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What is Apple doing about piracy on Macs

emir

emir

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 5, 2008
610
4
Istanbul
Hello, i just switched to Mac from Windows, after using windows since 95. I gotta say it is amazing, i love Macs even more after using :) . But something caught my eye, i assumed that Apple was careful about piracy and you had no piracy on macs just like you had no viruses on a mac. It turns out piracy is even easier on a mac than a pc. Torrents and serials everywhere. Is Apple or anyone doing anything about that? It is much easier to pirate on a Mac than a PC.

I heard that if you are using cracked or "pirated" apps etc... your Mac constantly goes to sleep. Is that true? Is that Apple's plan to fight piracy?
 
Piracy exists on all platforms. Apple's anti-piracy system sucks; no serials in OS X and Aperture, iWork etc. work with pretty much every serial.

It's easy as long as someone keeps doing cracks and posting serials, there are more available for PC though.

Cracks can always cause issues but Apple doesn't make your Mac to go to sleep
 
aethelbert said:
Piracy is a concern for every software developer... The scope of relevance may vary, but it's still a problem.
Click to expand...

But is it big enough for Apple to improve their licensing methods? Making cracking harder always causes more headache to the developer and user of software, also for legit users.

There is always a crack for every software anyway, it's just matter of time when a loophole is found. Creative Suites can be considered well protected but they are still super easy to crack, someone just have make a working crack and share it
 
Just because you don't need to activate an apple product doesn't mean there isn't a piracy problem. You cannot make such a conclusion
 
maflynn said:
Just because you don't need to activate an apple product doesn't mean there isn't a piracy problem. You cannot make such a conclusion
Click to expand...

If Apple is concerned about piracy they're certainly not doing much about it at the user level. It seems they're relying on other methods.

Perhaps the fortune Apple makes from hardware sales easily offsets what they lose from software piracy. Again, I only mean Apple software products here. Apple seems to be far more concerned about cheap knockoffs of their hardware.
 
*LTD* said:
If Apple is concerned about piracy they're certainly not doing much about it at the user level. It seems they're relying on other methods.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter if they made it harder, there would still be an easy way to crack it. If you're okay downloading a torrent, you're ready to download another one to crack it.

It can be made harder but is it really worth it to spend money on it if it'll be cracked anyway?

OS X doesn't need serial as most illegal users are Hackintoshers who needs a torrent anyway due modified drivers (in most cases). Generally Mac people aren'y considered to be ultimatenerdishsupergeekshackerroxors who don't pay for anything. They already paid the premium for Mac so they usually have the $ for software and are willing to pay it
 
Hellhammer said:
It doesn't matter if they made it harder, there would still be an easy way to crack it. If you're okay downloading a torrent, you're ready to download another one to crack it.

It can be made harder but is it really worth it to spend money on it if it'll be cracked anyway?

OS X doesn't need serial as most illegal users are Hackintoshers who needs a torrent anyway due modified drivers (in most cases). Generally Mac people aren'y considered to be ultimatenerdishsupergeekshackerroxors who don't pay for anything. They already paid the premium for Mac so they usually have the $ for software and are willing to pay it
Click to expand...

i myself is a temporary hackintosher. I am waiting for my macbook pro and in the meanwhile i taught i could learn how to use osx so i hackintoshed my pc which i will be using for only two more months.

I just downloaded utorrent and office for mac 2008 to try and see how things work, it is just too easy. It took 20-30 minutes and now i am using Word. Is there any way i will get caught? I don't think so.

by the way, don't assault me, i said i am trying to learn osx and i wondered what office mac was like. I too am against piracy.
 
emir said:
I just downloaded utorrent and office for mac 2008 to try and see how things work, it is just too easy. It took 20-30 minutes and now i am using Word. Is there any way i will get caught? I don't think so.
Click to expand...

I agree. Software Piracy is far too easy on OS X. They oughta tighten their grip.

Although, I guess the app store on OS X will pretty much solve the problem.
 
roadbloc said:
I agree. Software Piracy is far too easy on OS X. They oughta tighten their grip.

