pirated software

18354 Views 159 Replies 44 Participants Last post by redalert95, Nov 6, 2003

somak_de

Discussion Starter · Jan 23, 2003

recently i have read a thread posted in the forum asking for a crack
of window xp. those who replied requested the thread starter to buy it.

well i support their views. but the real fact is that softwares is priced
so high that very few user can afford them.

for example in my country (India), Adobe photoshop is priced so much
that with this money one can easily buy a brand new computer !

just have a think of it. who would go for an original version paying such
a high price when they can easily get a copy from there friends.

i know that to develop such a software heavy money is required. but still
i think software prices should be low to stop piracy.

i would like to know your views on that. and i would like to ask how many
of you has never used any pirated software.
dont think i am a supporter of piracy

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1 - 20 of 160 Posts

Stoner

· #2 · Jan 23, 2003

Photoshop is one example that is ofter referred to because of its pricing. But only users that have a commercial benefit have a 'must have', or 'need' of this product. For them the cost is a matter of doing business.

For the hobbyist, there are alternatives that are low priced-PSP7 is less than 10% of PS when on sale- and many that are freeware-Irfanview,Satori,etc.

In general, there is usually a free version of most commercial software.

Stealing anything is wrong, as we all know, and stealing software has nothing to do with our survival,unlike stealing food in order to not starve. The first example is a rationalization, the second is a reason.

just my 2 cents,

Rhettman5.1

· #3 · Jan 23, 2003

Lots of shareware functions after the "trial" period is over..i/e winzip...I recently D/L'd a animated gif tool that was advertized as a "evaluation" version, only to discover it is fully functional forever,exept for the nag to register when you close it out.

I know many contribute to shareware and freeware sites, but wouldn't shareware also be considered a "pirated" program after the evaluation period has expired ??

dalereis

· #4 · Jan 23, 2003

The free enterprise system would tell us that anyone can sell anything they want at any price. While I can't deny "borrowing" software very occasionally, I am very choosey about doing so and only in great need or just to experiment before buying. The price is determined by the demand and the way to voice your objection is not to "steal" it, but to just not buy or use it. As Stoner said, there is usually a free alternative if you will just take the time to search for it. My 2¢ worth.

ComputerFix

· #5 · Jan 23, 2003

I do agree that if one were to go out and buy full versions of Windows XP and Office, they would spend nearly the price of the PC, however, daleries has a point.

Also, one does not need the "latest and greatest" all the time, even if we want it.

I am still using Office 97.

There are also "student" versions available for those who are students. I am taking a marketing class at the local college, therefore I qualify for the discounted OfficeXP if I want it, and I also bought some marketing software at 50% off.

This site has been an excellent resource for locating low cost or free software. If you are looking for something, ask. Odds are pretty good someone here is using something that can get the job done. (when I needed some AV software in a pinch, I received a reply for free software within minutes!)

I understand your frustration, and don't think that you are saying we should all be using "stolen" software.

(P.S. my sometimes comes from the fact that I am a Kazaa lite user, which is hacked software, though most do not regard it as such, since Kazaa is free in the first place)

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GoneForNow

· #6 · Jan 23, 2003

If you're gonna steal software you really need to do it in a more sophisticated manner. I have Microsoft believing that I'm an IT professional (I do maintain the office network but IT pro, I don't think so). I get long surveys from them that I complete, in return I get to choose free software. It how I got XP Pro, Office XP and so forth.

ComputerFix

· #7 · Jan 23, 2003

Originally posted by gbrumb:
If you're gonna steal....you really need to do it in a more sophisticated manner.

Yeah, its called being a lawyer.

(glad to see you back GB

)

somak_de

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 23, 2003

Thank you for such wonderful replies.

I know that there are plenty of freewares and sharewares available on net
and i have used a lot of them. But the problem comes when after 30 days some features
are turned off and frustrating regestration windows pop up.

I admit there are many low priced sofwares but they generally come from many unknown sites and
before buying them online one is very much concerned about safety of such transactions.
In this forum many users told how they were cheated.

