<h3>Why is it 'OK' to nick software?</h3>
By Stephen Tomkins
What's the difference between ripping software and shoplifting? None. Yet millions of us twist the arguments and kid ourselves we are not hardened criminals.
Call me prejudiced, but from what I know, I'd say you could well be a criminal.
If you're computer-literate enough to be reading this, there's a strong chance you will know how to copy expensive design software from your friends, or download alien-shooting games from the net without paying. And if you know how to, then the chances are you've done it.
Am I wrong? Don't worry, I won't tell.
The likes of you and me wouldn't normally like to think of ourselves as thieves. We don't pocket CDs in HMV or triple chocolate muffins in Tescos. So why are we happy to steal electronically?
According to the industry, it's because we're a pack of immoral cyber bandits. Developers across the world lose $11bn a year in business software alone, says the Business Software Alliance. It estimates nine out of 10 programs sold on auction sites are pirated.
The booty on your hard drive cost Americans 111,000 jobs in 2001, $5.6bn in lost wages and $1.5bn in unpaid tax. If that doesn't make you feel a twinge of guilt, you're obviously a hardened crook and should consider becoming a career criminal or an oil executive.
Admittedly, the figures may be inflated. How do they know you would have bought the software if you hadn't half-inched it? And how do we know that if you'd paid for it they would have spent the money on creating new jobs, rather than on executive jacuzzis or a new laser corkscrew for Mrs Gates?
Deflate the figures if you like, deep down they still remind us of what we always knew: our virtual shoplifting may feel safe, respectable and innocuous, but that doesn't stop it harming anyone.
When you make it out of the doors of cyberspace with your Mac bulging, someone somewhere loses out.

Stubborn little icons
All of which is terribly obvious and brings us back to the question why do we feel so comfortable with our theft?
Because it's virtual? We haven't taken anything solid or physical, so we don't feel we've taken anything at all. I'm sure that's part of it, although the icon stubbornly remains on the desktop, reproaching us every time we use it.
Another reason is our uncertainty that we've stolen anything. How can we have, when no one has lost anything they used to have? A valid philosophical question to be sure, though the law doesn't see it that way.
But the most important reason is also the most depressing. We don't feel bad because there's no risk of our being caught and punished. If I pocketed a bottle of whisky in the supermarket I'd be so anxious about the security guards grabbing me, plagued with visions of shame and humiliation, police cars and magistrates, that even if I got away with it I'd feel horribly guilty.
That doesn't happen with computer applications, even though they tend to cost much more than the kind of whisky I buy.

Ill-gotten games
This isn't a flattering thought. It suggests the main reason I tend to behave decently and honestly (in my own way) is not that I am decent and honest, but that I know bad things will happen if I don't.
There's one more reason why we're not more troubled by our ill-gotten games, I think. It's that we don't really mind ripping off huge fat-cat corporations, which would probably do the same to us given half the chance.
The ethics of intellectual property are not only about individuals. If companies charge extortionate prices because they can, perhaps they ought to get their own house in order before suing customers. And if they package their software in sweatshops, who's ripping off whom?
Consider the cautionary tale of music CDs. Everyone, bar the music industry, agrees they've been sold at vastly inflated prices since the 80s. Along come CD writers and MP3s and the market collapses about their ears. Who's surprised?
If bootlegging acts as a safety valve to keep software prices sensible, might that not be such a bad thing after all?
So what are we to do? Perhaps "trial piracy" could offer a reasonable compromise between us and the marketers. The unconventional software billionaire Kai Krause suggests this rule of thumb: "If it's still on your hard drive after a year, pay for it.'
And if you can't manage that much, you can just relax in the knowledge that you are simply a Bad Person. At least you're not alone.
<h6>Source: BBC</h6>

I hope it's not against the Rules and Regulations to discuss this subject, but feel free to close this topic if it is.
But as we've literally beaten the subject of music piracy to death, how about regular software piracy? Is there any apologetic reasoning to justify it as many people tend to justify music piracy, or is it morally even less acceptable? And why do you think so many people resort to it in the first place, and who exactly are to blame for this problem?

Well, the main reason are of course the prices you have to pay for software nowadays. What's more appealing to you ? Go to a store and pay 50 Euro or Dollar for a game, or get it from someone who offers it for free on his site ?

I usually pay for my software, but i also know someone who works as a betabester for a computermagazine. As you may know, these guys get to play the games before they hit the stores, and get to keep copies of that game as well. Sometimes he drops off a copy at my place. Illegal ? Maybe, but i'm not going to say no, if someone wants to give me a free copy of a game, and i don't think anyone would refuse that.

Why??

1. Temptation - When any software is widely available from the net, people will choose to get it "free". It is like leaving your home unlocked, thieves are bound to pay a visit and help you to do some "housekeeping" work.

2. Price - Yes, price is another factor. While some commodities are getting cheaper and cheaper, CDs and softwares are getting more and more expensive. When people want it badly but can't afford it, they will steal it. Simple as that.

3. Self-Denial - Most of the poeple who downloaded "free" mp3s do in fact know that it is illegal but most of them would say, "hey, it is only me. There are thousands of people paying for the original CD... it's no big deal".

