How Many of Us Uses Pirated/Cracked Software

[enoonmai]

Exactly! All a person has to do is get a legal OS and then look at freeware alternatives for the rest. Compression utilities like ZipGenius, photo editing with GIMP, productivity tools with OpenOffice (sure its not Office 2003, but how many of us use the billion and one functions that it has?) Quintessential media player, QuickTime and iTunes, DeepBurner/CDBurnerXP, Firefox, FreshDownload, they're all free. What more does one want?

 

[bharathbala2003]

ofcourse most of us use.. and its mainly cos of COST!!! an original MAYA 3D full set or a 3D Studio Max could cost bout 20K min.. but pirated is jus 100 bucks n works as the same.. who wouldn want it then!!

 

[DKant]

Exactly! All a person has to do is get a legal OS and then look at freeware alternatives for the rest. Compression utilities like ZipGenius, photo editing with GIMP, productivity tools with OpenOffice (sure its not Office 2003, but how many of us use the billion and one functions that it has?) Quintessential media player, QuickTime and iTunes, DeepBurner/CDBurnerXP, Firefox, FreshDownload, they're all free. What more does one want?

Nothing more. But what abt gamers? Life is tough for them. Any new game costs in excess of 1.5K, and even after four years, the lowest it drops to is 500 bucks (for the blockbusters like HL), 400 for the sports sims, and around 200 for games that wld either run on a PII, or never sold volumes, inspite of being good games (like Deus Ex ) And unfortunately, there aren't any free alternatives in games, that are engaging enuf! (OK u've got FLASH games...but....hell )

Luckily (?) for me, all I can play on my 810E, are games that are 3-4 years old atleast. So I can afford (to a certain extent) to get original games..but I still use Win 98 SE - unofficial version for the simple reason that I can't afford it (i.e, I cld get 8-10 games instead of that, or better still, a minor upgrade!) If it cost around 2K instead of the mammoth 4K that it does now, I wld surely have taken enuf pains to save up for it! So in my case, it's a question of price.

But there are quite a few people for whom it's a question of their..er..values. They wld rather have a Rs.300 pizza everyday than buy original s/w! Nothing can be done abt them..

 

[klinux]

regarding games , arent there any games rental stores in any of the major cities here in india . i know its a huge hit abroad with people just renting it out ( wonder how pirated cd's arent made from that ) .
If MS were to really put pressure on people in india to get original version , i think some people would go in for it , But a majority might stick to linux , as the newer versions are getting a lot friendlier to use .

On a lighter side : Regarding Pizza , most of the over rated brands dont give the actual taste as their chain stores abroad , same for chocolate . So stick to linux of pizza's , pizza deli in chennai , they customise ur pizza from the base and only give u what u want and are almost half the price , but add more cheese . Second option would be to make ur own pizza . Base is available at all supermarkets , Cheese , pizza sauce ( or ketchup ) and other ingrediants like mushroom , tuna , even frozen sausages are readily available . for those even without a microwave , a normal frying pan is enuf to melt the cheese . Tech Cooking anyone

 

[Tech&ME]

the problem is really with what people buy in this country and in neighbourhood countries like China and Japan, most people in this countries operate the PC's on pirated versions of softwares... WHY ????
They get the MADE IN INDIA STICKER or MADE IN CHINA STICKER
or MADE IN JAPAN STICKER ???? look funny na !!!! But that's the reality of this Software world in this silly countries. People likes to spend a 1000 buks on his/her girl-friend or better still on smoking and such stuff but they never look back and decide to buy an ORIGINAL software for themselves, even if that is affordable to them. Why is this SO ????

B'cozz they don't care about the Company which suffers b'cozz of their irratic behaviour and sense of buying pirated software. And above all after using Windows XP (pirated version) they proudly announce that Microsoft is great and have come out with great software with great enhancements ????? Did they paid anything to Microsoft before commenting on the works of Microsoft ????

I use all Original Softwares, and freewares.

 

[klinux]

q : not sure abt the pricing of XP and others , but is it really worth pay the , sometimes hefty amounts ? some people who had a previous version of an OS , say 98 , would certainly expect to be still supported to this day right ? and get possible upgrades to their os and s/w bundled with it . but MS makes it impossible to keep old version of OS updated . sure they might have extended 98 support which was to end last year itself , but regarding a couple of patches in 98 , u got to pay them more to get it .

