Have/Would you use pirated software?

[TheBrit]

I generally don't use pirated software. I do have a pirated copy of Scrabble for Android though as it was impossible to obtain by any other means. I would have paid for it if there was a official channel to get it through.

 

[Vinsanity93]

AutoCAD Free Download - Download AutoCAD Free Trial - Autodesk

Directly from the website on their homepage.

The 6 steps you wrote in bold is incredibly optimistic and idealistic. How often does it actually occur in the real world?

Bottom line... piracy contributes to job losses, billions of dollars lost every year, hurts the economy, and is just plain wrong. I used to pirate music and movies when I was a young, ignorant teen with old Napster and Kazaa. I'm now grown up, have my own money, and purchase. Pirating is a selfish act. It's so easy to because of the anonymity and secrecy. One can get away with it without anyone scolding him/her. Also... if you don't know anyone who contributed to making that software, music, movie, etc... there's no human connection. It's kind of the same way people view corporations (an entity) versus a small family business (mom and pop) on the corner of Main Street. Stealing from an entity is ok because it's just an entity while stealing from a family owned business is WRONG because you actually had a friendly chat with the owner and got to know him/her and the hours and work they put into their company.

The only reason why I believe people pirate is to get free stuff... and who doesn't like getting free stuff at the expense of others?

Added: Piracy is a big slap in the face to capitalism.

I didn't just mean AutoCAD lol, mainly expensive applications that don't have trials.
I'm probably one of those "ignorant teens" but it pretty damn hard finding work in this economy with no job experience. Like I said, maybe if I had money I wouldn't pirate...but that entity thing is pretty spot on :thumbs up:

 

[ScorpDX]

As for software, I don't have a problem pirating the more expensive warez. MS Office and Photoshop are two that come to mind. Cheaper stuff I'll generally pirate it the first time I use it just to get an idea of what I'm getting. Then if they ever release and update/upgrade I'll buy it.

As for music, I generally pirate the album in a crappy cheaply done bitrate just to see if the whole thing is worth buying. Hard to tell if I want to spend $10-20 based on the one song playing on the radio. If it's good then I'll go ahead and buy the whole thing, still digital though. Mostly just to get the higher bitrate and the album art. Of course I could pirate that too but I feel like giving a little something. And just a small sidenote...As long as rappers and whoever else are writing lyrics about how much money they're throwing around on stupid shit I won't give a damn if they lose a few pennies by someone downloading their music!

As for Movies, I've pirated a few but I really don't watch anything more than once so I use netflix or redbox for the most part. The only ones I download are the older ones that it's hard to find a physical copy of. I'm not about to buy it for 3x retail just because it's not being produced anymore!

 

[Roze]

I have no choice, as paid Android apps and games are NOT available because of where I live. Although having said that, I've only actually pirated one app I use regularly...Tapatalk, which is a forum browser. I would like to pay for, and can afford to pay for Android apps and games as I think the authors should be paid for their work, but I can't.

Just a bit of OT but I couldn't help to assist (and promote).

mikedt, not sure if you know but AF has an app on the market call Phandroid. It's free and very good

Phandroid ~ Android Application v2.5.3 By phandroid.com | News & Magazines

 

[Tempusfugit]

The 6 steps you wrote in bold is incredibly optimistic and idealistic. How often does it actually occur in the real world?

Bottom line... piracy contributes to job losses, billions of dollars lost every year, hurts the economy, and is just plain wrong.

Oh give me a break. Billions? Talk about being optimistic/idealistic and assuming every person that downloaded something had the money and would buy it if pirating wasn't around. I'd be surprised if piracy actually COST anyone more than a million.

You know what costs billions and is bad for the economy? Wells Fargo fraudulently charging overdraft fees to millions of people... Oh but nobody goes to jail for that... but lets villainize a 12 year old girl downloading britney spears and threaten kids with jail for stealing MUSIC....

 

[ElasticNinja]

ANYONE downloading anything to do with Britney spears should be imprisoned for a long time

 

[Xoom]

I can't remember the last time I've used anything that I haven't paid with my own money. If I want something bad enough, I save up for it. Simple as that.

No pirated stuff on my Droid X, I actually WANT to support Android devs! Didn't feel that way most of the time with the iPhone devs.

This is probably the funniest thing I've ever read. Like there's some magically difference in software creation in Android and iPhone that warrants Android app makers more money.

 

[MJM128]

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=13779351The 6 steps you wrote in bold is incredibly optimistic and idealistic. How often does it actually occur in the real world?

Added: Piracy is a big slap in the face to capitalism.

