The Art of Software Piracy

[VAkena]

I'm gonna use this quick poll as reference to a small case study I've been working on. Please answer honestly. 

[manikyath]

just wanna add that on this forum mentioning piracy is a touchy subject, so i suggest people to be careful with what they say:

Quote

Talking about piracy in general, broad details, is acceptable however the posting or discussing pirated/hacked/cracked or otherwise nefariously obtained content is not. This includes Windows content, games, hackintosh, etc.

on topic:

there's two broad reasons why people pirate software, which any reason people splurge up why they pirate can be placed under:

- a distribution problem, like a TV series that's only available on one network, or is not available in specific regions. not being able to afford it falls under this point as well, since these are the people who "wouldnt be able to get the content in a legitimate way, even if they wanted to"

- a douchebag problem, these are the people who say "this piece of software isnt worth the price" so they pirate it while having the money for it, and probably even like the software. these are the kinds of people who refer to bugs in games or the "spying" in windows 10 as a reason to pirate the software, because "it's clearly not worth the whatever you are paying for it". "try before you buy, and forget to buy" is something that falls under this as well. while i can bring up a certain level of understanding for trying out a game on a pirated copy to make sure it runs on your system, and just generally works for you, if you like it, buy the dang game.

 

and most of all: if you pirate a piece of software because its not worth the price listed on the box, you are an egoistic -something something not fit for this forum- because you pirating it shows it actually is a program worth getting, you're just too greedy to pay what the developer hopes to earn from his hard work. vote with your wallet, dont vote with your torrents.

[LordMastodon]

I actually do have the money to spend on games, and if I could I would gladly buy them, but I'm not really allowed to spend (even though I genuinely worked in an actual tech repair shop to earn it) my money on things such as games or software, because my mom doesn't really like me spending lots of time on my computer, the same reason she won't let me buy a second monitor or some upgrades for my laptop. Anything she deems as technological she says will make me spend more time on my computer, something that is categorically untrue, but whatever. So there you go, there's my reason.

[vorticalbox]

3 minutes ago, LordMastodon said:

I actually do have the money to spend on games, and if I could I would gladly buy them, but I'm not really allowed to spend (even though I genuinely worked in an actual tech repair shop to earn it) my money on things such as games or software, because my mom doesn't really like me spending lots of time on my computer, the same reason she won't let me buy a second monitor or some upgrades for my laptop. Anything she deems as technological she says will make me spend more time on my computer, something that is categorically untrue, but whatever. So there you go, there's my reason.

If anything you'll spend less time due to getting tasks done quicker with more screen area to hand  I have pirated software in the past but that was to get skyrim until the steal sale lol I really wanted to play it. I have also done it for testing to see if i like the game like euro truck sim. 

 

People really should make demos more then 1 level and give the whole game for same an hour or sometimes. no one can get a  feel for a game in 1 level.

[LordMastodon]

Just now, vorticalbox said:

If anything you'll spend less time due to getting tasks done quicker with more screen area to hand  I have pirated software in the past but that was to get skyrim until the steal sale lol I really wanted to play it. I have also done it for testing to see if i like the game like euro truck sim. 

 

People really should make demos more then 1 level and give the whole game for same an hour or sometimes. no one can get a  feel for a game in 1 level.

 

That's exactly what I told her, and she said that it was a flimsy excuse. I've even told her I'll pay for with it with my money and that it's really not a big deal, but she won't listen.

[paprikman]

Maybe you can use strawpoll.me for that purpose, 'cause it's not allowed to discuss any piracy-realted stuff here (except when you blame pirates).

[manikyath]

12 minutes ago, paprikman said:

Maybe you can use strawpoll.me for that purpose, 'cause it's not allowed to discuss any piracy-realted stuff here (except when you blame pirates).

it is allowed to discuss the idea of piracy, but it is not allowed to discuss illegitimate means of getting software.

[LordMastodon]

13 minutes ago, paprikman said:

Maybe you can use strawpoll.me for that purpose, 'cause it's not allowed to discuss any piracy-realted stuff here (except when you blame pirates).

 

 

Not so. You can discuss piracy, you just can't talk specifically about, how to get, post or post links to anything pirated.

[vorticalbox]

30 minutes ago, LordMastodon said:

That's exactly what I told her, and she said that it was a flimsy excuse. I've even told her I'll pay for with it with my money and that it's really not a big deal, but she won't listen.

maybe the screen I could maybe understand but what is stopping you from just buying it anyway? Is your money after all.

[LordMastodon]

Just now, vorticalbox said:

maybe the screen I could maybe understand but what is stopping you from just buying it anyway? Is your money after all.

I don't have a credit card (although I do have a bank account).

[EvilLemur]

• Talking about piracy in general, broad details, is acceptable however the posting or discussing pirated/hacked/cracked or otherwise nefariously obtained content is not. This includes Windows content, games, hackintosh, etc.

