Piracy in Windows

[k0de]

I completely understand what you mean. That's why I always legally buy my copies of things that I want.

However, I have more money than people in 3rd world countries and if you're the type of person who only makes $1000 USD a year, it would be suicide (sometimes literally) to spend $200 on a piece of software.

I say if you can afford it, then buy it, but if you can't (and lets be honest here, some people legitimately can't) then by all means choose free Windows over free Linux.

That's what I believe and we'll have to agree to disagree.

I have people back home living on 50 dollars a month. Kid you not there is only (1) computer for the entire village. Provided by friends and family here in the states.

But if they decide to pirate, support will be cut off.

There is work around for everything in life. Software is not exempt. No excuses for piracy.

Again like any other criminal activity. Piracy is a state of mind.

Besides piracy software quality is horrible and not only that. You support some criminal organization when you purchase their products.

 

[Jas00555]

Oh yeah, absolutely, if you can't afford it steal it...

Yeaaaah right....sheesh

Hey, say what you want, but I would rather someone spend a little on me than a little on my competitor. If you can't see why a little is better than zero, then I can't help you.

 

[k0de]

Nice to hear that. But in our countries everything is expensive so the piracy is luxury for us xD

It is a sstate of mind dude. Luxury to the criminals organizations feeding on your needs.

Please only buy aauthentic products going forth. Be careful. I have what you need doesn't necessarily make me your best friend. Kind regards to you and fam.

 

[Jas00555]

I have people back home living on 50 dollars a month. Kid you not there is only (1) computer for the entire village. Provided by friends and family here in the states.

But if they decide to pirate, support will be cut off.

There is work around for everything in life. Software is not exempt. No excuses for piracy.

Again like any other criminal activity. Piracy is a state of mind.

Besides piracy software quality is horrible and not only that. You support some criminal organization when you purchase their products.

I get what you're saying about there being workarounds, but that's kind of my point with support being cut off. Someone shouldn't get the same support if they haven't paid their fair share and if there's a problem, then that's what they deserve. They should get what they pay for.

For my anecdotal example, I have this friend (seriously, its a friend, not me) that wanted to play Halo 2, but he wanted to know the story of Halo: CE first and to know whether he would've liked the series. Now, we can argue about whether he should've bought it or not, but he stole it. He enjoyed the game so much that he's since bought every Halo game thus far except for Wars and Spartan Assault... And that would've never happened if he hadn't stole Halo: CE. We can argue whether he should've or not, but the simple fact is that Bungie/343 studios/Microsoft made over $150 that they wouldn't have gotten if they had made it impossible to steal Halo: CE.

Also, it may be that I don't deal in international black market software, but what organizations are you supporting by stealing Windows? I don't necessarily think that the Bosnia and Herzegovina mafia is selling these pirated copies.

 

[SSgt Bruskowiz]

The OP is wrong.
His country falls under European law. No exceptions.

 

[k0de]

I get what you're saying about there being workarounds, but that's kind of my point with support being cut off. Someone shouldn't get the same support if they haven't paid their fair share and if there's a problem, then that's what they deserve. They should get what they pay for.

For my anecdotal example, I have this friend (seriously, its a friend, not me) that wanted to play Halo 2, but he wanted to know the story of Halo: CE first and to know whether he would've liked the series. Now, we can argue about whether he should've bought it or not, but he stole it. He enjoyed the game so much that he's since bought every Halo game thus far except for Wars and Spartan Assault... And that would've never happened if he hadn't stole Halo: CE. We can argue whether he should've or not, but the simple fact is that Bungie/343 studios/Microsoft made over $150 that they wouldn't have gotten if they had made it impossible to steal Halo: CW.

Also, it may be that I don't deal in international black marker software, but what organizations are you supporting by stealing Windows? I don't necessarily think that the Bosnia and Herzegovina mafia is selling these pirated copies.

F MSFT. But hard work and creative thinking is the theft.

For example. Let give you all the programming tools in the world. Right? And you happen to make a break through on software.

But some guy copies your work and with no hard work makes a fortune from your hard work and effort.

How will you feel?

Not ok I assume. Same applies here MSFT is hard at work. Not for some pirate but for the WP ecosystem. And they expect to make a profit from their hard work.

How can they profit? If some pirate or criminal organization is selling their product for 1/4 of the price?

To make anything in life there is a cost. Then there is a return in investment.

Pirates don't invest. They reap Return on investments. 3000% profit when MSFT is just trying to retain 10% of their Return on Investments.

Point blank is injustice and it shouldn't be supported no matter what is the circumstances of an individual life.

 

[Jas00555]

F MSFT. But hard work and creative thinking is the theft.

For example. Let give you all the programming tools in the world. Right? And you happen to make a break through on software.

But some guy copies your work and with no hard work makes a fortune from your hard work and effort.

How will you feel?

Not ok I assume. Same applies here MSFT is hard at work. Not for some pirate but for the WP ecosystem. And they expect to make a profit from their hard work.

How can they profit? If some pirate or criminal organization is selling their product for 1/4 of the price.

Point blank is injustice and it shouldn't be supported no matter what is the circumstances of an individual life.

See, were talking about 2 different things. You're talking about someone selling illegal copies and I'm talking about stealing. Yes, what you're saying is 100% illegal, but what I'm saying has some gray area.

But to answer your question, yes, I would rather make an app and have some people steal it knowing that I'll still be getting ad revenue and possible IAP as opposed to those people not downloading it at all.