A lot for me actually, I have "pirated" a fair share of movies, but i also recommend movies to people that then go out and see it/buy it or rent it on netflix.

Also "piracy" could just be a big slap to the face that your method for making money needs to be adjusted. Maybe the price is too much? Maybe people don't want to risk trying it out, etc.

 

[NunyaBidnez]

Although I have used some software of a questionable nature, I usually try to avoid it because I don't trust the source and I'm afraid it may have been altered it to include viruses, trojans, and other crap that can infect my computer or phone.

I usually try to purchase software if it isn't too expensive or I find free, open source programs that offer similar features as the expensive proprietary software.

On my phone, I typically download free and ad supported apps. For a while, I was tempted to download a bootleg copy of Swype because it was unavailable in the Android Market. That was until the company re-opened registration for beta testers, which gave me the chance to sign up and download a legit copy for free.

 

[mrqs]

The only reason why I believe people pirate is to get free stuff

there are other reasons:

- it's often much less effort (downloading vs. ordering / going to a store)

- you get what you want much faster (downloading vs. ordering + for movies/tv shows, you'd have to wait possibly months for them to be available)

- and in better quality (hd tv shows)

- for a better/more convenient platform (your pc media player of choice vs. a dvd/br player or crappy streaming service)

- being available in the first place (there's plenty of stuff you just can't find legally)

ANYONE downloading anything to do with Britney spears should be imprisoned for a long time

i'd rather they imprisoned the ones buying anything to do with britney spears

 

[Kelmar]

Oh give me a break. Billions? Talk about being optimistic/idealistic and assuming every person that downloaded something had the money and would buy it if pirating wasn't around. I'd be surprised if piracy actually COST anyone more than a million.

You know what costs billions and is bad for the economy? Wells Fargo fraudulently charging overdraft fees to millions of people... Oh but nobody goes to jail for that... but lets villainize a 12 year old girl downloading britney spears and threaten kids with jail for stealing MUSIC....

I'm in a line of work in the entertainment industry that directly feels the pain of "pirating." I can assure you that it does indeed hit the billion dollar mark EASILY.

Unfortunately, I can't disclose specifics for obvious reasons (nor an I willing to go into detail with what kind of work I do). Remember, there is MUCH more that goes on behind the scenes that consumers simply don't realize or think about when they decide to pirate content.

More examples if I get to a computer sometime today... I don't like swype THAT much.

 

[Eugene]

No need to, I find everything I could ever need or want in the open source world free anf legal to download and run.

 

[Member243850]

I think the cartels force A TRUCK LOAD of people to go and pirate almost anything wether it be music.... games or any other softeware...

If only they would make stuff cheaper and did not make CARTELS it might be A LOT better than this current mess we are in...

Here read this crap:

RIAA Sued for Price Fixing - 6 Years Later ZeroPaid.com

Unpaid Artists and The Fight Against RIAA Chris Grooms

Wal-Mart to RIAA: We're not gonna take it!

FOXNews.com - 12-Year-Old Sued for Music Downloading - U.S. & World

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel

Quote from FOX NEWS from the one link above:

Brianna and the others sued yesterday under federal copyright law could face penalties of up to $150,000 per song, but the RIAA has already settled some cases for as little as $3,000.

I think that's distgusting!!!!! They disgust me

For the record.... I don't agree with pirating... but when this bull crap happens all i can say is:

RAAARGH!

 

[Member138406]

there are other reasons:

- it's often much less effort (downloading vs. ordering / going to a store)

- you get what you want much faster (downloading vs. ordering + for movies/tv shows, you'd have to wait possibly months for them to be available)

- and in better quality (hd tv shows)

- for a better/more convenient platform (your pc media player of choice vs. a dvd/br player or crappy streaming service)

- being available in the first place (there's plenty of stuff you just can't find legally)




i'd rather they imprisoned the ones buying anything to do with britney spears

+1
Companies are stuck in this old way of distributing their products and are just recently coming around. Most of the time you can get things earlier, better quality, faster, and more conveniently via pirating then legally obtaining things. It is surely not always about money.

Also as for software, in this new age of OTA and online updates; many companies are using that ability as an excuse to release unfinished, untested things just to maybe fix later. Sucks for the consumer to have to pay to beta test stuff for a few months before the company decided to release patches and updates.

 

[ElasticNinja]

I'd generally download a film or song before buying
but I nearly always buy if I like it... tho sometimes there is a lag of a few weeks when I am cash strapped

software as I said I pretty much always buy or avoid payed versions

however I do use AdBlock which makes me feel guilty

 

[Vihzel]

Oh give me a break. Billions? Talk about being optimistic/idealistic and assuming every person that downloaded something had the money and would buy it if pirating wasn't around. I'd be surprised if piracy actually COST anyone more than a million.

