I feel bad for id

[pureevilmatt]

I "pirated" doom 3, then, when it was released a week later, I bought it.

I pirate things because I can't afford to buy them, and if I could afford to buy them, in most cases I wouldn't because there are free alternatives.

Take for instance Microsoft Windows XP (probably the single most pirated piece of software ever). The ISO is widely available, complete, requiring no activation and for free off of file sharing networks like eDonkey or Kazaa, so no one makes a profit off of me downloading and installing the software.

"but you didn't pay for the copy of the software you're using, and that's theft"

It's not like I walked into BestBuy ripped open a box and slapped an XP cd in my pocket, because in that scenario, the retailer loses money. Pirating software isn't stealing software. Even if I was able and willing to buy it, that statement still would be true, but in the case of most software I use, I can't afford it, and even if I could, I still wouldn't buy it.

If for some inexplicable reason I was no longer able to pirate software, I would turn to freeware alternatives like freeBSD or Linux and anything the open source community has to offer.

Therefore me using a pirated copy of Windows XP isn't costing Microsoft anything at all. It is not a "loss". I am not depriving them of their product, and I am not depriving them of their sale.

I would even go so far as to argue that me pirating their software is a GAIN for them. I routinely recommend it to others as it is superior to all competition... if it wasn't, I'd use something else.

I, as a pirate, am perhaps the best form of advertising Microsoft could ever hope to buy, only I'm at no cost.

The only people losing out when I pirate software, are the people who's software I would be using if I wasn't pirating, the product's competition. In the case of me Pirating Windows Xp, the people that lose out are the open source and Linux community. That is why Microsoft as well as most other large companies secretly condone personal piracy. It advertises for them, and the only people it hurts are their main competitors.

The "can't afford it/wouldn't buy it if I could afford it" logic works best for software, but applies to pretty much all online piracy... music, movies, and any media you can think of.

 

[Wondernerd]

>Therefore me using a pirated copy of Windows XP isn't costing Microsoft anything at all.

XP is currently 104 dollars at Newegg. Buy not buying the software, Newegg has lost a sale, Microsoft has lost revenue and every other software developer spends more money and time coming up with a way to protect their product from getting stolen instead of developing the product.

>I would even go so far as to argue that me pirating their software is a GAIN for them. I routinely recommend it to others as it is superior to all competition

How many of these people then pirate the software? Who pass it on to others to pirate the software? This harmless crime that doesn't cost anybody any money is an estimated 30 billion dollar industry. It is Harmless.

Software piracy leads to higher prices(Is Doom 3 so expensive to compensate for piracy? Of course not! It is because Activision is greedy and won't give it to me for free), more draconian and arcane protection schemes(WPA is nothing. I've seen code wheels and obscure references to shit in the manual), longer software development(Half Life 2) and it can lead to closing devlopers and lost jobs.

 

[emorphien]

Is Doom 3 so expensive to compensate for piracy? Of course not! It is because Activision is greedy and won't give it to me for free​

Well in that sense, the latter is probably correct. It sure has kept me from having any desire to buy it.

 

[Ice Czar]

I "pirated" doom 3
I pirate things because I can't afford to buy them, and if I could afford to buy them, in most cases I wouldn't because there are free alternatives.
Pirating software isn't stealing software.
I, as a pirate,

error, a repeat of which will indeed loose you your posting priveleges
and has locked this thread

no one twisted your arm to sign up here
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