8 ms·

I am annoyed and frustrated by so,e software therefor it's okay for me to not pay for it? Give me a break. This is such a lame justification for piracy. If the

I am annoyed and frustrated by so,e software therefor it's okay for me to not pay for it? Give me a break. This is such a lame justification for piracy. If the author truly wants to pay for it then he will. Saying you want to pay for it in an attempt to seem on the up and up and really wanting to pay for something are different. I can understand the frustration and I can empathize and I can get on board with the idea that the process they put you through to buy Office is ridiculous but I can't buy the justification for piracy. Just because you sell software yourself for a living doesmt put you in a position to decide when it's okay to pirate software. The author may consider the way in which he sells his software to be superior and therefore it's not okay to pirate what he sells but when it comes to someone else's well that's a different story. But its a slippery slope. Microsoft's process certainly is ludicrous but it's not long before people start saying "you want me to enter an email address to buy software? Oh, that's too much, I think I'll just pirate it, thanks". Calling it one's and zeros doesn't justify it either. I hate the ones and zeros argument. You're not paying for one's and zeros. You're paying for the value the software creates for you. It may only need to be coded and compiled once but does that mean that after the first person gets value from it that the software has been paid for? Of course not. If someone creates software and you value what it can do then you are obligated to pay for it if that's what the creator asks. Argue about the definition of stealing till your blue in the face but it doesn't change the fact that you are depriving the author of revenue they would otherwise have gotten. It is stealing and to say otherwise is to do some impressive mental gymnastics. The system may suck but piracy isn't going to solve the problem. It's just going to create more problems. Using Office without a license doesn't hurt Microsoft. What hurts them is a more popular alternative. The only thing that will change what the author complains about is someone else creating some half decent office replacement in a way that shows Microsoft how to do it right. If such a program existed and were widely adopted you'd better believe they'd take notice and shape up. Piracy hurts people. It doesn't hurt the big guys though and we know it so we all tend to justify it. But that same attitude that gets people thinking its okay to pirate Office allows people to justify pirating software from smaller companies and that's who it hurts. I see no justification for piracy.

neverm0re 14y ago
How about when you pay USD$10,000 for a niche software package with a crappy USB hardware dongle with drivers that only work on Windows XP, despite the application itself working just fine under Windows 7 64-bit? When I asked the vendor, I was told I could pay another $10,000 so I could buy a new version of the software that just so happened to have a newer DRM dongle. At that point you really have four options: 1.) Hope someone else pirated it. 2.) Kill a few evenings cracking the application with IDA Pro. 3.) Forever remain on Windows XP on a graphics workstation, unable to use the entirety of RAM installed, or some horrible dual-boot situation isolating you from the rest of your tools. 4.) Pay ANOTHER $10,000. Seriously, you have no position to tell anyone that there's 'no justification'. It's obvious you're missing real world experience here. I picked #2, myself, but I'd have rather saved time and picked #1 if it had already been done.
- bpatrianakos 14y ago
  I have the real world experience and I stand by my position. It does suck and I can empathize and of course I can understand why you'd pirate the software but are you really going to try to tell me that it's not wrong? Can you honestly say that not paying is okay because the price is too high and you don't agree with the reasons why you can't run your dongle on a new OS? That's what it comes down to in the end. It's about not wanting to pay and disagreeing with the price. The fact that you know the dongle should work on your machine doesn't put you in a position to know why they want you to upgrade. Anyone in that situation would have a knee-jerk reaction and jump to thinking its a corporate conspiracy and they're just gouging people. That's plausible. Or maybe there's a legit reason that you don't know. But in either case, no matter how ridiculous the experience is (and I grant you that the example you provide is very unreasonable) it still doesn't change the fact that someone created something of value to you, you want to use it above all alternatives, and you choose to pirate it which is wrong. Suppose I go to the Apple store and I want a new MacBook Air. I have to wait in line for an hour. Then when I get into the store they've upped the price by $10k. Then, even after swallowing my frustration, I look to pay but all the checkout guys are busy. So I decide this is fucked up and just walk out with it. You'd agree that was a messed up situation but it's not okay for me to walk out of a store without paying. The point is something I can't fathom anyone disagreeing with. There's a product. It has a price. If you want it you have to buy it. If you take it without paying that is wrong. How can you disagree with that?

neverm0re 14y ago

How about when you pay USD$10,000 for a niche software package with a crappy USB hardware dongle with drivers that only work on Windows XP, despite the application itself working just fine under Windows 7 64-bit? When I asked the vendor, I was told I could pay another $10,000 so I could buy a new version of the software that just so happened to have a newer DRM dongle. At that point you really have four options: 1.) Hope someone else pirated it. 2.) Kill a few evenings cracking the application with IDA Pro. 3.) Forever remain on Windows XP on a graphics workstation, unable to use the entirety of RAM installed, or some horrible dual-boot situation isolating you from the rest of your tools. 4.) Pay ANOTHER $10,000. Seriously, you have no position to tell anyone that there's 'no justification'. It's obvious you're missing real world experience here. I picked #2, myself, but I'd have rather saved time and picked #1 if it had already been done.

bpatrianakos 14y ago
I have the real world experience and I stand by my position. It does suck and I can empathize and of course I can understand why you'd pirate the software but are you really going to try to tell me that it's not wrong? Can you honestly say that not paying is okay because the price is too high and you don't agree with the reasons why you can't run your dongle on a new OS? That's what it comes down to in the end. It's about not wanting to pay and disagreeing with the price. The fact that you know the dongle should work on your machine doesn't put you in a position to know why they want you to upgrade. Anyone in that situation would have a knee-jerk reaction and jump to thinking its a corporate conspiracy and they're just gouging people. That's plausible. Or maybe there's a legit reason that you don't know. But in either case, no matter how ridiculous the experience is (and I grant you that the example you provide is very unreasonable) it still doesn't change the fact that someone created something of value to you, you want to use it above all alternatives, and you choose to pirate it which is wrong. Suppose I go to the Apple store and I want a new MacBook Air. I have to wait in line for an hour. Then when I get into the store they've upped the price by $10k. Then, even after swallowing my frustration, I look to pay but all the checkout guys are busy. So I decide this is fucked up and just walk out with it. You'd agree that was a messed up situation but it's not okay for me to walk out of a store without paying. The point is something I can't fathom anyone disagreeing with. There's a product. It has a price. If you want it you have to buy it. If you take it without paying that is wrong. How can you disagree with that?