You know what costs billions and is bad for the economy? Wells Fargo fraudulently charging overdraft fees to millions of people... Oh but nobody goes to jail for that... but lets villainize a 12 year old girl downloading britney spears and threaten kids with jail for stealing MUSIC....

That is an incredibly ignorant statement about the effects of piracy. Look it up on Google. You'll get a LOT of results back on how much money is lost due to piracy of music, movies, software, etc. Check companies like Nintendo and you'll EASILY see $1+ billion dollars lost each year.

Also... what do banks have to do with this? We're talking about piracy... not what banks do to people. That's a completely different topic. They don't have anything to do with piracy.

there are other reasons:

- it's often much less effort (downloading vs. ordering / going to a store)

- you get what you want much faster (downloading vs. ordering + for movies/tv shows, you'd have to wait possibly months for them to be available)

- and in better quality (hd tv shows)

- for a better/more convenient platform (your pc media player of choice vs. a dvd/br player or crappy streaming service)

- being available in the first place (there's plenty of stuff you just can't find legally)

1. Much less effort? I don't really understand this one. Pirate because someone's too lazy to go to the store? Can you clarify please?

2. People pirate because they're too impatient to wait for official releases? When you refer to movies, I really hope you're not talking about theatrical --> DVD release. There's very good reasons why the DVD release comes much later after the movie is out in theaters.

3. Apple, Amazon, Zune, and so forth have HD TV shows.

4. If you purchase the content in DVD, you can play it on your PC while also having the ability to play in a DVD player. 2 birds with 1 stone.

5. Exactly what can you not find legally? This is a serious question because I don't really understand it.

I can't see any of these, besides #5, where it's ok to pirate.

 

[mrqs]

That is an incredibly ignorant statement about the effects of piracy. Look it up on Google. You'll get a LOT of results back on how much money is lost due to piracy of music, movies, software, etc. Check companies like Nintendo and you'll EASILY see $100+ billion dollars lost each year.

all those "studies" you'll find on google on how much money is lost on piracy are imo all bs

yes, i pirate photoshop, but if that option was taken away from me, i wouldn't buy it, i'd just use gimp or paint.net instead

if i didn't have the option of pirating all those movies / tv shows, i'd watch less movies and get a tv (i don't have one, 'cause pirating tv shows is more convenient and i get better quality faster)

if i didn't have the option of pirating all the music, i'd listen to the bands in myspace and what have you

of course if i didn't have the option of pirating anything, i'd spend a little more to obtain some of it legally, but all those "studies" are calculating the worth of everything i've pirated as the net loss for the companies, when in fact i'd only get a fraction of them if i had to pay

*disclaimer: no, i don't pirate everything

1. Much less effort? I don't really understand this one. Pirate because someone's too lazy to go to the store? Can you clarify please?

2. People pirate because they're too impatient to wait for official releases? When you refer to movies, I really hope you're not talking about theatrical --> DVD release. There's very good reasons why the DVD release comes much later after the movie is out in theaters.

3. Apple, Amazon, Zune, and so forth have HD TV shows.

4. If you purchase the content in DVD, you can play it on your PC while also having the ability to play in a DVD player. 2 birds with 1 stone.

5. Exactly what can you not find legally? This is a serious question because I don't really understand it.

I can't see any of these, besides #5, where it's ok to pirate.

1. i'm not saying it's a sole reason to pirate, but it contributes to it

2. & 3. i don't live in the states
so dvd release -> dvd release here can be a significant amount of time
and those services aren't available everywhere

4. and if you download it, you can burn it to a dvd...
this is very much related to #1, in that pirating is much more convenient in general

5. albums from bands that don't exist anymore and some obscure movies


the points 1-4 can pretty much be considered to be the same thing, in that the legal distribution models just aren't as good (from the consumer's pov) as illegal ones

 

[Roze]

Although I have used some software of a questionable nature, I usually try to avoid it because I don't trust the source and I'm afraid it may have been altered it to include viruses, trojans, and other crap that can infect my computer or phone.

This pretty much explains me. I've never downloaded any pirated materials because really...I don't bloody trust those questionable sites. I'm also quite computer illiterate and I don't want to get any viruses on my computer or anything harmful for that mater infecting it. Only time I really pirated was when I was in University and all of the girls in the house put all of their media on the network to share. Though at that time, I didn't realize I was 'pirating'.

I used to buy DVDs and it's really a big waste of money for me. Usually the movies I buy I have already seen and I don't like to rewatch movies, especially by myself. But I bought them thinking 'I'll watch it again'. I have no idea what happened to my DVD collection to be honest I think my brother took them, lol.

