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Some things that developers can do to reduce piracy

1) reduce the price
2) if the consumer purchased the whole app, developer must drop the in-app
3) Make the game worthwhile (long game, gameplay, fix crashes/other issues)
4) more updates to expand the game without extra charge (e.g. infinity blade 2)

Here's what customers can do to reduce piracy: Buy the game instead of stealing it!

All the things you say do not one thing against piracy. They just increase the cost and reduce the income from those who pay. Pirates are going to steal anyway.
 
Then why don't you go down to the store, shoplift a pair of headphones, then if you like them go back and pay for them, or if you don't chuck them out?

I am not defending piracy, but this is not a fair comparison. "The store" likely has a return policy which would prevent this scenario in the first place. If he didn't like the headphones, he could get a refund. The same can't be said for software. I fully understand why software cannot be returned, but don't demonize one person's logical and rational use of the tools available to him to avoid a capitalist quicksand trap, just because others abuse the ***** out of the same tools.
 
It's funny seeing all these armchair lawyers.

If you think piracy is stealing/theft, call your lawyer and ask them what they think. It's *not* theft - it's copyright infringement which isn't even illegal in most countries, let alone being theft (in the UK for example it's a civil matter, not a criminal one).
If you are using the bandwidth on their servers without purchasing a license for the game then you are stealing bandwidth.

You amoralists make me sick. Do you expect to eat for free? Do you expect lodging for free? Do you expect to be paid for your own work?

If you deserve to be paid a wage then what gives you the right to take something for free?
 
I think this is the main benefit to a freemium game: piracy is much more difficult, because you have to pay to play.
 
Rather than quoting everyone on here and saying the same thing, I'll just say it once. If developers offered a free version of their software, or if Apple ever implements game samples like they did with iBooks, it would help to alleviate a good amount of piracy--at least I think so.
 
Here's what customers can do to reduce piracy: Buy the game instead of stealing it!

All the things you say do not one thing against piracy. They just increase the cost and reduce the income from those who pay. Pirates are going to steal anyway.

Have you heard of Steam? Price plays a massive part in reducing piracy.
 
Pirating a $5 game? There goes the argument this is economically motivated...

Offer free version. Expand your market.

That right! You'll lose money on every copy but make it up on volume! :rolleyes:

Some things that developers can do to reduce piracy

1) reduce the price
2) if the consumer purchased the whole app, developer must drop the in-app
3) Make the game worthwhile (long game, gameplay, fix crashes/other issues)
4) more updates to expand the game without extra charge (e.g. infinity blade 2)

In summary:
1) reduce the price
2-4) make it cost more

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Have you heard of Steam? Price plays a massive part in reducing piracy.

If they're stealing a $4.99 game they can click to download, I'm pretty convinced they'd steal a free one. Price might play a role for $50 games, and price/inconvenience certainly played a role in music piracy, but in this particular case I think we've found the asymptotic limit where people do it just because they can.
 
One more thing not mentioned is that piracy has been proven to jumpstart sales, especially for things that might not be otherwise seen to all eyes in the world. since pirating I have rekindled a love affair with so many old game system roms, comic books and 360 games that I now have dumped $1,000's of dollars into to have the real thing. Piracy is a miniscule problem at best, worst case, some *******s on a forum is getting mad at piracy because he doesnt have access to all the websites we do so they feel the need to come on here and condone it over and over.. get over yourselves you whiny little *****.. Piracy helps software companies immensely
 
Your wordplay doesn't make a difference to me, obtaining something illegally is still wrong.

I didn't say that "piracy" wasn't wrong. I said that it wasn't theft (which is what many people in this thread - maybe not you - have tried to claim).

Some things are "more wrong" than others and, I'm sorry, but depriving someone of some hypothetical profit that they might have made (if only more people had bought their software) may be wrong but is is just not in the same league as actually taking away someone's money or property.

"How wrong" is important in determining proportionate punishments and how much intrusion into people's lives - not to mention police and court resources - can be justified to enforce it.
 
you should read the rest of his post.
he's giving you a first person view of the subject.

That would be too sensible. It's far easier to just bash somebody that doesn't agree with your views.

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If you are using the bandwidth on their servers without purchasing a license for the game then you are stealing bandwidth.

