Two-thirds of software seen pirated in 5 yrs

[rh71]

story

I truly believe some piraters would actually pay for it if it were more reasonably priced. Look at palm software... they are rarely above $30 and I'm pretty sure there's very little piracy of those apps in comparison even though they are just as available.

This is not to say Photoshop should go for $30, but what is it... $600 ? Who in their right mind... ?

Also look at 99 cent mp3s now... a lot more are buying rather than downloading because it is just pocket change... as opposed to $13 for a bunch of songs they didn't want.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

uh.... ok?

 

[myusername]

Sounds like it's time to reevaluate the business model. :Q

 

[Aquaman]

back in the day............... when I had a C64......... I had 99.9% of my software pirated......... but I was a kid with no money and everyone was doing it :Q

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[cjgallen]

I wonder what percentage of internet traffic is illegal activity . . .

 

[jabamayne]

What I know for sure is the figures are always higher then they report....

There is no way to know exactly how much pirated software is out there worldwide, but its easier and best to say/estimate that the figures are much higher then they are reporting...

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: cjgallen
I wonder what percentage of internet traffic is illegal activity . . .

i'm pretty sure a good chunk is adult activity.

 

[jabamayne]

Originally posted by: cjgallen
I wonder what percentage of internet traffic is illegal activity . . .

Very interesting...

I know that as broadband speeds increase (cable and FIOS etc.), pirating will increase dramatically...

 

[QuitBanningMe]

Most of my software is pirated exceprt for the OS and a few open source apps. They really aren't losing money on me though because if I couldn't pirate it I wouldn't have it. I don't use to make money or anything. Just to fvck around with.

Same with music. I haven't bought a CD since before the intarweb. I have a ton of music on the PC but if I had to pay I would just listen to the radio.

 

[thejackal1]

I only buy CDs for my favorite bands.

 

[Miramonti]

If you actually learn how to use Photoshop and its capabilities, its worth far more than they sell it for, so quit trying to justifying theft. People hack and use cracks for software that's $30, so its BS to say that if it was priced lower thieves that currently have an illegal copy would instead pay for it. :roll:

 

[DaWhim]

Originally posted by: rh71

I truly believe some piraters would actually pay for it if it were more reasonably priced. Look at palm software... they are rarely above $30 and I'm pretty sure there's very little piracy of those apps in comparison even though they are just as available.

I will say you are wrong on this one. palm software market are much smaller than pc. it is just harder to find. but there is always palm warez.

my first software i purchased was actually a palm ware tho....lol, the irony.

 

[MoPHo]

Originally posted by: cjgallen
I wonder what percentage of internet traffic is illegal activity . . .

80% of the internet is porn...or atleast that was the answer on my CSI101 final....

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: rh71
This is not to say Photoshop should go for $30, but what is it... $600 ? Who in their right mind... ?

Everyone who actually needs it would still pay the $600.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: rh71
This is not to say Photoshop should go for $30, but what is it... $600 ? Who in their right mind... ?

Everyone who actually needs it would still pay the $600.

Yup!

 

[DaWhim]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: rh71
This is not to say Photoshop should go for $30, but what is it... $600 ? Who in their right mind... ?

Everyone who actually needs it would still pay the $600.

or get sued

 

[PoPPeR]

the lower price theory is BS and you know it. How many cracks/serialz are there for those $5 programs? They even have them for freakin deadaim... even I paid the damn $5.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: jjsole
If you actually learn how to use Photoshop and its capabilities, its worth far more than they sell it for, so quit trying to justifying theft. People hack and use cracks for software that's $30, so its BS to say that if it was priced lower thieves that currently have an illegal copy would instead pay for it. :roll:

I'm not trying to justify theft, it's a thought on how some people's minds work. What I said is true for me - I'm not saying I'm right in taking what I didn't pay for, I'm only saying it'd be a lot easier to decide to pay for it if it was more affordable to the average joe.

About Photoshop, it is absolutely worth the money. But simple question - if it were priced at $100 - you don't think more people would actually buy it even if they had the opportunity to steal it ? $100 for very practical software is affordable to a lot of people, $600 is not. Business model - how's it sound if more people would buy it at $100 versus less people at $600 ? Not ludicrous. Let the business licenses stay inflated, that's not my concern as an individual and to an even semi-successful business, it'd be worth the investment anyway.

And to round it out - there will always be freeloading crack users... no matter the price. The idea is to turn more of them because some are actually willing to pay up to a certain amount for good work. Anyone not willing to pay $0.99 for a good song will always remain freeloaders... but I'll bet there are many who jumped on that chance to obtain it the legit way, for cheaper than it was.

