Software piracy? Just curious as to what everyones opinion of it is.

I'm for it.

Being a software engineer, I'd have to say I'm against it.

I wouldn't say I'm for it, but I do it.

Against. How could you construe it to be right?

"Oh, they have lots of money, so that makes stealing good!"

I was brought up to believe stealing is wrong no matter how you slice it. I am not entitled to their software any more then I am entitled to a gold encrusted watch.

i generally avoid it, if i can't pay for it i'll just wait till i can or not at all

This.

I'm afraid I fall into this category too

For it, but in the sense that only I should be able to download whatever I want.

If only we could figure out how to multiply gold-encrusted watches at no cost!

Then we'd be China!:downswords:

How can someone be 'for' software piracy. I can understand people doing it, because of whichever reason, whether they can't afford it or whichever else, but this isn't a topic like marijuana legalization. You are robbing a product from someone.

This is a terrible poll.

This is obviously based on certain circumstances, and if even if you DO pirate software, you would still know it's wrong.

In that case, I should be able to walk in to a Wal-Mart and walk out of the store with whatever I want.

I do it, but I frequently, if not always, purchase the software if I am at all able.

I'm pleased with the results of this poll so far. Had this been 10 years ago, it almost certainly would have gone in the other direction. Maybe that's a sign of Massassi's posters maturing.

While I have occasionally purchased software (Windows 98SE, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Office XP, E-TextEditor & countless PC games) I do sometimes download software. I generally try to use open-source &/or freeware applications when there are good alternatives available (e.g. Open Office or GIMP) before I do that though.

I'm conflicted on the subject. On one hand, I wish that I had the money to purchase everything legally but I don't. I drive a beat up car that's worth about $800, have been using the same desktop since 2001 & generally break even each month. This doesn't mean that I feel some sense of entitlement. While this may be considered "stealing" to many people (there's a good debate on both sides, in my opinion), I'm rather apathetic about this.

I suppose my justification is that I'm not going to buy the software anyways, due to a lack of money, I'm not really costing these companies a cent. I can understand why people get upset if you're the one that's actually cracking the software, if you have enough money to buy it & still don't or if you're sharing it with other people, but that's about it.

To me, that's the key issue at hand. Whether or not you're sharing. How exactly is someone that doesn't share the software & is too poor to buy it really costing a company any money? This is what makes it different from stealing something from Wal-Mart, which someone mentioned previously. In that case the company may actually be losing money.

So someone going into a hospital and unplugging life-support machines and then, when arrested, throwing their arms up screaming "They were dying anyways!" justifies their action?

I was responding to what FastGamerr said about downloading anything. If I should be able to have anything I want by downloading it, shouldn't I also be able to have anything I want by taking it from a store?

I used to do it (fairly sparingly), knowing full well it was wrong, but felt partly justified because I was a poor, starving student. Now I earn a wage I tend to buy software, or get free versions. Good example: I've now bought 2 pieces of shareware that normally I would've gone on using and just ignoring the "register now" messages.

Salling Clicker ([url]www.salling.com[/url]) and Fission (http://rogueamoeba.com/fission/) for those that care.

Against.

I don't think that's a fair analogy. Illegally using software when it doesn't cost the company that created it a dime isn't a big deal in my opinion. Killing someone's grandmother is.



No. If you steal something from a store, it's going to show up as shrink & I'm fairly certain that this would probably cost them money. However, if someone can't afford a software suite & they download & use it illegally, as long as they're not sharing or selling it, the company isn't losing anything.

I don't personally see "stealing" as a black & white issue. I think that there are circumstances where it's just fine & dandy.

Maybe so, but it uses the same self-justifying excuse, which I disagree with.

That's a terrible analogy.

A piece of software isn't a solid product but more of a service. You are taking away a company's ability to turn a profit on their developing work. If, let's say now, a local small-time theater group is preforming a show, and you managed to sneak in, you are enjoying a service and marking down the potential gain given through each of the group's performances. You can't objectify a service, but that doesn't deny that the performers are relying on this service. If the increasing hard work doesn't seem to bring in new "customers" while more and more folks are sneaking in, that's a problem; what's the reward of developing a service for the better when the number of paying clients isn't expanding as well.

Half the problem with piracy is that the issue of copyright infringement (not stealing) gets so muddied up by both sides.

Mentat: Do you make a living off of software development?

I'm curious: stealing a software box from a retailer is indisputably theft. However, when you download the software (without the permission of the software company), you leave that same box sitting on the shelf. The retailer loses money because the software sits and gathers dust. The software company loses money because retailers aren't buying copies to restock their shelves. How is this not effectively the same thing?

If I invest millions of dollars in shellfish, and then no one wants to buy them, does that mean I broke even?

Software is a tool, not a service. In the same way that you use a hammer or saw in carpentry, doctors use charting software to keep track of their patients' information. In the same way that pen and paper can be used to record compositions, audio/video software is used to edit and manipulate audio and video tracks.

You don't call up Windows and ask it to deliver you a pizza. You don't bring your car into Photoshop for an oil change. Software is a product.

i'm all for piracy if done in the traditional way

No. I took a few programming classes in college (C/C++ I/II, Java I/II & Visual Basic) but I'm currently in a different field. I would however like to one day venture in to the software side of things.

What's my

?

I think its more a sign that they're getting jobs and money now.

Don't copy that floppy.

Yeah I don't see how anyone can advocate stealing whether it's software or movies...

Hey don't you have a degree in "IT" or "CS" you aren't a software engineer.

Because whether or not you decide to download Photoshop on BitTorrent has absolutely no effect on the profits or losses of any retail or online stores. It only matters if you were going to buy it and then said, "hey look, I can get it for free!"

I suppose it's difficult to really know if you would buy something if piracy wasn't such an easy option, but that's more of a philosophical discussion. If I have $200 in my bank account and Photoshop costs me (say) $400, and there is no way I can buy it, Adobe has lost nothing by me pirating it.

I'm not trying to justify piracy, but equating it to physical theft is ridiculous.

I'd be a lot more interested in seeing how many people who work in the software industry pirate software. As a student in CS, almost all of my peers openly pirate software... and almost all of them will be developing software very soon. Even software companies often pirate applications and tools, which they then use to write software, which, in turn, gets pirated....

The way I see it, if a company produces very high quality software there will always be a market for that software. Other firms will acknowledge the value of a full license to use the software, you get access to fixes/support which is absolutely essential for many applications. It's hard for me to make this claim but it seems like the vast majority of profitable software is never going to be found on a store shelf; it's been built on contract for a specialized firm with a specialized purpose. As a software developer, I'm not really "afraid" of the piracy situation, but I'm not sure if this is how it should be...

I'm a graduated IT major with a minor in CS.

I don't pirate software, but I really couldn't care less if anyone else does.

Right, giving yourself the label of software engineer when the rest of us have to work for it.

I think companies should come up with a better alternative for small time users rather then "unregistered" demos, which are entirely useless. I for one am not willing to spend $400 on an adobe package when I may use photshop once or twice a month, as opposed to being limited by a ****ty demo. (I dont really use photoshop, photoediting isnt my thing, just an example)

Same can be said for programs like cubase and protools. They really rape you for programs these days.