david@ssc-vax.UUCP (David Norris) (03/28/84)
[*] Someone (sorry, I don't have original posting) said: >> ... I'm getting tired of >> people making statements like "The microcomputer software industry is >> losing billions of dollars a year due to software piracy." These >> statements are usually based on the assumption that if N pirate copies >> of a program are made, then that means a loss of N sales. This is >> simply not true. ken perlow added: > I agree. Good software can stand the free advertising. Indeed, I know > folks who have pirated software and liked it so much they bought their > own copies. The rationale: "Let's keep a good company in business." > Also, they were able to get updated versions, all documentation, and > plenty of help from a phone call, things not available when you pirate > programs. Writers of quality software should understand that one can > steal their code but not their reputation. For the most part, I agree with Ken and ???. But let me add a few comments from the other side of the coin. I am the author of a commercially available microcomputer product (SuperSoft Ada, for those who want to know), but started as a poor hobbyist who did his own share of pirating (not that the "poor" has changed much :-) My general philosophy is that if I actually use some software in any of my work or play, I'll buy it. This has included games (Deadline, etc.) and serious software (Microsoft assembler package, etc.). I have done my share of pirating. But the attitude of every hacker I've met has been that of a pack-rat; he wants a piece of software, not because he's going to USE it, just to complete his collection! Typically, he tries it once, verifies that it works, then stashes it away in a collection, never to be seen again ("I just may need this someday..."). Now I'll speak as a professional. I realize, of course, that 99% of the individuals who pirate my Ada probably wouldn't have bought it in the first place, so I haven't really "lost" any money. But I get hacked off when someone (who doesn't realize I wrote it) brags that they have a pirated copy of my software. I've busted my buns for three years, sweated and toiled more than you can imagine to get version III to a point where it is a usable product, and some dude tells me how much better product X is than mine, or how he would have implemented such-and-such, or how much better he could have done it (yes, I have actually heard ALL of these). These individuals change their tune when I explain that I alone wrote the "junk" they pirated, that I did it on my own time (evenings and weekends), between 2 jobs, 3 cross-country moves and a baby, and when I contrast point by point my product vs. someone else's. "Gee, I didn't know..." is a very familiar tune, with accompanying red faces. So, Ken and ???, I cannot condemn (or condone) the pirating of software. But when you do, I do ask that you remember the people behind the scenes like Leor Zolman and myself, who are trying to scrape a few extra bucks together and pay for a very expensive hobby. Do try and put yourselves in our shoes, if only for a moment. Don't ask whether "the microcomputer industry has lost billions," ask instead "such-and-such a hacker, like myself, has lost hundreds." We don't all work for Microsoft, but some of us have something like the American Dream. Don't crush it for us. -- David Norris :-) -- uw-beaver!ssc-vax!david P.S. Flames about my Ada to /dev/null. Version III, just released, is a not-too-shabby implementation (and contains more Ada than anybody else's, for CP/M). Also, flames about free advertising on Usenet to /dev/null. Come to think of it, any flames to /dev/null. I get enough in net.religion.