On that note i used to when i was younger, but now with streaming services like apple, spotify, google play, amazon, netflix, premium movie channels ( hbo, starz, ect. ) and origin access, and humble monthly, humble bundles, bundle stars, its now cheaper to play and watch and enjoy music with out the need to pirate.

 

As for office and other alike, google now offers a damn good alternative and you have open office, and there are free alternatives to alot of software you need to pay for. so piracy you say? kinda pointless. 

 

now as far as having movies so you can watch on your own time offline... well still some gaps that need to be covered. so the way i see it were on the right path. 

 

but the short answer is people pirate cuz they dont want to spend money, irony is if your caught it will cost you even more.

 

[Donut417]

I once pirated Sins of a Solar empire from a friend. Liked it so much I bought it, I though stardock deserved the money. I generally dont pirate software however, only because you never know what nastys could be hiding in the files. Another reason I think piracy is a bad idea is company like Ubisoft using the shittiest DRM every imaginable. I would like to keep other studios from doing the same thing. 

[Lurick]

If by pirate you mean download it so it's not full of ads and other crap after I've already bought it or they lock it up with DRM so I can't make a backup copy on my server, then yes, I still do, but as I said I will almost always buy it but I generally look for the way which will give the middle man the least amount of money and benefit the people actually responsible the most.

[straight_stewie]

Other: Please specify in the comments.

That's my information and you have no right to know why I don't feel like spending multiple thousands of dollars on software that I'm only going to use for personal use. Oops. I guess I kinda just told you why. Oh well.

[PlayStation 2]

I've never really pirated much in the way of software. I'm done pirating games as I don't really play much outside of Team Fortress 2. 

[NavyCuda]

When I was a child and had very little money and didn't understand what it took to make money I was more willing to pirate.  Plus in those days, pirating for MacOS was exceptionally easy.

 

When I grew out of that phase and started to understand what it takes to actually make money it became more important to me to support the authors.  I want to get paid for the work I do, they should get paid for the work they do.

[AshleyAshes]

I used to pirate games all the time but in an era of frequent software updates and Steam sales, buying stuff on Steam is just EASIER than pirating it.

[BuckGup]

I don't pirate because it is a felony and illegal to do. No one should pirate anything and this is on the edge of breaking CoC

[2FA]

2 minutes ago, SamStrecker said:

I don't pirate because it is a felony and illegal to do. No one should pirate anything and this is on the edge of breaking CoC

I would like to point out not doing something just because it is illegal is pretty stupid. Godwin's Law and everything but it was illegal to help Jews in Nazi Germany. Just saying try to consider whether or not a law is actually just before deciding it is the end all, be all. That said, there are some select cases where I personally think piracy could be justified such as sharing Witcher 3 with a friend or a relative which technically is piracy as you are the only one that is suppose to possess the game.

[Bsmith]

I have 2 reasons.

 

1) money, but if the software is something often used and I can afford it I will buy it.

 

2) (other) Sometimes I have to grab what I can get as scientist, that way I got access to a $1.5k pirated software license used on $10k+ systems in laboratories, can I use it at home? yeah I can browse my work and recheck/calculate values, useful sometimes and you never know when someone else might need it.

[J. Hammond]

Oh boy, here we go.

 

First off, I go the legitimate route. If I can pay for it, I'll do so. Note that I'm talking about piracy in general and not just software or applications.

 

But I will pirate if it's just not possible to give them my money, even if I want to.

 

Sometimes, a "Thing" is not released in this country, or sometimes the original publisher, developer team, artist team, just went bust. Because the original creator(s) won't get my money either way, I have no regret pirating when the team or people that deserve my money no longer exist.

 

Media that I pirate for this reason tends to be obscure animes from the early 2000's.

 

Games with crippling DRM, massive bugs, and/or is expensive as hell I just don't bother buying. I'm the kind that can hold back wants and it's done me a lot of good and saved me a lot of money that I would've otherwise spent on shiny garbage.

[YedZed]

11 hours ago, vorticalbox said:

maybe the screen I could maybe understand but what is stopping you from just buying it anyway? Is your money after all.

You'd be surprised how much influence someone can have when they literally house, feed, and put up with you. E.g. Mom could make life VERY difficult if she chooses.

[GreezyJeezy]

waht reason to pirate other then not having money/not wanting to spent $100 a month on a program

[kaylexmorgana]

because I don't want to buy it and support greedy companies like microshit.

[Security]

I haven't had the need to pirate software for many years now, just yesterday I got a Windows 10 license for €32, for that price I am not going to go through the trouble of pirating it. As for other software, nearly all of the time I find awesome free alternatives or the pricing is less then €20 so again, why pirate then?

Then there are the free programs which for example Autodesk have where they supply free software to anyone claiming to either be a student or out of work, they know I am not going to pay thousands out of my own pocket just to hobby around and learn some new skill I may or may not benefit from so they give the software away for free which is awesome.