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There is a third option which I'm surprised no one has mentioned so far: Ignore them. First, people or companies using the cracked version of your software wer

There is a third option which I'm surprised no one has mentioned so far: Ignore them. First, people or companies using the cracked version of your software were never going to buy it. These people do not pay for software, and nothing you do will convince them to pay for it. Secondly, whatever measures you put in place to combat the cracked versions will potentially have a negative impact on your actual paying users - the real people you built the software for. Extra security measures or hoops to jump through; extra validation or 'calls home.' - all extra things that can and will go wrong at some point for a real user. Why would you inconvenience paying users to combat people who will never be paying users? Ignore them, and spend your time improving your product for your real users. [I've had 3 desktop apps cracked and hosted on Warez sites over the past 15 years - even appearing for sale on eBay on some occasions. I was worried the first time it happened, then I stopped caring. They made no difference.]

FlyingSnake 4y ago
I agree. Ignoring them is probably a good strategy. #2 in the list is too time consuming and has opportunity cost for the small team already wearing many hats.
creeble 4y ago
It was called "the WordStar effect" in the 80s. Your marginal loss to pirates is nothing compared to the incremental effect of becoming a standard. Not always effective for all applications though.
freedomben 4y ago
Yes, exactly! This is IMHO the best answer. You'd also be amazed at how many people pirated photoshop while they were youths and/or students, and later paid for a legit copy when they had a real business need because it was what they knew and loved. It's very bad economics to think of a pirated copy as a lost sale. In some cases the piracy helps drive sales!
fragmede 4y ago
> First, people or companies using the cracked version of your software were never going to buy it. I've heard this before but I'm not convinced this is actually true. Why? Because I use Netflix instead of torrent sites, and just accept the limitations of that format. Programs are tools vs of entertainment, but I don't know that the human psychology actually changes. A neat trick they did was to introduce downloading as a feature. Now search results for "Netflix download" all talk about the built in feature as opposed to teaching how to rip the DRM off the downloaded file.
- jupp0r 4y ago
  I think this is different in consumer and corporate markets. The tradeoff to expose a business to legal liability and security problems is not a good one for most businesses while it's usually acceptable (or isn't realized by) many consumers.
- hellotomyrars 4y ago
  Not sure how your example of Netflix refutes the point being made? It’s exactly the point? Regardless this just goes to show that the problem can be mitigated by making the legitimate route less painful than the illegitimate one. I used to pirate most of my music collection but now I use Apple Music because the friction of maintaining the library across multiple devices is so much lower. Imposing restrictions and hoops to make your product harder to pirate is vastly inferior and in many cases entirely ineffective in than designing the product to be a superior experience to pirating it. The ability to do so is going to vary wildly by the product itself, but that is the better way to achieve the goal. There are people who will always pirate things, whether out of principle or out of economics. However there are plenty of people who would gladly cross the line if the legitimate route was significantly better, either by ease of use or design.
  - fragmede 4y ago
    Oh yeah okay I see what you're saying. DarrenDev says there are no lost sales. However, I pay for Disney plus because I don't have access to invite-only torrent sites where the latest movies can be found, but I'd still like to watch them. If I had access to those torrent sites or someone's Plex, I could cancel Disney plus.
technion 4y ago
I agree with this, but I do think having pirate keys show up on ebay is a special case. I've dealt with this in businesses that expected Microsoft support but had windows and office keys bought off ebay that they believed were legitimate. End users often just think that $5 key is a special deal. It's worth sending whatever complaints you can to ebay.
branon 4y ago
Distributing cracked software for free is one thing, but people trying to make money selling cracks or access to them ... if it were my software, that'd feel personal.
ilyt 4y ago
Eh, you probably want to give company customers some notice it is a pirated one. If there is no note whatsoever it's very easy to get to situation where user A starts to use it, pirates it, then just dumps it onto file share and tells others to use it.
liquidify 4y ago
I use cracked software until it is too useful or frustrating to use and the economics makes sense. If you are making money from something or using it enough that you want support / reliability, pay for it and shame on you if you don't Don't gimp your cracked stuff for the college kids and evening hacks just trying to see if they like something or if they can build its use into a business.
atoav 4y ago
> These people do not pay for software, and nothing you do will convince them to pay for it. I have pirated person when I was a poor student where it literally was money for food vs buying some software. I buy all my (commercial) software now that I can easily afford it and support multiple open source projects with donations. And the software houses, Bands and filmers who have seen the most of my money have been precisely the ones whose work I liked before. The creators who have not been assholes about it (or even had some kind of humor in their response) are well remembered. Sure there might be people who pirate everything out of principle, but my guess is that the majority will only do it if they can't help it any better.
puffoflogic 4y ago
> First, people or companies using the cracked version of your software were never going to buy it. Or, they would never have bought it if unable to obtain a pirated copy, but now that they've tried it, may purchase. Admittedly this is more true of games than other software. When I compare my steam library to my pirated library, many of my favorite games are in the overlap: I tried them first, loved them, and then bought them.