You amoralists make me sick. Do you expect to eat for free? Do you expect lodging for free? Do you expect to be paid for your own work?

If you deserve to be paid a wage then what gives you the right to take something for free?

I make you sick?

No. I don't expect to eat for free. That's why I work as a software developer (both employed AND on my own) while I'm getting ready to tackle my PhD. If you looked at my previous posts in this thread - you'll see my own take on it, after selling my OWN software.

But no, as above it's easier to just bash.
 
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkai...tudy-finds-internet-downloads-increase-sales/

http://www.osnews.com/story/24376/Piracy_Increases_Anime_DVD_Sales_Study_Concludes

http://www.digitaltrends.com/music/bittorrent-piracy-increases-sales-of-leaked-albums-study/

Yeah, no proof at all.

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Erm, nope. Legally, piracy is not theft. By definition of theft, you take without consent. If you download something illegally, then you haven't removed anything, you have duplicated (no matter what the various industry bodies would like you to believe).

It's copyright infringement at best.

And for the record I'm a software developer (granted I haven't been around 25 years) - I've written a small piece of software which handles load balancing of web servers - sells for £199, and has been doing quite well.

There's a pirated version of my software floating around - have I tried to get it removed? No way. There's a small piece of code which displays a banner in pirated copies (only in the admin panel) asking them to buy a license, and I quote "or at least make a charitable donation, send me an email with proof, and I'll send them a key to remove the banner". One small company made a £500 donation to Cancer Research UK, and I've had over £10k in sales through this banner, all originating through pirated copies. I doubt these people would have bought the software if they hadn't pirated it first.

Digging further into sales, registered users get 3 support tickets included, but you can buy more at £50-£150 (multi packs or diagnostics) a pop (a strategy clearly targeted to "unregistered" users - since I never limit registered customers to the 3). Support tickets from unregistered users who haven't purchased the software make up, on average, 10% of revenue. That is - for every 2 and a half registered users, there's a pirate who needs help. Now, I could get on my high horse and say "Look, you didn't pay for the software, bugger off", or I could sell them a support ticket for £50. Since there's no material cost-per-copy to me, I'll take the £50 from the pirate, thanks.

Please stop splitting hairs you're making yourself look stupid.

Piracy IS THEFT PERIOD!

Say you're a photographer, and you take a lot of photos, and I download them from your site and use them for my graphic design work for free. Thats theft.

Say I go to the movie theater and sneak in without paying and watch a movie. Its free for the theater right since the movie is just a copy? Wrong. Its theft of services.

What about a public pool where you pay $10 to get in? The pool is already there so whats it hurt if you swim for free? Again, theft of services.

People deserve to get paid for their work and there is not one single valid argument you can make to counter that.
 
One more thing not mentioned is that piracy has been proven to jumpstart sales, especially for things that might not be otherwise seen to all eyes in the world. since pirating I have rekindled a love affair with so many old game system roms, comic books and 360 games that I now have dumped $1,000's of dollars into to have the real thing. Piracy is a miniscule problem at best, worst case, some *******s on a forum is getting mad at piracy because he doesnt have access to all the websites we do so they feel the need to come on here and condone it over and over.. get over yourselves you whiny little *****.. Piracy helps software companies immensely

As a software dev, I estimate that ~10% of my revenue (in support tickets) comes from pirated versions, and I've made over £10k in sales converting pirated to non pirated through a nicely placed banner/message.

If piracy didn't exist/I had the pirated versions removed, that's alot of lost revenue.
 
What is the law in UK? Because CD (redbook) was designed to allow one digital copy to be made.

Basically - ripping a CD (or taping an LP) = making an unauthorised copy. End of. Not that anybody in their right mind would ever try to enforce that unless someone were distributing copies, but it makes it rather difficult to take an absolutist view of the law.

There was some talk a few years about fixing it, but no action AFAIK.
 
The point is, it is not theft it is copyright violation. People can keep saying otherwise as many times as they want, but that won't change the fact that, if you get prosecuted for "piracy" you will be charged with some variation on copyright violation not theft.
Your argument is all well and good except for the point that if you're a thief, you likely aren't being charged with theft either-- you're being charged with larceny, or burglary, or armed robbery, or... Theft is a generic term for taking something of value that doesn't belong to you.

While I agree there is precious little information to judge this situation by, I think the discussion has long since left the particulars of Battle Dungeon and is now a discussion about piracy in general.
 