 

[k0de]

See, were talking about 2 different things. You're talking about someone selling illegal copies and I'm talking about stealing. Yes, what you're saying is 100% illegal, but what I'm saying has some gray area.

But to answer your question, yes, I would rather make an app and have some people steal it knowing that I'll still be getting ad revenue and possible IAP as opposed to those people not downloading it at all.

Goodnight.

 

[fatclue_98]

If you live in a poor country, and I came from one of the poorest, Windows is not a priority. Building a raft to come to Miami is where your time and energy goes. If you want to live like the pretty people do, there's a price to pay. There are no shortcuts. I don't want to hear a word about how it's ok to steal software from MS or cigarettes from the guy who owns the bodega in the corner. The 'hood mentality works on hip-hop videos but it'll get your a** kicked in the real world.

 

[rex.reyesiii]

Wow I was reminded of Les Miserables reading this thread. (Stealing bread because I'm poor etc).

 

[BataBole]

Also, it may be that I don't deal in international black market software, but what organizations are you supporting by stealing Windows? I don't necessarily think that the Bosnia and Herzegovina mafia is selling these pirated copies.

When you say software mafia in Bosnia it means ordinary people. There is no organized groups or black markets. Ordinary people are selling pirated copies. Anyone can.

 

[jojoe42]

May I just add that the logic behind rather having a free Windows version with revenue earned off ads/IAP/services is probably the logic behind this apparent 'Bing with Windows' version MSFT is going to release sooner or later - it's a good compromise. The cost of some software (cough Adobe CS cough) is a bit higher than it should be, but do remember, companies still need to pay hundreds developers and programmers to maintain the support/fix bugs in the software, and no matter how many advances are made per version that cost (along with others) will always remain constant

 

[RichardBurt]

BataBole. To claim that Bosnia has no piracy laws is simply false. As is your claim that there is no organized groups or black markets.

Bosnia Vows To Crack Pirate Mentality :: Balkan Insight

 

[SSgt Bruskowiz]

Just as I said....its stil Europe and European law.
The only exception was the Netherlands. They were the last ones who were allowed but only for educational purposes and home use....but that is already eh.....corrected by the European board.

 

[RStall]

Yeah, you are wrong. Theoretically, that can get you fined for tens of thousands of dollars.

However, software companies don't really go after the 'little guys'. People that make money off of pirated software usually sell quite a lot of copies, and some of the purchasers don't even realize that they aren't getting legitimate licenses. Those are the guys the software companies go after.

No sir, people make "backups" of their media all the time with no penalty. Companies go after people who see copies of pirated media all day long. Its one of those slippery slopes that came around after all those copyright laws. Companies have found ways to get around that with licenses, drms, etc but as a rule you aren't getting fined for that. If so all these sites would be shut down immediately

 

[ivdza]

Here are the prices from official retailer in Serbia. Note tha 1? is 115 dinars.

http://www.comtradeshop.com/operativni_sistemi

 

[a5cent]

No sir, people make "backups" of their media all the time with no penalty.

Making a backup has absolutely nothing to do with piracy. Nothing. Copying something is legal. Giving that copy to someone else is when it becomes piracy.

Also note my use of the word 'theoretically' in my post you quoted. It seems to me that you are arguing the same point.

 

[a5cent]

I disagree with all those people making the 'if you can't afford it then save up argument'. If that is your opinion, you have not fully understood the situation.

In Bosnia, the price of a Windows licence equates to about half of an M.D. 's monthly income. In the U.S. an M.D. earns on average 15'000 a month. So, imagine a Windows Pro licence costing $7500 a pop?

How many of us would honestly save up for that? Obviously none of us would. We'd all be using Linux... or pirating.

The problem with using Linux is that most of the world uses Windows, and being a small country in eastern Europe you can't just ignore what the rest of the world is doing.

So, the 'save up' argument isn't realistic. So, the question becomes, what is?

 

[feal87]

I disagree with all those people making the 'if you can't afford it then save up argument'. If that is your opinion, you have not fully understood the situation.

In Bosnia, the price of a Windows licence equates to about half of an M.D. 's monthly income. In the U.S. an M.D. earns on average 15'000 a month. So, imagine a Windows Pro licence costing $7500 a pop?

How many of us would honestly save up for that? Obviously none of us would. We'd all be using Linux... or pirating.

The problem with using Linux is that most of the world uses Windows, and being a small country in eastern Europe you can't just ignore what the rest of the world is doing.

So, the 'save up' argument isn't realistic. So, the question becomes, what is?

Are you serious? Bosnia's average salary ranges between 8000 and 10000 NET dollars per year. That's far away from your estimates.

 

[a5cent]

Are you serious? Bosnia's average salary ranges between 8000 and 10000 NET dollars per year. That's far away from your estimates.

If you would have read the whole thread, you'd have realized I'm going by the numbers provided by the OP. You probably also would have realized that we're talking about an average monthly wage, not an a average annual wage like you are. So $700 a month gives us $8400 annually... pretty much what you suggested. I'd say your attempt to look smart backfired.

Still, if your numbers are correct, an M.D. will likely earn more than $700 a month. Please take that up with the OP.

Overall though, I don't think your post adds anything to the discussion, because the basic point still stands. Taking your numbers as an average wage, the comparative price for a Windows 8 license in the U.S. would still be $1430 (based on an average U.S. income of $43000).

I doubt many here would save up to spend $1430 on a Windows license.