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Thread: $29 Billion in Losses - Thanks Pirates...

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    ¤ ¤ ¤ PAZ ¤ ¤ ¤ nordberg's Avatar
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    $29 Billion in Losses - Thanks Pirates...

    pirates robbed the industry of $29 billion last year - enough to choke a horse!
    The global trade in pirated software, from versions of Microsoft Windows XP to Adobe Acrobat, hit nearly $29 billion in 2003, an industry trade body said in its annual survey on Wednesday.

    That value amounted to about 60 percent of all legal global desktop software sales of $51 billion, said the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

    Since the Internet boom, software firms and media conglomerates have seen a rapid increase in piracy as online file-sharing networks and "warez" trading sites make it easier to exchange all manner of copyrighted material
    source

    Ah, these boys is all swelled up. So this was earlier...getting set to trade. Then, woooaaah differences.
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    Retired SCORM Guru PAlexC's Avatar
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    *cough* China *cough*
    "What really bugs me is that my mom had the audacity to call Flash Kit a bunch of 'inept jack-asses'." - sk8Krog
    ...and now I have tape all over my face.

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    Retired Mod aversion's Avatar
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    I always hate pirates, people who resell any kind of copyrighted material without permission, but you have to look at those figures and scoff. The global trade may have netted that much but it's not like microsoft is missing out on that much income, most of the people buying that warez wouldn't buy the real thing.

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    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    And don't forget the other countries that basically turn their cheeks when it comes down to piracy and reverse-engineering.

    however, on another note, with the movie industry all up in arms about how piracy affects them, they made a record 1 billion dollars in the month of June... and they're still complaining about piracy.

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    Retired SCORM Guru PAlexC's Avatar
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    I thought by now they would've figured that into their profit models. I don't see what all the whining is about. What about product activation?
    "What really bugs me is that my mom had the audacity to call Flash Kit a bunch of 'inept jack-asses'." - sk8Krog
    ...and now I have tape all over my face.

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    ¤ ¤ ¤ PAZ ¤ ¤ ¤ nordberg's Avatar
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    i don't think product activation works long term - always a smarter hack.

    i just wonder about the impact on the ecomomy - another $29 billion into US companies would be nice. but at the same time, the users of cheap, pirated software are probably using it to make money, thus adding money to their ecomomies. i don't like stealing money from the US, but it is probably enabling thousands in other countries to improve their own lives and ecomomies....

    Ah, these boys is all swelled up. So this was earlier...getting set to trade. Then, woooaaah differences.
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    Always Twirling Toward Freedom pooon's Avatar
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    I was having a discussion with a friend of mine the other day. Say someone pirated a program and made some money from it (not by selling it, but by using it to create things, such as well, flash to web sites). Then using that money bought the product, money the company would've never seen had this person never owned a pirated copy. Would this be wrong?

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    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    he still pirated it. that's the first problem. the one thing about piracy, is that it goes in cycles.

    people who pirate the software, actually learn how to use it, and basically become almost dependent on the software in their career. then, the companies - the licensing on the company side is much more lucrative than individuals - buy more licenses, and that covers part of the gap.

    but not if each and every user had purchased it.

    I remember when academic licenses from Adobe, Corel, and Fractal Design were just hitting our campus in '94, and we were happy that we didn't have to go some shady route to get software to use on our computers.

    Either way, pirating is bad, there's still a loss in profit and wages (for them).

    and I'll be honest, I'm about as anti-piracy as you can get. but they might as well just stop with the security routines because it's going to happen anyway. I've seen it go from hardware dongles that were always flopping off machines to now rather invasive processes/services that run in the background, and talk to a centralized server with whatever they decide. I don't like it... even as a person that has bought their software... I'm getting punished for the people that don't buy software. sorta like the insurance racket... I pay more, never been in an accident because more and more people drive without insurance.

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    New Wave Visionray's Avatar
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    Originally posted by pooon
    I was having a discussion with a friend of mine the other day. Say someone pirated a program and made some money from it (not by selling it, but by using it to create things, such as well, flash to web sites). Then using that money bought the product, money the company would've never seen had this person never owned a pirated copy. Would this be wrong?
    Well think about this... is it ok for someone to rob a bank, invest the money in the stockmarket, and then 1 month later walk back into the bank and hand over the cash they stole plus a bit of interest? Sure it'd be nice they returned the money (and the bank wouldn't receive the extra interest had they not stolen the cash) but they would still go to jail.

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    Sun Devil asun2art's Avatar
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    yeah, I feel really bad for Microsoft and Bill gates. he really needs a chunk of that 29 billion....




