4 ms·

"We conclude that piracy and similar competitive shocks push firms to innovate to stay ahead of imitator products," In the case of piracy, this seems like an o

"We conclude that piracy and similar competitive shocks push firms to innovate to stay ahead of imitator products," In the case of piracy, this seems like an odd statement. If I can pirate your software and make it widely available then you're innovating to stay ahead of yourself -- which I'll just immediately pirate when you release it. How does me innovating quickly, help me stay ahead of people simply copying my product? Unless the innovation is around how to monetize my product, even in the face of piracy (e.g., ads, support, SaaS) -- in which case those things don't really imply that I need to innovate on the actual product itself.

PaulHoule 5y ago
Specifically that article says that firms vulnerable to piracy file patents, copyright registrations and trademarks. All of those are tracers for innovation because they're not supposed to give you any of those for something that isn't new, but they are really weapons one would use against pirates, imitators, competitors, etc.
13415 5y ago
I don't know what their explanation is, but one explanation would be that people frequently use piracy to try out and compare products. Later, once they have decided on the best product, some of them go legit. That's certainly how I used piracy in the past. So the customers are way better informed with piracy, which forces companies to innovate more quickly to stay ahead. They can no longer rely on deceptive marketing practices and market dominance.
- paulryanrogers 5y ago
  Free demos can fill this gap. Though IME it can feel overwhelming trying many at once so you don't have to pay before being fully informed. Professional reviews can help too, assuming ones needs aren't too niche. All that said I can imagine some folks feel justified pirating them to reduce that trial expiration anxiety. Just beware that pirated copies or cracks can also contain Trojans.
azalemeth 5y ago
I think a lot of it depends on the rate of piracy -- and also the circumstances under which it is done. I've met people in Denmark who genuinely pay attention to, and don't skip, youtube ads because they want their content creators to get more financial support. At the same time, at least one of these people has told me that they pirate software to try it, before buying it. They tend not to like DRM but will happily "give things a go". It's not hard to imagine that a small percentage of piracy actively helps spread a product, and if you get 1000%-fold growth and your piracy rate goes from say, 1.5% to 5%, you've still massively won overall. If you're a person like my Danish friend, it's not hard to imagine that if anything the "try before you buy" piracy then means that products are evaluated more on their features, if anything increasing competition to innovate between market leaders in their segment. The company only goes bankrupt if literally everyone pirates everything -- or, more likely, transitions into a FOSS-style support+ business model. (Which, IMO, is far more preferable than software-as-service)
- katbyte 5y ago
  Also if individuals pirate your software and learn that then that’s the preferred let’s say image/video editing software when they work the company more the likely buy legal licenses for them
- atoav 5y ago
  I probably spent multiple thousand Euros on software that I had previously used dubious copies of. My reasons: - I could now afford it - I earned money with it - The new version of the software had some great feature that the old pirated version didn't have
  - MomoXenosaga 5y ago
    Businesses and self employed people will usually pay for software. They can deduct it from their taxes anyway. Also it doesn't look very professional when you're using a cracked version of Photoshop at your presentation.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
You're trying to sell artificially scarce copies of something that is infinitely abundant. Change your business model. You're supposed to be getting paid before you create the data, not after.

PaulHoule 5y ago

Specifically that article says that firms vulnerable to piracy file patents, copyright registrations and trademarks. All of those are tracers for innovation because they're not supposed to give you any of those for something that isn't new, but they are really weapons one would use against pirates, imitators, competitors, etc.

13415 5y ago

I don't know what their explanation is, but one explanation would be that people frequently use piracy to try out and compare products. Later, once they have decided on the best product, some of them go legit. That's certainly how I used piracy in the past. So the customers are way better informed with piracy, which forces companies to innovate more quickly to stay ahead. They can no longer rely on deceptive marketing practices and market dominance.

paulryanrogers 5y ago
Free demos can fill this gap. Though IME it can feel overwhelming trying many at once so you don't have to pay before being fully informed. Professional reviews can help too, assuming ones needs aren't too niche. All that said I can imagine some folks feel justified pirating them to reduce that trial expiration anxiety. Just beware that pirated copies or cracks can also contain Trojans.

azalemeth 5y ago

I think a lot of it depends on the rate of piracy -- and also the circumstances under which it is done. I've met people in Denmark who genuinely pay attention to, and don't skip, youtube ads because they want their content creators to get more financial support. At the same time, at least one of these people has told me that they pirate software to try it, before buying it. They tend not to like DRM but will happily "give things a go". It's not hard to imagine that a small percentage of piracy actively helps spread a product, and if you get 1000%-fold growth and your piracy rate goes from say, 1.5% to 5%, you've still massively won overall. If you're a person like my Danish friend, it's not hard to imagine that if anything the "try before you buy" piracy then means that products are evaluated more on their features, if anything increasing competition to innovate between market leaders in their segment. The company only goes bankrupt if literally everyone pirates everything -- or, more likely, transitions into a FOSS-style support+ business model. (Which, IMO, is far more preferable than software-as-service)

katbyte 5y ago
Also if individuals pirate your software and learn that then that’s the preferred let’s say image/video editing software when they work the company more the likely buy legal licenses for them
atoav 5y ago
I probably spent multiple thousand Euros on software that I had previously used dubious copies of. My reasons: - I could now afford it - I earned money with it - The new version of the software had some great feature that the old pirated version didn't have
- MomoXenosaga 5y ago
  Businesses and self employed people will usually pay for software. They can deduct it from their taxes anyway. Also it doesn't look very professional when you're using a cracked version of Photoshop at your presentation.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

You're trying to sell artificially scarce copies of something that is infinitely abundant. Change your business model. You're supposed to be getting paid before you create the data, not after.