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There's also the fixed costs (development) to consider. The point he's making is that people are willing to may for software, but there's an inherent price. If
by thasmin 17y ago
There's also the fixed costs (development) to consider. The point he's making is that people are willing to may for software, but there's an inherent price. If the vendor's price is higher than the inherent price, people will pirate.
- jacoblyles 17y agoPiracy is not the function of "inherent" price. The author postulates some price like (MC + (FC/units)) * 1.15 (where MC is marginal cost, FC is Fixed cost, and units is units sold) below which is "fair" and people will not pirate and above which is "unfair" and people will pirate. If this is the case, then people should be less willing to pirate a game that costs $millions to make than a game that costs $thousands because it is more "fair" to pirate a game that was made on a budget than a game with high fixed costs. I don't think that is the case. Rather, I think piracy is a function of how much a pirate values his time and effort and how much he likes the software product.
- rabidsnail 17y agoI think the author is postulating that number of units scales with fixed cost.
- jacoblyles 17y agoIt doesn't matter which parameter assumptions you use to calculate a hypothetical number that has no connection to reality.
- alttab 17y agoAnd if you really think about what it takes to actually write the crack - they are amongst us. On a commentary note, what would drive a hacker to write a crack for a game? Most of the time it's not even for money. Others just download it after a search.
- thasmin 17y agoIf incorrectly assume that a product's value is directly related to its cost, I believe it's true that people would be less willing to pirate the game that cost more. Which means they would be willing to pay more. The copyright holder's problem occurs when they create work that has less value than what they spent on it, based on that equation. This, I believe, is the author's point. When the public sees your product as having less value than you do, they will be unwilling to pay the amount you charge, and will pirate your work.
- thasmin 17y agoI believe the author would add that the pirate's perceived value of the product is also a function of piracy.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]