I have gotten 'my favourite' shows as gifts for bday/xmas...sad thing is...they are still in their packaging. I couldn't have the heart to tell my friends that the gifts were 'useless' as I won't watch them even though I LOVE the series, lol.

Only time I'll watch a movie is in theatre or over a friend's or with the family. I don't pirate...but everyone around me does so because of how I am...I don't really NEED to pirate to watch those movies.

I have a question, I can go to the library, borrow a DVD. Interestingly they have quite a number of 'new releases'. How is this any different from 'pirating'? I'm not PAYING for the movies I'm watching. It's the same as me downloading a pirated movie and after I'm done watching it, I delete it.

 

[Jammy]

That is an incredibly ignorant statement about the effects of piracy. Look it up on Google. You'll get a LOT of results back on how much money is lost due to piracy of music, movies, software, etc. Check companies like Nintendo and you'll EASILY see $1+ billion dollars lost each year.

I'm fairly certain that the $1b/y mark implies that everyone who illegally downloads a piece of software/music/movie would have considered buying that item.


Also, if music is mastered like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRyIACDCc1I

I'll pirate it.

 

[mrqs]

I have a question, I can go to the library, borrow a DVD. Interestingly they have quite a number of 'new releases'. How is this any different from 'pirating'? I'm not PAYING for the movies I'm watching.

actually you are paying for them - in your taxes, some of which go to the library, which pays to have those movies in their collection

Also, if music is mastered like this:

[...]

I'll pirate it.

and where do you think your pirated copy comes from? it's a rip off the cd

 

[EmoTonyB]

This pretty much explains me. I've never downloaded any pirated materials because really...I don't bloody trust those questionable sites. I'm also quite computer illiterate and I don't want to get any viruses on my computer or anything harmful for that mater infecting it.

i use a Mac now so much of that dosent apply to me, but for 10 years using a PC from AOL server chatrooms, to Kazaa and Limewire to Torrenting i have NEVER and i mean NEVER been infected by ANYTHING i have DLed...

Just Luck??? or maybe the Anti Virus and Spyware and Registry cleaners i used? i just think anymore that above average users have the tools to get around most of the run of the mill attacks one would come across from this.

That being said... i have never done much software... i guess getting it sick would be alot easier with a .exe than just media...

 

[Vihzel]

I apologize mrqs! I didn't realize that you were not from the US. I understand where you're coming from when trying to obtain media, which I assume you mean US media. I have a lot of friends from South Korea and they don't have any other outlet to get new releases from Korean music artists.

The people that I were referring to were people (US residents) who have easy access to the items they're pirating, such as a short drive to the local Best Buy or Amazon (TONS of stuff on Amazon), but decide to pirate for the reasons you provide.

I have a question, I can go to the library, borrow a DVD. Interestingly they have quite a number of 'new releases'. How is this any different from 'pirating'? I'm not PAYING for the movies I'm watching. It's the same as me downloading a pirated movie and after I'm done watching it, I delete it.

Same reason why you can borrow books from the library for free. Like mrqs said... taxes help pay for it. In the end... SOMEONE has to pay for the DVDs and books for you to use in the library. If the library didn't have any access to money... they wouldn't get anything new.

 

[Jammy]

and where do you think your pirated copy comes from? it's a rip off the cd

Nope, someone found an unmastered version in Guitar Hero 3.


I will not buy music out of principal if they wreck it for the sake of loudness.

 

[Member243850]

Hmm,

Okay I think some people are missing the bigger picture here.

The main / big questions we should be asking here is:

"Why do people pirate?"

Just for the record... i really don't like pirating.

1) I am pretty sure it is because of money...but not always the case.

2) Maybe it is because the software is NO LONGER available... Like PS2 / PS1 games are not easily available / found in stores right now.... You are forced to buy them 2nd hand and not every game will be available for you sadly. Is it your fault they refuse to allow you to buy them in the stores? So it is not completely your fault if you are forced to download a PS2 game off the net...

3) Companies create Cartels and artificially increase the prices... is this your fault they are criminals?... why should you put up with this?

Look here:

RIAA Sued for Price Fixing - 6 Years Later ZeroPaid.com

Unpaid Artists and The Fight Against RIAA Chris Grooms

Wal-Mart to RIAA: We're not gonna take it!

FOXNews.com - 12-Year-Old Sued for Music Downloading - U.S. & World

Cartel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


It's not nice to artificialy inflate a product... that's just plain wrong.

 

[vice86]

On a pirating related note...this illustration is so true..lol