Piracy in Windows

[BataBole]

Hello guys.

Since I live in country where piracy is not forbidden, I was always curious about law in other countries where it is forbidden.

I'm free to download games, music, Microsoft products like office, windows etc. Install them, use them, share them... all for 0$ which is not right, but everybody is making a profit from it.

How are you people dealing with it? Are you paying for everything, buying things, wasting money? Or you find a way to pass around price tags?

Feel free to discuss

 

[izzat7641]

Which country are you from??

 

[BataBole]

Which country are you from??

I'm from Bosnia&Herzegovina, but piracy is also allowed in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro etc.

 

[izzat7641]

I'm from Bosnia&Herzegovina, but piracy is also allowed in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro etc.

Well my country is just like yours.....maybe cause some people make money out of it.....like pirated games,they sell to someone that has no idea that it is not original.....

 

[BataBole]

Well my country is just like yours.....maybe cause some people make money out of it.....like pirated games,they sell to someone that has no idea that it is not original.....

Where you coming from? Are you personally buying music or you downloading it from web for free?

 

[izzat7641]

Im from Malaysia......we can buy music online.....but a lot of people including me download it from the net......

 

[k0de]

Where you coming from? Are you personally buying music or you downloading it from web for free?

I buy everything original to support the dev's or artist. I don't support piracy.

 

[Jas00555]

I'll admit to possibly, maybe, sort of pirating a few things, but only out of convenience, not because I'm cheap. For example, I pay for Xbox music pass so I get most of my music from it.... BUT if a song isn't in Xbox music or they don't have a deal for me to use my music pass, I pirate it.

 

[BataBole]

I buy everything original to support the dev's or artist. I don't support piracy.

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

 

[RStall]

I'm in the us, everything is expensive here also. I thought piracy was only illegal if you sold the pirated material. I, legally, can make a copy of a game I've purchased and give it away all I want. I just can't sell those copies for profit. I could be wrong though

 

[BataBole]

I'll admit to possibly, maybe, sort of pirating a few things, but only out of convenience, not because I'm cheap. For example, I pay for Xbox music pass so I get most of my music from it.... BUT if a song isn't in Xbox music or they don't have a deal for me to use my music pass, I pirate it.

Are you downloading directly from YouTube or you use some other service? Any good recommendation/application for tagging correct song details?

 

[Jas00555]

Are you downloading directly from YouTube or you use some other service? Any good recommendation/application for tagging correct song details?

Well, not that I would know or anything, but I've heard that you can use pirate bay from the WP app wptorrent pro. I've heard that some people can just download an album and then save directly to the music app.

 

[Coreldan]

Around here most pirating isn't punishable unless you share the pirated stuff yourself.

But I'm not sure if it's good to discuss this kind of matters or in any way encourage people to piracy.

 

[a5cent]

Since I live in country where piracy is not forbidden, I was always curious about law in other countries where it is forbidden.

Hey BataBole

I think you need to get better sources for your information :wink:

Piracy is illegal in Bosnia Herzigovina too, just as it is in almost all countries. Enacting such IP laws is pretty much a requirement if a country wants to be taken seriously or expects to do any kind of business with western countries. Here's a recent statement from the U.S. department of state (I'm not from the U.S. It's just an example I found in English. I have read similar statements written by western European governments as well):

"However, there are signs of progress. In August 2011, the BiH State Court issued a verdict in a significant software piracy case. In that case, the accused was found guilty of unauthorized use of copyrighted material, based on having provided unlicensed products to a government agency. He was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay approximately 195,000 Euros in damages. Undoubtedly, this will have an impact on discouraging similar instances of software piracy."

source

So, IP theft is illegal where you live too. The difference is only that in Bosnia Herzegovina, those laws aren't really enforced. Why not? Because Bosnia Herzegovina has no notable software industry to speak of, therefore protecting such laws has little to no benefit for your own economy. From your governments point of view, spending money on IP protections isn't a reasonable investment.

That doesn't change the morality of it though. Some may think that paying for software is wasting money, but that doesn't change the fact that you are taking something that hundreds if not thousands of people spent years of their lives creating, who would like to get paid. I also see it as "freeloading" off those of us who actually do pay for it, because software doesn't get written that nobody pays for.

Anyway, I think it's great that you are asking such questions!

 

[a5cent]

I thought piracy was only illegal if you sold the pirated material. I, legally, can make a copy of a game I've purchased and give it away all I want. I just can't sell those copies for profit. I could be wrong though

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.

 

[fatclue_98]

I think the term"piracy" is being used to avoid the real thing - theft. Let's not beat around the bush here, it's wrong. If I've downloaded copyrighted material it's been unknowingly. We depend on sites like this one to"police" attachments for us.

 

[BataBole]

@a5cent
Thanks for the info. Appreciate that.

5 years ago we had uncertified stores where people could buy Windows 7 for 2$ and certified stores where its price was around 300$. Nowadays those uncertified stores are closed but piracy continues its job.

Every home, every house is piracy involved. We don't buy music, movies etc. They can't arrest us all. There is no place in prison for everybody xD

Despite all that I have to admit I'm enjoying in free stuff. No limits, no anything.

 

[a5cent]

lol, no, you certainly won't all go to prison. There probably aren't many people earning tens of thousands selling pirated software either. Those guys will go to prison however, if caught.

In a lot of countries it is legal to download and consume pirated media, like music and movies. It's just not legal to distribute it. I would not be surprised if that applies to your country too.

For software things are different though. If it is pirated, using it is illegal.

I understand that people like free stuff. You probably expect people to treat you fairly however... How would you feel if an entire country decided your hard work wasn't worth paying for? That is what you (as a nation) are doing.

On the other hand, I would also expect prices for software to be slightly cheaper for you than for us. I have a hard time believing an official Windows license for home use would cost $300. That wouldn't be right either.

 

[fatclue_98]

lol, no, you certainly won't all go to prison. There probably aren't many people earning tens of thousands selling pirated software either. Those guys will go to prison however, if caught.

In a lot of countries it is legal to download and consume pirated media, like music and movies. It's just not legal to distribute it. I would not be surprised if that applies to your country too.

For software things are different though. If it is pirated, using it is illegal.

I understand that people like free stuff. You probably expect people to treat you fairly however... How would you feel if an entire country decided your hard work wasn't worth paying for? That is what you (as a nation) are doing.

On the other hand, I would also expect prices for software to be slightly cheaper for you than for us. I have a hard time believing an official Windows license for home use would cost $300. That wouldn't be right either.

Maybe not $300 but the 8.1 upgrade is $199.99 on Microsoft's site. Still pretty brutal if you ask me.

 

[BataBole]

Maybe not $300 but the 8.1 upgrade is $199.99 on Microsoft's site. Still pretty brutal if you ask me.

Yes it is brutal. I remember when Windows Vista came out. Prices went like this: Vista basic 200$, Vista home 300$, Vista professional 400$ and Vista ultimate 500$.

Lets face it, Bosnia is poor country where medical doctors have salary about 500-700$ so we can't afford original/genuine products. And then we go to pirate bay and get it for free.

Conclusion is this, piracy is important part of our lives here. Don't get me wrong, I'm not supporting it, but that's just the way it is.