4. Nature of the product - Software are somewhat intengible compared to say, clothing or electronic items because it has no physical form. When some people feel that they are getting "robbed" because they are paying a high price for such an intengible good, they would plot their "revenge" to hurt the developers, which is -- piracy.

5. Quality - When you have bought a defective toaster, you bring it back to the shop and they exchange for a new one. When you bought a buggy software, you are expected to sit around, pulling your hair until the patch is available. Sometimes the developer couldn't even bother with the patches at all. Since not all software vendor enforce a return policy, you are forced to live with the fact that the product you bought is a piece of junk. So, after being disappointed a few more times, you loose faith with software developers and decided that you rather not pay them anything.

6. Internet - Basically, the internet is a double edged sword. The developers expect people to download huge files to patch their product but they themselves making a huge fuss of it when people are downloading "free" copies of their product. Just like guns, you can either use it to kill or to protect yourself but the fact that it has been invented and you have to live with the fact that it is both good and evil, depending on the person who is using it.

Okay, enough rant from me for the time being.

I'd prefer to pay the money for the software rather than "acquiring" it. Yes, I've turned down much free software over the years, and my library is filled with nothing but legitimate software.

If I'm working hard on a project with the knowledge that I will be paid for it, then I expect every dime I'm entitled to. Software piracy does nothing but drive prices higher and higher, while putting developers in the poor house. Less people making games = less games. It's real simple.

Next time your out working your ass off on something, ask yourself whether or not it would be okay if you only received half of your pay cheque.

Perhaps I was being "vague" on my previous post, I was giving some examples why people do it but by all means I don't condone software piracy.

I don't think youcan call that stealing at all johnny. [img]smile.gif[/img] After all they are allowed to keep the game and therefore it must be considered their property. And if they would like to give it away it's their call isn't it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Anywho, who says downloading software is legal? It's an impossible claim. If you want something try the freeware or the 30 days trialware. I buy all my software. Correction, the hubby buys all my software. And since he is in that business he usually gets a hefty discount. ;)

I am a net thief.Why am I going to pay $50 for a program , when I can just get the trial version that works just as well. There are also sites out there when you can get a program that pulls out the serial number from programs so that you can unlock your trial version into a full version.It took my friend 20 mins to unlock his Windows server 3000 trial version into a full version. All he had to do was change 1 file in the program. Also, as far as windows stuff goes, why would anyone pay $300 for an O.S. that they can only put on one computer. I found out the hard way that if you install Win XP on more than one computer Microshaft will disable the O.S. when you try to update it.I guess after getting gouged by their product , Microsoft doesnt expect anyone to have enough money to buy a second computer. The same thing goes for some videogames. While I havent downloaded any games, I am fairly irritated by the fact that I cant install my copie on more than one computer. It would realy be nice to play NWN with my wife WITHOUT getting gouged out of another $60, just so that I can install it on the computer accross the room. In short , when they stop ripping me off , I will stop returning the favor.

One thing that strike me as odd is the whole "games are too expensive so I buy piracy copies" thing. Games are expensive yes but even if they halves the prices some people would still buy illegal copies cause they're free or close to. That's a very egoistic opinion since there are people who makes a living by producing software and some people thinks it's their "right" to get them for free or to ridicilously low prices. With all other merchandise we buy we generally accepts the prices as somewhat reasonable but on computer software in general we, of some reason, want them for free. Yet most of us know that it requires just as much work and dedication to develop software as anything else. But since they don't exist in a physical sense of the word and we are quite likely to get away with it, we continue to make illegal copies or download them on the Internet.

To answer your question Grojlach, no it isn't "morally acceptable" to do it but it's a relatively small crime, it's easy to get away with and it saves us some cash. That makes quite tempting for many people.

I have an illegal copy of Windows 98 on my desktop computer. Why? Because the computer was a used one that I bought from work for $300.00. I bought it with the operating system installed via their site license. There was some other software included as well: Microsoft Word, etc. Well, for some inexplicable reason windows screwed up and it would no longer work. I had no option but to reformat the hard drive----losing the Windows. I called user support at my work at the time and explained what happened and asked to borrow the cd's to reinstall windows to my computer. They said that they could not do that. So, a friend in England burned me a cd of windows 98 so that I could have an operating computer. I was not about to pay for an operating system for a computer that I bought with the understanding that the disk operating software was on it. It wasn't technically right but then the way my work would not let me reinstall windows legally wasn't right either.

To my knowledge all my other software is legal on the free trial deals. With my lap top. Dell sends almost all the software that has been pre-installed on cd.

I don't think youcan call that stealing at all johnny. [img]smile.gif[/img] After all they are allowed to keep the game and therefore it must be considered their property. And if they would like to give it away it's their call isn't it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Anywho, who says downloading software is legal? It's an impossible claim. If you want something try the freeware or the 30 days trialware. I buy all my software. Correction, the hubby buys all my software. And since he is in that business he usually gets a hefty discount. ;) </font>[/QUOTE]If you you read the EULA, you'll find that in 99% of all cases it is. You don't actually buy the software, you are buying a licsense to use the software, so unless you have purchased said licsense it is in fact illegal.

Now, I personally couldn't give a skinny rats ass whether people 'acquire' software or not, but take a moment to think about the guy who developed it. Maybe he'd like to get paid for it?