Someone said , u can use ur old opera registration key on even newer versions of the browser . if an os worked that way it would be gr8 . Plus MS themselves have cut prices like anything , just to keep linux from coming into offices /homes , so isnt it a case of actually them asking more than their s/w is really worth .

kurious : do u guys who have original MS os , get adequate tech support of patches in form of cd's or anything like that ? whats the price of the OS and office suites now anyways

another scenario : people who by indian branded pc's and a couple of mnc brands too , demand that they get office suite and other s/w like visual studio , adobe photoshop , norton and many other s/w "FREE" koz they paid so much for their pc . most technicians actually carry a pouch , with maybe one original OS cd , but the remaining is pirated . if these companies refuse to give custs these s/w , people will surely go into fully assembled and 100% pirated systems .

 

[DKant]

Tech Cooking anyone

Hey how about writing a tut & making it a sticky

Kidding

EDIT:

whats the price of the OS and office suites now anyways

Arnd 3.7K for Win98 SE, 4.1K for XP Home, and 6.9K for XP Pro and 2K Pro. Strange, but true.

And BTW, Office XP/2k3 (don't know which 1) costs arnd 7-9K or more. I'm not sure.

P.S: I heard a rumor that XP Pro prices have plummeted thanks to Win Server 2K3's intro....to around 4K. But I don't know for sure.

 

[goobimama]

I THRIVE on piracy....its the best thing that has happened in the IT world!!!!!! All software that i own is pirated.


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[goobimama]

Unfortunately, the mentality of people is such, that even if a legal version of windows sold for Rs 100, 90% of the people would prefer a pirated copy for Rs 30.

Actually Ujjwal. Just think Windows XP licenced version in Just Rs. 500. When i or anyone else go to buy a software. Buying Pirated CD is more easy then buying a Original One. I found more outlet for pirated instead of original one.

to be honest, i would seriously buy the original copy of windows if it was priced somewhere between 500-1000 bucks. nothing more. seriously. Also, if priced almost the same, I would buy photoshop, dreamweaver, and all those softwares that I really need, because when you pay for them, you really use them..


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[ctrl_alt_del]

I'm trying to be a reformed pirate. Securing an original XP copy is the first step. Offcourse, the recent Microsoft's aniti-piracy measures did prod me in the right direction, but thats another issue!

As for original games, no matter how hard I try to get the original ones, some games are plain out of my reach, atleast till the day I have to depend upon my parents for my pocket money.

 

[djmykey]

Me am a pirator all the way. I believe in the freedom of world where you get everything free (that includes headaches and yeah crashes and also sometimes cr@pped cds). I also have been using a pirated antivirus because simply that the antivirus I'm using doesnt have an outlet in India thats y. And also I distribute the free stuff I use to my frens. So actually if I dont do it I wont be getting the majority of the stuff and imagine if I bought all legit stuff and were in a condition that I had to share it man it would make it easy for those companies to get me . Thats y use pirated stuff and be intraceable.

 

[klinux]

isnt there another term other than "PIRATE" to describe what ppl do . Copier , Sharer etc

@dj : which AV vendor are u talking abt . if u wanna switch , try pc-cillin , with firewall . they got an office here and their av is pretty good . i think it is below Rs.2000 too

 

[pirates1323]

Hey before downloading the software, I download the crack file first

 

[enoonmai]

P.S: I heard a rumor that XP Pro prices have plummeted thanks to Win Server 2K3's intro....to around 4K. But I don't know for sure.

Its just that - a rumor. Prices still average between 6.2 and 6.9k, depending on whether you get it from a normal retailer or from a Microsoft Channel Partner like Redington.

True, you cant do a damn thing about games and movies when it comes to "freeware alternatives" But the rules have always been:
a. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
b. You always get what you pay for.
But if you sit and develop a code and perfect it and try to sell it, and someone just rips it off without paying you and puts it up for download on a Warez site, how would you feel? All the nights you sat down coding it, trying to beat the deadling, staying away from family and friends and feasting on junk food, and finally, when the time comes for you to get paid for all of that work, bang. The key is always to put ourselves in the other person's shoes. Plus no DivX rip can even begin to match the experience of a true, factory-stamped DVD9 when it comes to sheer quality.