Please stop splitting hairs you're making yourself look stupid.

Piracy IS THEFT PERIOD!

Say you're a photographer, and you take a lot of photos, and I download them from your site and use them for my graphic design work for free. Thats theft.

Say I go to the movie theater and sneak in without paying and watch a movie. Its free for the theater right since the movie is just a copy? Wrong. Its theft of services.

What about a public pool where you pay $10 to get in? The pool is already there so whats it hurt if you swim for free? Again, theft of services.

People deserve to get paid for their work and there is not one single valid argument you can make to counter that.


actually he made several valid arguments
 
Please stop splitting hairs you're making yourself look stupid.

Piracy IS THEFT PERIOD!

Say you're a photographer, and you take a lot of photos, and I download them from your site and use them for my graphic design work for free. Thats theft.

Say I go to the movie theater and sneak in without paying and watch a movie. Its free for the theater right since the movie is just a copy? Wrong. Its theft of services.

What about a public pool where you pay $10 to get in? The pool is already there so whats it hurt if you swim for free? Again, theft of services.

People deserve to get paid for their work and there is not one single valid argument you can make to counter that.

I'm not the one making myself look stupid, it is not theft. From the Theft Act, 1968:

(1) A person is guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and ìthiefî and ìstealî shall be construed accordingly.

(2) It is immaterial whether the appropriation is made with a view to gain, or is made for the thiefís own benefit.
 
If you are using the bandwidth on their servers without purchasing a license for the game then you are stealing bandwidth.

You amoralists make me sick. Do you expect to eat for free? Do you expect lodging for free? Do you expect to be paid for your own work?

If you deserve to be paid a wage then what gives you the right to take something for free?

Funny you should say amoral - can't really deal with this issue without getting into philosophy. This postmodern culture we live in has little value for morals. "What's right for you, isn't right for me." "Who's to say what's right or wrong?" There are no absolutes... absolutely no absolutes.

I quit pirating years ago. Sad thing is that when you pirate a movie, you just hit play and you see the movie. When you rent a blu-ray from redbox, you have to skip through all the previews, advertisements, and fbi warnings to get to the movie.

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I'm not the one making myself look stupid, it is not theft. From the Theft Act, 1968:

So if I borrow your car without asking you, it's not grand theft auto if I intended to return it? :D
 
But people have been saying that they have only been jailbreaking to customize. You don't think they have really been jailbreaking to pirate software ?

I can only speak for myself of course but I have a jailbroken phone and have never pirated anything. I mostly jailbroke because I was bored (and now I really like some of the jailbroken apps, apps I paid for btw). Granted there are plenty jailbreaking for piracy but not everyone.
 
That would be too sensible. It's far easier to just bash somebody that doesn't agree with your views.

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I make you sick?

No. I don't expect to eat for free. That's why I work as a software developer (both employed AND on my own) while I'm getting ready to tackle my PhD. If you looked at my previous posts in this thread - you'll see my own take on it, after selling my OWN software.

But no, as above it's easier to just bash.
Sorry but you are a hypocrite. If you are "paid" to develop software as an employee then you should understand how much it "costs" to write software and "value" the work of others enough to pay for it if you obtain it or simply leave it alone if don't. Nobody is holding a gun to your head to play the game. If you eat food then you pay for it so why is the software, music, movie someone else produces be something you can take for free without consent?

I have been employed as a software developer for over a decade and I am also branching out into iOS on my own. I have also sung in live performances so I understand how hard it is to both write software and create a musical performance. Because of this, I don't pirate software, music, tv shows or movies. I value the work of others as an responsible adult should.

Don't be a digital hoarder because that is what pirates are. They take more than then could ever possibly need or use.

BTW. I used to jailbreak back in the old days before things like Installous existed and I even created some icon themes for winterboard. I stopped jailbreaking as soon as things like backgrounds became customizable. Eventually ringtones and alert tones were also customizable removing any last temptation to jailbreak. At that point, the risks outweighed the gains for me.
 
I wonder how many people here have say maybe... copied a recipe from a friends cookbook. you didnt buy that book, he/she did.. you copied that information from that book without buying the intellectual rights to it.

so lets argue this and see where it gets you "piracy is theft" lunatics.
 
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