs $100+ Million to make ,for only approx £10 is a bargain.
I am Anti "OS & Software Piracy" as I do not see a need (certainly not in the UK anyway).. I have never paid for an OS or for any Security Software because they were all free anyway..
When I Gamed I always payed for the games (although I do think that they are over-priced)

IMO The Piracy that has the biggest ethical "grey area" is TV..
I consider the legal Subscription systems to be extremely unethical.. One would need to have a massive disposable income to be able to watch ones personal favourites of EVERY program available..
To have to subscribe to watch exclusive content/programming from Netflix ,Hulu ,Amazon ,Sky ,HBO...etc would cost a fortune,and it is ethically wrong in my view that only the rich could watch whatever shows they wanted..
If ALL shows of ALL services could be payed for individually then I would have a different view.
...Having said this,I do not download & distribute TV content as that crosses the morality line for me.

 

[NekoHr]

Piracy is certainly gray area and there are many angles to it. But it can't be viewed just as piracy issue, question why is there piracy at all something must be causing people to resort to it. Sometimes it's artificial digital divide (DVD regions), unavailability of service in some areas, prices for same software (digital download) can vary very much depending on where you buy it (which country)...

Anecdotally, in my country, Croatia, there was small rally by civil society groups for preservation of national songs and dances because our local RIAA (ZAMP) charges the for performing national folk songs and dances. Law is written that way at the moment.
Is it mindbogglingly stupid? Yes, charging for hundred years old folk songs. Is it illegal to share or perform without paying for these? According to law, yes. Would I share? Hell, yeah.

Like someone said law, morality, common sense are intertwined but don't get well together sometimes.