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So why do so many people not pirate software? If you think it's just because they don't know how, then you're wrong. I suggest because of their own sense of f

So why do so many people not pirate software? If you think it's just because they don't know how, then you're wrong. I suggest because of their own sense of fairness. Most would not get caught but they still feel it's right to pay a software author for what they have created. Some cultures (currently) have more of this sense than others - e.g. the U.S. more than China.

joeyo 17y ago
I'd posit because the the product in the case of pirated or black-market software is almost always clearly inferior to the original software-- it has been cracked and changed in various undefined and poorly understood ways (certainly to the average person). There is some chance the pirated software will give you a virus, or be fake, etc. There is uncertainty about the product and people are naturally uneasy about it. I suspect a similar reason for why most people don't buy black market goods: pirated handbags or knock-off electronics brands, for example. The quality is perceived as worse, or at least unknown. Digital media (movies, music) on the other hand are more widely understood to be "exact" copies of the original and so there is less concern about the quality of the illegitimate good, to the point that it isn't considered illegitimate.