FlyingSnake 4y ago

I agree. Ignoring them is probably a good strategy. #2 in the list is too time consuming and has opportunity cost for the small team already wearing many hats.

creeble 4y ago

It was called "the WordStar effect" in the 80s. Your marginal loss to pirates is nothing compared to the incremental effect of becoming a standard. Not always effective for all applications though.

freedomben 4y ago

Yes, exactly! This is IMHO the best answer. You'd also be amazed at how many people pirated photoshop while they were youths and/or students, and later paid for a legit copy when they had a real business need because it was what they knew and loved. It's very bad economics to think of a pirated copy as a lost sale. In some cases the piracy helps drive sales!

fragmede 4y ago

> First, people or companies using the cracked version of your software were never going to buy it. I've heard this before but I'm not convinced this is actually true. Why? Because I use Netflix instead of torrent sites, and just accept the limitations of that format. Programs are tools vs of entertainment, but I don't know that the human psychology actually changes. A neat trick they did was to introduce downloading as a feature. Now search results for "Netflix download" all talk about the built in feature as opposed to teaching how to rip the DRM off the downloaded file.

jupp0r 4y ago
I think this is different in consumer and corporate markets. The tradeoff to expose a business to legal liability and security problems is not a good one for most businesses while it's usually acceptable (or isn't realized by) many consumers.
hellotomyrars 4y ago
Not sure how your example of Netflix refutes the point being made? It’s exactly the point? Regardless this just goes to show that the problem can be mitigated by making the legitimate route less painful than the illegitimate one. I used to pirate most of my music collection but now I use Apple Music because the friction of maintaining the library across multiple devices is so much lower. Imposing restrictions and hoops to make your product harder to pirate is vastly inferior and in many cases entirely ineffective in than designing the product to be a superior experience to pirating it. The ability to do so is going to vary wildly by the product itself, but that is the better way to achieve the goal. There are people who will always pirate things, whether out of principle or out of economics. However there are plenty of people who would gladly cross the line if the legitimate route was significantly better, either by ease of use or design.
- fragmede 4y ago
  Oh yeah okay I see what you're saying. DarrenDev says there are no lost sales. However, I pay for Disney plus because I don't have access to invite-only torrent sites where the latest movies can be found, but I'd still like to watch them. If I had access to those torrent sites or someone's Plex, I could cancel Disney plus.

technion 4y ago

I agree with this, but I do think having pirate keys show up on ebay is a special case. I've dealt with this in businesses that expected Microsoft support but had windows and office keys bought off ebay that they believed were legitimate. End users often just think that $5 key is a special deal. It's worth sending whatever complaints you can to ebay.

branon 4y ago

Distributing cracked software for free is one thing, but people trying to make money selling cracks or access to them ... if it were my software, that'd feel personal.

ilyt 4y ago

Eh, you probably want to give company customers some notice it is a pirated one. If there is no note whatsoever it's very easy to get to situation where user A starts to use it, pirates it, then just dumps it onto file share and tells others to use it.

liquidify 4y ago

I use cracked software until it is too useful or frustrating to use and the economics makes sense. If you are making money from something or using it enough that you want support / reliability, pay for it and shame on you if you don't Don't gimp your cracked stuff for the college kids and evening hacks just trying to see if they like something or if they can build its use into a business.

atoav 4y ago

> These people do not pay for software, and nothing you do will convince them to pay for it. I have pirated person when I was a poor student where it literally was money for food vs buying some software. I buy all my (commercial) software now that I can easily afford it and support multiple open source projects with donations. And the software houses, Bands and filmers who have seen the most of my money have been precisely the ones whose work I liked before. The creators who have not been assholes about it (or even had some kind of humor in their response) are well remembered. Sure there might be people who pirate everything out of principle, but my guess is that the majority will only do it if they can't help it any better.

puffoflogic 4y ago

> First, people or companies using the cracked version of your software were never going to buy it. Or, they would never have bought it if unable to obtain a pirated copy, but now that they've tried it, may purchase. Admittedly this is more true of games than other software. When I compare my steam library to my pirated library, many of my favorite games are in the overlap: I tried them first, loved them, and then bought them.