  11. #11
    more cowbell DigitalOne's Avatar
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    VR, you make a great analogy, but unlike our banks, who offer loans to people who need money in the hopes they will be rebuffed, the software industry offers virtually no way for those without $900 bucks to drop on Photoshop to purchase their software. I know about student licensing programs, but those are a hassle anyway, and why would a student pay a discounted price if he could just get on his favorite p2p program and get the software for free?

    What i'd love to see the software companies start to do is offer a type of "loan/lease" service with their software. The user signs/agrees to a binding contract that gives them full use of a program, but in return the user then has to rebuff the software company. I think that a lot of those without access to funds in the quadruple digits would be able to then use software they might normally pirate. I think it would stop some of the piracy going on.

    I know it's impossible for me to keep up on today's Photoshop battles, because I don't have the money to pay for it. I'm stuck with the student edition I was issued for school. And it's PS 5.5.

    Any thoughts?

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    .: Weirded Out :. The_Xell's Avatar
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    Originally posted by asun2art
    yeah, I feel really bad for Microsoft and Bill gates. he really needs a chunk of that 29 billion....
    I think that's the wrong way to look at it. The section of the company (eg MS) who made the product and didn't recieve the high sales (maybe expected) could possibly not get another opportunity because of pirating warping sale figures.

    I really think, seeing as so many people have an Internet connection, that some means of online verfication of software should be enforced (unlike Win XP, which says you should but doesn't require online verification)

  13. #13
    An Inconvenient Serving Size hurricaneone's Avatar
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    How on earth do you come up with a figure like US$29 billion?

    I suspect the formula is something like, million (too small), trillion (too big), billion (OK), how many? 10 (too small, no one cares), 100 (too big, no one believes), 29 (big enough to shock, get press release included in various publications).

    If anyone cares to challenge this formula, feel free. Just make it worth my time, otherwise I'm sticking with this one.

    [edit]

    And I wouldn't go along with the theory that software piracy takes the food from the mouths of the development team. If the development company's CFO has failed to factor in estimated sales losses due to piracy, then he is a short-sighted fool and deserves to have his share of $29 billion deducted from his salary.
    Last edited by hurricaneone; 07-07-2004 at 01:42 PM.
    Stand by for emergency synapse rerouting

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    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    Originally posted by DigitalOne
    I'm stuck with the student edition I was issued for school. And it's PS 5.5.
    then work on your skills. you really aren't missing anything from the newer versions. same layer application modes - save for like 3 new ones - you still have layers, same color engine, and what not.

    Sorry, I don't buy this whole "newest version of PS is what I need to release my creativity" bull. find a better excuse to pirate... because that's all it is.

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    I Mastered Dead Technology TallGuyLittleCar's Avatar
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    Originally posted by DigitalOne
    [B]VR, you make a great analogy, but unlike our banks, who offer loans to people who need money in the hopes they will be rebuffed, the software industry offers virtually no way for those without $900 bucks to drop on Photoshop to purchase their software.
    In the u.s. a person can get grants or loans to purchase software and hardware to start a business.

    you can even get 20,000 to open a coffee shop... or write a novel.. or ..
    I know about student licensing programs, but those are a hassle anyway, and why would a student pay a discounted price if he could just get on his favorite p2p program and get the software for free?
    in the u.s. a person can get grants or loans to pay for school and hardware of software they may need for their education.
    ONLY RON PAUL AND ALUMINUM FOIL CAN SAVE YOU NOW!
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  16. #16
    Retired SCORM Guru PAlexC's Avatar
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    Does anyone else find it ironic that that the leader of something called yarrvolution is also vehemently anti-piracy?
    Last edited by PAlexC; 07-07-2004 at 01:43 PM.
    "What really bugs me is that my mom had the audacity to call Flash Kit a bunch of 'inept jack-asses'." - sk8Krog
    ...and now I have tape all over my face.

  17. #17
    supervillain gerbick's Avatar
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    Originally posted by TallGuyLittleCar
    In the u.s. a person can get grants or loans to purchase software and hardware to start a business.
    are you that guy, in the question mark suit?

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  18. #18
    I Mastered Dead Technology TallGuyLittleCar's Avatar
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    No, i'm the guy trying to sell stand alone internet kiosks and credit card terminals
    ONLY RON PAUL AND ALUMINUM FOIL CAN SAVE YOU NOW!
    annoy your politician fairtax.org, a political forum

    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabris, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

  19. #19
    Retired Mod aversion's Avatar
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    Originally posted by asun2art
    yeah, I feel really bad for Microsoft and Bill gates. he really needs a chunk of that 29 billion....
    I think you'll find they get the same chunk no matter what, it's the consumer that gets screwed yet again.

  20. #20
    Senior Member random25's Avatar
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    online verification is fine if you want your customers to have to be connected to the net to use your program.

    i'd be hella peaved if i had to connect to the net and wait for authorization every time i wanted to use photo shop!

    If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. Carl Sagan

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