Stoner:
"For the hobbyist, there are alternatives that are low priced-PSP7 is less than
10% of PS when on sale- and many that are freeware-Irfanview,Satori,etc."

I am a hobbyist and has great interest in multimedia. i will definitely try
the softwares you have mentioned.
But in this case there is another problem specially in my country that is "low bandwidth". i use a dialup connection and usually get nearly
2 kb/sec download speed. Imagine how many hours will it take to download a software
eg. macromedia dreamweaver which is 50 mb and does not support resume !! so sometimes i think
why should i d/l the trial using so much telephone bill when i can get the full version from
a friend for free.

actually i want to make the point that

1)developing a good software may need heavy investment but since making a copy of it actualy
requires nothing (unlike hardware) so why softwares are so expensive

2) why we cant share them with friends like everything else.

gbrumb : i did not understand what do you mean by "steal software .....in a more sophisticated manner". Can you explain it a bit elaborately?

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jdemnyan1116

· #9 · Jan 23, 2003

Not only do you have to worry about the it being illegal, also about the security of it. I have heard about pirated software causing problems like taking over computers etc. Wouldn't trust them at all.

pyritechips

· #10 · Jan 23, 2003

(P.S. my sometimes comes from the fact that I am a Kazaa lite user, which is hacked software, though most do not regard it as such, since Kazaa is free in the first place)

Very interesting point.

TSG rightfully does not condone nore allow postings promoting, demonstrating or otherwise supporting cracking, hacking or pirating software. But Kazaalite is clearly in this category; indeed its illegal, hacked state is openly declared in the EULA. Yet it is promoted here as a necessary substitute for Kazaa.

It seems that the people WILL defy the law when a moral issue takes precedant. Nobody more than I hates spyware. People can and will defend themselves when the law cannot or will not.

GoneForNow

· #11 · Jan 24, 2003

Originally posted by somak_de:
gbrumb : i did not understand what do you mean by "steal software .....in a more sophisticated manner". Can you explain it a bit elaborately?

somak_de.......I was making a joke (obviously a bad one). There are two types of thieves, one that hits you in the head and takes your money or one that talks you out of your money. I was joking that I was the second kind of thief because I had convinced Microsoft that I'm an IT professional when I'm not. In other words, I talked them out of their software by false pretense.

(BTW, I do actually do the survey and I give honest and truthful answers. Microsoft is just not getting answers from an IT pro.)

Fyzbo

· #12 · Jan 24, 2003

I'm a college student and I have to admit I see tons of pirated software. I think a lot of people do it because they don't realize that they can get the software legally. At my school all computer science majors are entitled to any microsoft software(with the exception of office) for free, and it is not a trial for during college either it's yours for the rest of your life. Yet I still see computer science students getting pirated microsoft software. All I have to say is that if you do pirate software becareful because you may just get caught and then you'll be in a lot of trouble. I'd also like everyone to remember that the more pirating the higher the price will go and this will continue until no one is buying the software and the companies will just assume it is no longer wanted and stop producing it. It makes you think... if you want the price to go down convince all of your friends who are copying it to go out and buy it.

somak_de

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 25, 2003

thank you fyzbo. you actually spoke my mind. I am also an Engineering student
I think piracy has alot to do with the attitude of the people
But it cant be eradicated unless software giants stop throwing unfair
terms on us.
though this is not related exactly to piracy, but think how
microsoft software try to monopolise a particular format. Can you edit a
WMA or ASF file using some other software not from microsoft. Not legally i can tell you!

all these playes subconsciously in the mind of the user and i know many people
who took the revenge by cracking the trial version!
------------------------------------------------------------------
Understood your joke gbrumb!!!

keep doing it

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brendandonhu

· #14 · Jan 26, 2003

Yes you can legally edit WMA or ASF in a non-microsoft program. MS tries to keep their file formats "closed" but its never successful (completely, anyway). Its a good thing when independant developers are able to use MS formats.
Now we have OpenOffice and plenty of video editors.

boyoh53

· #15 · Jan 31, 2003

I believe more people would use pirated software if they thought
they could get away with it. I certainly would. Bill Gates is taking
advantage of his position in the software market.