As for the others who think piracy is OK, sure, you get a pirated copy of Windows XP Professional and even manage to install the cracked versions of SP2 and later updates, but for how long? The Microsoft Genuine Advantage Program is still in its infancy, but when it grows stronger and develops the ability to cross-verify pirated keys, what then? Isnt it just MORE of a hassle to keep up the act of piracy, rather than just get a original, turn on Automatic Updates and just sit back?

If you want the advanced features and the extra oomph and the support, then suck up and pay. And oh, it cant get cheaper or dirtier than pirating antivirus software. I don't want to p**s anyone off, but when I think of people who pirate AV software, I cant help thinking they're lower on the social structure than bloodsucking parasites and navel lint. Come on, take any AV software.
Symantec and McAfee have retail distributors in India, as do Trend Micro's PC-Cillin. CA has a retailer outlet in India and BitDefender can be bought online, as can F-Prot and all the others I can think of. And stuff like AVG is free AND good. I mean, this is infinitely worse than stealing 25 paise from a blind 70 year old beggar on the street.

isnt there another term other than "PIRATE" to describe what ppl do . Copier , Sharer etc

Sure you could have 5ex with a girl against her will, and call it non-consensual, forced, an act of deliberation or any other fancy term, but in reality, there's only one word for it - rape. And this is also pretty much a rape of the software industry. Believe me, I know how it feels to have your source stolen from you and not receive payment for it, and trust me, only when you experience it first-hand, can you properly understand how bad the issue really is.

True, one man may not be able to make a difference, and its not really our task to go and try to change the world and end up being deep-fried at the stake, but all we can do is to try and establish a "personal" code of ethics that we should try and stick to. It doesnt have to be anything big, we can always convince ourselves to look for a freeware alternative first, followed by a cheaper alternative and if nothing but the best will do, go ahead and pay for it. At least, then, we can say "I don't know about the others, but I don't use pirated software"

 

[klinux]

and u couldnt pick any other way to describe it didnt u ?????? as if calling people pirates wasnt bad enuf , now they are called rapist for sharing software ??? i sure hope u asked permission from matt groening or the shows producers to use homer simpsons words as ur siggy , which i am sure the author spend so much of his precious time thinking abt . FYI , i dont have permission to use BB quotes as my siggy too

btw , there is a whole lot of difference comparing the 2 situations . Is the OSS "suffering" because of piracy .

kurious : what s/w did u make , that u eventually lost out , financially to pirates .

 

[enoonmai]

No, thats the best analogy and pretty much an accurate one. How else can you describe it? Pure common, low-life theivery?

How do you mean "a lot of difference"? Care to explain? And what do you mean by "Is the OSS suffering because of piracy?"
Judgng your your nickname, maybe you're a fellow Linux guy who's in tune with the OSI. The very definition of the term Open Source as put forth by the OSI states, and I quote,

The Open Source Definition

Version 1.9

Introduction

Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

1. Free Redistribution

The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.

Rationale: By constraining the license to require free redistribution, we eliminate the temptation to throw away many long-term gains in order to make a few short-term sales dollars. If we didn't do this, there would be lots of pressure for cooperators to defect.

It also states that if you restrict the environment or the way or the features of the software, its not Open Source anymore. In such an environment, where does the word "piracy" even come in? The OSI has NOTHING to do with piracy, in fact, whether it exists or not, it will gain momentum. When we talk about piracy, we talk purely of mainstream commercial applications. Heck, even Mandrake is steadily flirting with commercial apps and moving away from the OSI.

EDIT: The software I lost was not to pirates in the conventional sense, but to a colleague working with me in a company. The code was for a high-performance mission-critical enterprise application and (I am yet to figure out how) somehow my "friend" got the code from my workstation to the CVS under her workload. When the time came for the performance-based bonuses, obviously, I lost out, and I raised a hue and cry and a month later, it was sorted out. I was upset that they didn't fire my colleague for outright stealing and I resigned rather than work in such an environment.