<-- application developer

 

[UNCjigga]

My rule with office productivity software was don't pay for it until I generate some measurable amount of productivity or income.

I used pirated WordPerfect and Office all the time in high school just for writing occasional papers (pirated in the sense I copied it off my dad's computer.) In college I bought the $6 version of Office the campus sold because I knew I'd be using the full suite (Word, Excel, some Access, PowerPoint.)

But as far as Photoshop, Premiere, and all the filters etc., yeah I use pirated versions. Its not making me any money, is it? I'm not doing anything productive other than the one-off photochop for humor here and there. I think I use it less than once a month. Why should I pay for it? And why should I use some other open-source product when Adobe is the standard--no use in learning on something only 10% of the market uses, right?

I used pirated Dreamweaver until I actually made $1000 doing a website for a friend's accounting firm. But had I not had the pirate version, how would I have learned? After making money off it I bought the next version (MX 2004) and I've been a happy camper ever since.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: UNCjigga
[-snip-]

I used pirated WordPerfect and Office all the time in high school just for writing occasional papers (pirated in the sense I copied it off my dad's computer.) In college I bought the $6 version of Office the campus sold because I knew I'd be using the full suite (Word, Excel, some Access, PowerPoint.)

[-snip-]

I used pirated Dreamweaver until I actually made $1000 doing a website for a friend's accounting firm. But had I not had the pirate version, how would I have learned? After making money off it I bought the next version (MX 2004) and I've been a happy camper ever since.

That's the reason why Microsoft is offering their software for practically free to college students. Its so that students use their programs and then when they enter into the workforce and since the employee is already trained in the software, it would be in the best interest of the employer to use that software.

 

[yukichigai]

Let's look at the games I've actually purchased over the past years, in no particular order:

Deus Ex - came with my sound card
Deus Ex: Invisible War - $9 on eBay
FarCry - $19.99 at Best Buy (plus, it goes well with my AMD64 3000+)
Doom3 - $45 after PriceMatch
Tribes - $10 at WallyMart
Tribes 2 - $50 (I'm an idiot for Tribes games)
Tribes: Vengeance - $50 (I'm seriously an idiot for Tribes games)
Serious Sam pts 1 and 2 - $20
Fallout - $10
Unreal 2k3 - $30
Unreal 2 - $15 (Overpriced even then)
KoToR - $19.99 - $10 coupon at BB = $9.99

So in conclusion, with a few notable exceptions I only buy games when they're $30 and below, and usually only when they're $20 and below. Game companies need to get with the program and stop overcharging.

 

[dderidex]

Photoshop is an odd example.

You do realize Photoshop Elements - available for $45 - is about 99.99999% of the full version of Photoshop, right? The only difference is that layer masks are a TAD more obtuse (but still easy to work with), and it only allows RGB images instead of CMYK. And that's only relevant if you, for some reason, don't want to use your printer driver's RGB->CMYK driver conversion and just provide the raw CMYK data. (Obviously, this is only something the hardcore professionals have an issue with).

Yet, what do you see pirates doing? Buying the $45 PSE? Or pirating the $600 PS-CS, when they will never actually use a single feature of it they couldn't have bought for $45?

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

The number one reason why folks pirate software is the outrageous prices. Software prices don't go up because people pirate software; people pirate software because prices keep going up.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: dderidex
Photoshop is an odd example.

You do realize Photoshop Elements - available for $45 - is about 99.99999% of the full version of Photoshop, right? The only difference is that layer masks are a TAD more obtuse (but still easy to work with), and it only allows RGB images instead of CMYK. And that's only relevant if you, for some reason, don't want to use your printer driver's RGB->CMYK driver conversion and just provide the raw CMYK data. (Obviously, this is only something the hardcore professionals have an issue with).

Yet, what do you see pirates doing? Buying the $45 PSE? Or pirating the $600 PS-CS, when they will never actually use a single feature of it they couldn't have bought for $45?

interesting but... show of hands - how many people actually knew the differences in terms of price and features ?

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: UNCjigga
My rule with office productivity software was don't pay for it until I generate some measurable amount of productivity or income.

That has been my general guideline as well. If the software is being used for anything other than simply learning or curiosity, I pay for it (assuming I'm not in a business environment, in which case everything is 100% legal). I have ended up purchasing a lot of software (mostly video related) that I wouldn't have touched otherwise.