I think it is outrageous that I would have to buy three XP systems
if I had three computers in my house. That to me is bare faced
robbery. I have joined the computing game too late to be able to
join in the pirated scene. Everything now has to be activated by
Mr. Gates.

The student licence states that the student must stop using the
Office software once he ceases being a student. Now what kind of a law is that? Is it any wonder ordinary people try to get one over on Mr.G.?
If two students living in the same house had a computer each,
they would need two Office's. The licence allows installation on one desktop and one laptop. I could go on.

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suzi

· #16 · Feb 6, 2003

I can admit to having shared some software with friends who purchased it and sharing some with them as well. I went to a crack site *once* and all the porn pop-ups and onslaught of junk scared me away. Then I realized I got "lopped" there too. That was my first and last time going to a crack site.

I have never used Kazaa or any other file -sharing program. I'm just too chicken after what I've read and besides that I don't want anyone else nosing around in my computer to download stuff from me, like napster used to do. I decided if it's something I really want and need, I will pay for it. If I'm not willing to pay for it, then I don't get it.

Stoner

· #17 · Feb 6, 2003

Hi Suzi:

There really is a wide varity of good free/shareware available legally. These two URLs are just a small sampling off the internet.
It's a good idea to double check any downloads with Anti-Virus and then SpyBot or the new AdAware6[I use both].

http://www.webattack.com/freeware/freeware.html
http://www.webattack.com/shareware/shareware.html

Check them out. You might find something interesting.

somak_de

Discussion Starter · #18 · Feb 7, 2003

thank you all for keeping this thread alive.

brendandonhu: can you post the name of the url for the softwares you are refering? i need to edit some wma file.

suzi: like you i had also been to cracker site once. it was also filled with porn popups. dont know what is the relation between the two but they really scared me.
but what amazed me is the amount of cracks and other hacking tools available there for free.
they are claiming that there are better minds than mr. g's force!! that is what a fighting back
i dont use cracks but support there cause to break free.

****** taking money for a creation is fine but too much of anything is not. take the example of this site. if you start taking fees for help then surely half of the members will opt out i
think.

****** this forum has become a popular mediam for promoting p2p's like kaazalite and winmx and i found
a large no. of member use them (me too) but dont they also support piracy as you are getting
everything without paying nothing to the original creator

keep posting

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brendandonhu

· #19 · Feb 7, 2003

Nothing in particular, there are plenty of converters and AVI editors available, just search for them.

I have *completely accidentally* ended up at crack/keygen sites many times. they all have lotsa popups except some serious sites that pertain more to real info & whitehat such as hackology.

Very few times do those hack tools actually do anything too serious by themselves, its script kiddie stuff, virii, trojans, back doors etc. THe ones that do work can't do much because they are general, simple tools. For example, an HTTP Brute Forcer is in fact a web browser that can auto-fill forms, then it view page source, and compares it to a file containing an example successful and failed response.

prospect

· #20 · Feb 8, 2003

I'm gonna put in my 2 cents worth on this subject.
I found out the hard way when my cd rom drive went bad, and I had to buy another, that I couldn't use my recovery cd's that came with the PC.
Well this is an outrage! I already paid for the one (OS) that came with the machine. And for them to make the customer go out and buy another one at $200.00 is just pure and simple greed.
I know it takes time to build these OS, but to stick it to the consumer is just wrong. Then they wonder why people steal.
In my opinion, I think if a person buys an OS and wants to put it into another PC they own at home, this should be legal.
I can take a part I have laying around for a chevy, and give it to my friend who also has a chevy, how come this isn't illegal?
I know there is a diffrence, but until these people quit ripping off the consumer, I'm afraid this trend will continue.

Prospect

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