 

[klinux]

really sorry abt what happened in ur situation . a couple of my friends work around this problem by adding easter eggs and other comments with their name hidden somewhere to overcome such problems . Anyway , i think u could have sued her and won , instead of just leaving the company . If u really think one man can make a difference , u had the oppurtunity . i think u still can , if u have the evidence . if u dont , sue her anyway

But in cases of Piracy related to s/w , say photoshop or os , Arent these guys eventually going to work in an office environment , which has a legal copy of the OS . isnt this a way to make others use their s/w even though there are others creeping up for a market share . When a guy who used win2k server on his pc illegally for educational purposes , is going to take up his MCSE , isnt he paying all the cash back to MS ???? same case for photoshop . A designer , once he has learnt his skills through a copy of the s/w , will eventually work in an office with legal software , or even if he starts a business , will eventually buy the s/w . and next time a neat upgrade is released , u think he would switch to freeware or pay to upgrade ??? pay right ?

i still think ur description is WAY to harsh . try telling a rape victim u know how she feels , just koz u lost s/w and a lot of work , i wouldnt be surprised if u actually gave the guy a slap or two . i aint saying this just for the sake of arguement , read the stories and watch the reports on the victims on the net or on tv and then u might know why i think theres a HUGE difference

I still dont think companies are going to get bankrupt because a few teens all over india and a couple of other people are going to use pirated s/w . Recent studies show that branded pc's on the rise anyway in india , and thats accompanied by the legal copy . actually some linux guys are against piracy even koz they say , it promotes windows all over the world , and is hindering linux chances of flourishing. so i dont think linux guys accept piracy too . i aint a linux guy (yet ) . just thought the name sounded good KLinux Is Not Under Xwindows . once i switch over to linux completely it would be KLinux Is Now Under Xwindows . heck if stallman can choose GNU , i thought this is good too

Regarding the Open Source . i mean even those guys are programmers and there are plenty who earn a living by giving out their s/w and source for free . It isnt the end of the world when ur s/w gets pirated . If u want to sue the real culprits , SUE MS . arent they buying out smaller firms with gr8 software . If these companies dont have a big enuf name but gr8 software , Mighty MS does everything to Destroy it . They even go as low as to copy and steal from these companies . Now who is the real culprit . Wouldnt u say this is more harmful to programmers everywhere . Why is there a case even in so many countries , where MS is using its powers to destroy smaller companies . Why has the european court ordered them to make Win without Media Player . Eventually its the same corps who cry foul on innocent users who are guilty of the gr8est theft , They steal the very ideas themselves . isnt that a gr8er crime , if not the only one

 

[icecoolz]

R.A.P.E ? Wow...thats a bit strong ? Anyways there is a simple phrase :

"You develop it someone will crack it" There is no such thing as absoulte security and absolute stability. If one belives in them then one is digging a hole bigger than themselves.

So I sit for hours together and develop a software and a cracker gets hold of it and voila!. So lets see as to exactly why a hacker would pay attention to my software. Well probably because of two things:

1) It costs a bomb, very useful but extremely expensive

2) Its very popular and used widely.

These are the two main reasons as to why anyone would crack applications. The second cannot be eliminated. Popularity is here to stay and hence any application with a registration/trial scheme is going to get cracked. So that leaves me with the first option the pricing. Lets see the average softwares that a person who surfs the net installs on his machine and is a must and lets see the commercial costs for it as of today. I am looking at only windows as we are talking about piracy here and also I am not going to discuss freeware alternatives since I am looking at the cost factor :

1) An OS from the windows series starts at 3.4K for windows 98 and goes upto 6.9K for the Windows XP Professional.

2) An anti-virus - McAfee, Norton are two of the most popular ones and are priced around 1.5K

3) A firewall - Zone alarm commercial is priced around 30 dollars I think

4) Office Suite - Microsoft Office 2000 starts at 5k and 2003 prof goes till around 9k.

5) Download Manager - Again if I look at non-commerical one then I would say Flashget which is priced at 30$ for the licensed version.

6) A spyware remover - Commercial one Adaware professional priced at 30$

7) A image manipulation software - Most widely used one is photoshop priced US$649.00

Now the above totals to around 43-48k from low to high end. And thats just a few of the essentials that one is looking in terms of commerical software. At that price I can get H/W which is quite high end and with warranty and also if I dont like my HW I can always trade it in for something else from the competitors if its within the first 2-3 months. THink you can do the same with softwares?

Software needs to become more reasonably priced. This will bring piracy down. But eliminate it ? Never. As long as there is something to be broken people will do so.

 

[Maverick340]

OMG!!!This topic looks HOT!
I started it jus a Day ago and look what we have here!!
I guess the main rreason y ppl use pirated sowftares it
a) the cost
b)availibility

Am i right?

 

[Maverick340]

and BTW ,i am soory if sum1 had a probleam with "we indains r like dis only"
Apologieez!
I jus cudnt find a way to satrt my sentece..
I have removed it now