Copied/Illegal Disks

[ajbrun]

I'm just curious about the percentage of people who've ever used a copied disk on their computer. I think it'll be very high - probably over 90% . The poll will be completely annonamous, so no-one will be able to know who said "yes". If you want to though you can post your answer.

Any discussions about why people copy disks, possible ways to stop it, or even what you think of it will be welcome .

(I wasn't sure whether to post this in "general", "question time" or here )

[Shogun]

As long as software is overpriced there will always be copies. Im the first to vote so you can prob see what ive voted

[ajbrun]

I'm sure the results will be very very close to 100%. I agree - if software was cheaper, then less people would copy. I think Microsoft office is a few hundred £ (I could be wrong!). At that price, it's no wonder people copy disks.

[Shogun]

Its quite ironic that the companies are losing out on profit because of them trying to make too much profit.

[Jonny M]

People would copy them even if they were a fiver. Price isn't an excuse.

[ajbrun]

Maybe, but I think there'd be less people copying if they were cheaper.

[directhex]

i have used copied software, i don't anymore.

and price isn't an excuse. i sent someone to dowenload the (free) sygate personal firewall, and the next thing i hear from them is a moan that their crack for sygate firewall pro, which they had downloaded, wasn't working.

people don't have any moral comprehension that pirating apps when when they could have them legally for free is a bad thing. don't want to pay for an app? don't, use another one.

[Shogun]

But what if people want to use an os like Windows Xp pro (for program compatability) but don't want to shed out 100 odd quid just to use it on one pc?

[këö¬t]

don't want to pay for an app? don't, use another one.

that's why i could never understand microsoft enforcing their activation process and cracking down on piracy. would microsoft windows be so popular if people had to walk outside and pay £90 to use it?
does piracy have a positive effect?
"phb: all our employee's use windows at home, so we'll use it for the company too."?

[starside]

if software was cheaper, I would be more inclined to buy it. As Caged said, if MicroShaft Office was a fiver, I would buy it rather than hog my bandwith for an hour downloading it.

[yamangman]

Holistically speaking, where would all the anti-copyright people be without piracy? Without contrary there is no progression.

[mr_anderson187]

wise words all around, but i myslef admitn to liking the copied stuff, screw micro$haft theyre screwing us more lol, wen u spend les son software, u got more to spend on hardware

[directhex]

argh, this is REALLY a pet hate of mine.

number one, microsoft don't monitor every discussion on the net. if you spell microsoft in a disparaging manner, nobody hangs their head & starts crying.



number two, every single windows pirate is a little microsoft pawn. "oh, i won't buy windows, it's crap, not worth the money. i mean, i use it every time i use the pc to do absolutely everything, but two games are FAR better value. i'll just download windows and use it". problem number 1, it IS a worthhhhwhile purchase if you use it. i don't break into computer shops and steal graphics cards - and those would be a hell of a lot less useful than an operating system. problem number 2, if you use windows, whether you've paid for it or not, then you're encouraging it. if you don't like windows, then why are you using it? if everybody who pirated windows stopped using it and used an alternative, there'd be chaos - companies would actually have to support the other choices rather than assuming everybody runs windows. websites might have to drop the rediculous "this site requires internet explorer" javascript. games might come with windows or macosx versions on the cd. use pirate windows, and you're helping microsoft to ensure that there is no competition. it's a known fact that they use this tactic in developing countries - flood the area with pirate windows to kill off any competiton & addict people to their product, before starting to clamp down on piracy once people feel they have no other option.

if you don't like windows, don't use it. if you do like it, buy it. using it but claiming "oh it's not worth it" reads to me as "i'm a dirty common thief"

[directhex]

if software was cheaper, I would be more inclined to buy it. As Caged said, if MicroShaft Office was a fiver, I would buy it rather than hog my bandwith for an hour downloading it.

see, this is a prime example. if you don't want to pay 120 pounds for an education microsoft office license, then you could use something else for free - abiword or openoffice for example.

the number of people using pirate word & excel is the reason people think ".doc" files are a standard of some sort. pdf anyone can read. html anyone can read. txt anyone can read. doc punishes everyone who isn't running as up to date a stolen copy of micrisoft office as you.

i'm sending files about as .sxw these days, to force people to do things MY way rather than the other way around.

[killgORE]

I migrated over to linux because it is just better to develop programs on.. things like mandrake might as well be windows these days. Any new peice of software I need I don't google for the best sounding thing and then crack it.

I go to sourceforge.net and look for an alternative. They are free.. things get patched the next day a flaw is found and generally run on every Os. Directhex spoketh the truth. Still the 100% admitance of having used cracked software is NOT a major shock. Because I think this should include folks that use winzip etc after the evaluation period !

[dgr]

I migrated over to linux because it is just better to develop programs on.. things like mandrake might as well be windows these days. Any new peice of software I need I don't google for the best sounding thing and then crack it.

totally disagree. ever used visual studio? its FAR better than an open source IDE i've had the displeasure of using. Rant about the price if you will, but one cannot say it is "better to develop programs on" linux without expecting a fight. Hell i'd actually prefer to develop under Windows and port to Linux (assuming one was programming in something like c# / c++.net).

Oh and I get every piece of Microsoft software for free anyway, under student license - so no piracy there. And there are generally free versions of pretty much all software available for windows (e.g. filezilla, spybot, sygate, avg).