How much pirated Amiga software did you have?

[runequester]

My games collection weren't monster huge, but propably 10 games bought and 40 or 50 pirated.

These days I buy my games, since I want to ensure that developers who do linux games continue to do so

[runequester]

and yet, some of the best amiga games came out in the 92-94 era, where commodore was going tits up.

[runequester]

so if copying (piracy is when you steal shit on the high seas) killed the amiga, why didn't it kill the PC ?

I am still not buying it.

[runequester]

Oh really, I could have gone to university and learnt to use software which, at the time, was only taught on MSc engineering degrees requiring not only a previous undergraduate degree but also a solid Mathematical background? Don't worry, I went to my university and local college open days on many occasions, looking and hoping (dreaming?) for "a way in". But that route would have been pretty difficult, considering the fact that I left home and school at the age of 16 and had to work full-time on a minimum wage, just to afford my rent and food. I spent every hour of my free time (after work) practising my trade, on a pirated copy of 3D Studio Max - THAT was my university and pretty much my only option for learning what I needed to learn to enable me to develop a portfolio which I was able to show to employers as a substitute for my lack of formal education. Again, maybe the middle class folk could afford to do things the "proper" way - but for many of us in life "the proper way" is not realistic and why should we just give-up without a fight (even if it does mean breaking a few copyright rules).

Btw, I remember a comment made in an interview with some guy from the marketing department of Alias Wavefront (developers of Maya 3D, which at the time cost around 14k) published in an old copy of 3D World magazine. He was basically asked his opinion on piracy and how it affected sales of Maya. He pretty much openly admitted that Alias purposely made it EASY for Maya to be cracked and hinted that it should even be a policy of Alias to secretly release unlocked versions for those who could not afford it. His basic reasoning was that companies largely do not pirate the software they use and employees and their familiarity with certain software is what dictates which software companies purchase. More pirate users = larger userbase = more company licences. (with respect to productivity s/w, at least)

I don't see your comments as an attack, I just see you as quite narrow minded and myopic in your steadfast adherence to "laws" which, in many cases, make no sense or reason to those of us living in the real world.

here's just a few of the world's most ridiculous laws which I expect you to abide by without question or independent reasoning:

- Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England, but only in tropical fish stores. (Of course!)

- The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is capitation. (Wonder how they enforce that one?)

- In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands. (The husband’s lover, on the other hand, may be killed in any manner desired. COOL)

- In Cali, Colombia, a woman may only have sex with her husband, and the first time this happens her mother must be in the room to witness the act. (I shudder at the thought. How many of us would be virgins today?)

- not long, here in the UK, it was "illegal" to be homosexual and you could be hung for the crime.

Not to get into the whole piracy thing, but as a bonus stupid law, if you live in the US, breaking or circumventing copy protection is a felony.

I'd go easy on that trained version of Turrican 2

[runequester]

I can offer two real-world factual data points made without judgment:

1. Concerning the argument about people not being able to afford software as a reason for piracy:

In Profound Effects piracy from Russia and China was so rampant that I publicized an offer of "If you are purchasing from any email address from .cn or .ru you can have the product for $1."

Not a single sale was made.

2. Concerning the argument about piracy not having a real effect on companies.

Profound Effects is no longer in business.

were the product one that was marketed extensively in the chinese and russian markets and relying on those sources?


Its obvious that piracy has an effect on sales, whether software, movies or music. However, its not all that obvious what this effect is.

If people stealing it are guilty of bringing down businesses, how can things survive that are given away on a donation basis?


There's more than a few webcomics f.x. that create art on a daily basis.. and had enough donations come in to make it a living, despite not selling a single thing.

The humble indie bundle of games has made 1.2 million so far, and still counting.

Radioheads "pay what you want" album reached 3 million sales despite being basically given away for whatever people wanted to pay.

[runequester]

with the internet nowadays, there's not really much of an excuse either. There's a wealth of great open source software out there, whether OS, games or apps. as well as "closed but free" stuff

[runequester]

Its complicated

On one hand you have reasonable requests:

Backing up software. Putting a song you bought on your MP3 player, watching a DVD on your computer, downloading a 20 year old game etc

On the other hand, you have pretty much every PC game developer hauling ass from the burning ship, unto consoles, because PC gamers plain can't be bothered to pay for games.


So nyeh. No easy answers.

[runequester]

on a related note, some cracked games actually worked better. A recent thread on here mentioned how Jaguar XJ220 required relokick to run on a 1200, whereas the cracked version ran just fine.