Piracy of apps Good or Bad?

[PratikMade]

Well we saw some images of windows 10 technical preview which includes some developer options to sideload apps without signing for developer account. This may pave a way for piracy. Some say piracy will stop developers from developing apps for the platform while others say Piracy does attract people to the platform ( you know some people like things for free). What do you guys think?

 

[gpobernardo]

"Piracy is stealing. Stealing is against the law. Piracy is a crime."

Now, whether it attracts more people to the platform or not, I think an unhealthy practice to start with won't be good for any company. What use would having a lot of users in a platform have if the developers would eventually stop developing for that platform due to losses in revenue due to piracy? I don't think Microsoft can afford to lose their endangered species developers.

But side-loading may not really totally pave the way to piracy, since one can only side-load a few number of apps per device and Microsoft can simply push out an update that would further limit the number of apps that can be side-loaded into a developer-unlocked phone. Perhaps Microsoft can release an update that allows a developer to side-load only his apps associated with the same Microsoft account he uses as his developer account, or something like that.

I think that, in the long run, not having rampant piracy in a platform should be healthy to both the company and it's users.

 

[aximtreo]

No matter how you want to describe piracy, it's still stealing someone's hard work.

 

[PratikMade]

Don't get mad at me I'm not supporting piracy in any way nor do I own any pirated copies. But look at android and PC they all have piracy issues yet have large user base.

 

[Harrie-S]

Indeed piracy is bad but .....
In the time of video recorders VHS became the standard and not V2000 (from Philips) and not because it was a better system but because of pirated adult movies.

So yes piracy is bad because people and companies loose money but it "helps" to get things started.

 

[lafuanfadhillah]

Piracy just like you work for free

 

[ads13]

Don't get mad at me I'm not supporting piracy in any way nor do I own any pirated copies. But look at android and PC they all have piracy issues yet have large user base.

101% agreed.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I believe that piracy is wrong, since it is theft.

I'm not sure which comes first : piracy or popularity. By that, I mean "Game of Thrones" is the most pirated TV show. Is it popular because it's pirated, or is it pirated because it's popular?

Sent from my Nexus 7 (2013) using Tapatalk

 

[tgp]

I believe that piracy is wrong, since it is theft.

I'm not sure which comes first : piracy or popularity. By that, I mean "Game of Thrones" is the most pirated TV show. Is it popular because it's pirated, or is it pirated because it's popular?

I agree; piracy is wrong because it's theft. But it's hard to argue that it hurts. I remember when Napster was big back in the late 90's. It reportedly actually helped artists even though their music was illegally distributed for free. It gave them a lot of needed exposure that they otherwise would not have gotten.

As far as apps, the potential of piracy does not seem to have any bearing on a developer deciding whether or not to develop for a platform.

 

[Guytronic]

Theft in any form eventually gets expensive for everyone including the thieves.

 

[mmcpher]

I know its not exactly the model for unbroken success, but Blackberry has been there, done that, with respect to sideloading. They enabled it long ago. It was not exactly drag-and-drop simple, but over time a few developers developed utilities to streamline the process. It was certainly an added value for people who were pushing to get more out of their devices. It certainly enhanced the beta-leak-testers' ability to continually upgrade their OS's, as it often became necessary to sideload different versions of apps when they would not function with an early release of a new OS build. The Blackberry community, best exemplified on Crackberry, of course, were tireless in seeking out the versions of apps that would work on new builds for the various devices. There was the threat of piracy, I suppose, but my sense is it never materialized as a real problem. More often, sideloading enabled people to acquire apps legitimately (through, for example, Google Play or Amazon) and then to finally be able to install them on their smartphones even when the developers couldn't be bothered to make a BB version of the app available. A lot of these apps tied into subscription services also, which was ultimately to the developers' benefit. On a few occasions, I talked the developers of an Android app to send me the apk and I was able to get it up and running.

Maybe the sideloading settings in the TP releases are a forerunner of MS's new exploration of running Android and IOS apps.