Comment Re:10,000 users a day... (Score 1) 302
When a majority of the people decided that paying Taxes they felt didn't represent their interests was a bad thing, they didn't pay them. That was illegal. The result was a little thing called the American Revolution.
Now, in the USA we have a constitution, where a majority of the people can change or remove a law by proposition and eventually a vote.
"I'm just a bill... yes I'm only a bill... and I'm sitting here on Capital Hill."
Remember your Schoolhouse Rock? You should.
Now... regarding piracy... time and time again, the SOFTWARE pirate's position (which is very different from the Ocean based incarnation of the Pirate) is that...
- I can't afford this outrageous price, for a copy of a product that takes no materials to provide me with entertainment. There is no reason why the software has to be this expensive, thus I am going to "steal" a copy rather than pay for it. I will not go into a store, and shoplift a copy off the shelf. I will not take a weapon and force someone to give me a physical item that took cash to produce. I will simply make a copy of something that does not take away from the original in any way. I will make a copy that does not affect the condition of the original at all... in fect, if no one knew that I made a copy, it would be as if the copy was never made at all.
Are there people who pirate software just because they can? Certainly. Are there people who pirate software because they have a moral opposition to some issues? Certainly. But the Majority pirate software because of economic reasons. Would these software pirates pick up a sword or a gun, and sail the 7 seas to pirate for real? No way.
Are there companies who have realized this and have adjusted their price accordingly, or adopted a different model of distribution or game design, so that if you want the game, you have no choice to pay? MOST DEFINITELY! World of Warcraft, for example... Any MMORPG that you want to play, is currently set up where you have to pay, or you don't play. You can't pirate, because you can't log in and play for free. However, with World of Warcraft... you are paying $15 a month, or $180 a year before any discounts, to play this game. That is expensive. Guildwars... you pay $20 and you play. If Fallout Vegas was selling for $10, people would Buy it rather than Pirate it. Games don't cost $50 because of Piracy... games cost $50 BEFORE you could pirate cracked games.
You can't fall back on the irrational and incorrect position that game developers aren't getting paid for their hard work. They are. The people who are creating the games.. actually doing the coding.. they get paid. They get paid by the hour, and they get a paycheck at the end of the week. The COMPANY that PROMOTES and DISTRIBUTES the final product... they are the ones not seeing the money when the game is pirated. Do you REALLY believe that EA Games is going out of business because of their games that get pirated? They are making money HAND OVER FIST.
If I was working and I didn't get paid, I would beg for help. Sure. This is not what is happening here. What is happening here, is that large corporations, and particularly the upper echelons of management are not getting as Rich as they would like to be. They are paying more attention to whether or not they are able to buy their 4th house, rather than paying attention to the wallets of their consumers.