Although, I guess the app store on OS X will pretty much solve the problem.
Click to expand...

You can use almost any software for 30 days, legally. Did you already crack it emir? It's as easy for Windows too.

OS X app store was proven to be hoax, Steve personally said that. It would anyway be jailbroken, just like iPhone OS.

I used my OEM W7 on my Acer and activating it with illegal activator took less time and effort than typing the serial.

The real issue is whether it's worth it to spend money on anti-piracy as it will be cracked anyway. It also causes headache to legit users and puts more pressure on customer service. It has to be updated or it'll lose its effect too.
 
Hellhammer said:
You can use almost any software for 30 days, legally. Did you already crack it emir? It's as easy for Windows too.

OS X app store was proven to be hoax, Steve personally said that. It would anyway be jailbroken, just like iPhone OS.

I used my OEM W7 on my Acer and activating it with illegal activator took less time and effort than typing the serial.

The real issue is whether it's worth it to spend money on anti-piracy as it will be cracked anyway. It also causes headache to legit users and puts more pressure on customer service. It has to be updated or it'll lose its effect too.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
 
roadbloc said:
Eh? How do you come up with that idea? I thought Piracy was a concern for any software developer.
Click to expand...
You assume that Apple is concerned about piracy because other software developers are concerned about piracy. You know what they say when you assume.

Let's get down to cases. Concern is as concern does. You can say anything. For example, you can say that Joe Blow is concerned about burglars. If he doesn't have a burglar alarm or a guard dog and sleeps with his front door open, then the logical inference is that Joe is not concerned about burglars, the concerns of other people notwithstanding. Apple's sells its commercial software with various levels of license security.

MacOS X Server is serialized. MacOS X is not. Some of its consumer software is serialized, others are not. With many of its titles, Apple has no burglar alarm or guard dog, but sleeps with its front door open. The logical inference is that Apple protects what it wants to protect has trusts its customers not to pirate the rest. Some third party developers for the Mac follow Apple's example. Others do not.

Compare this to the other side--Windows. On Windows, not only serialization but also activation is commonplace. This culture of distrust of customers permeates the culture. It continues to boggle my mind that downloadable Windows Media files are free of charge, but not free of DRM.

But, I digress... To state as a fact that Apple is not concerned about piracy is going too far. As a working hypothesis, however, there is strong evidence to support the contention that this is the case.
 
This is something that struck me too when I switched.

Apple's lack of invasive anti-piracy measures.

They're doing what I would to prevent Piracy.... Nothing! Well, nothing other than fair prices and maybe a lock to specific, approved hardware so as to provide the best performance and encourage purchase of appropriate hardware (from them).

Why?

It's POINTLESS and COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.

All of the Serialization, Activation and Validation that Microsoft, Adobe and other short-sighted companies use is nearly useless.
It barely slows down any Pirate. It MIGHT, possibly stop a few casual thefts, but when facing hundred or thousands of dollars to buy something, most who want to get it for free will.

What does all of this useless junk do?

The only noticeable effect of draconian anti-piracy technology is to annoy, inconvenience and infuriate the honest PAYING customer.

The very last person they should want to annoy gets harassed the most!
The SUCKERS (like myself) who actually BOUGHT the $2000+ Suite have it shut down in days because maybe it's on a RAID array. Then you have to call and beg forgiveness so as to get a re-activation and a "RAID patch". Or a drive failure, file system failure, virus attack, system upgrades... POW, you're out of business until you call in and get treated like a thief! Unbelievable that they're still in business.

Apple takes a more sensible approach:
1- Make a decent profit on Tangible, difficult to copy Hardware.
2- Keep prices as low as possible on easy-to-copy Software products so as to discourage casual theft.
3- Avoid unnecessarily annoying the all-important Paying Customer that plays by the rules and read the instructions / system requirements.
4- Take subtle anti-piracy measures that are unlikely to bother Paying Customers like breaking support on non-specified Hardware and prosecuting actual, known Pirates.
4- Play it cool and realize that Piracy cannot be stopped. Laugh all the way to the bank when Honest People realize that you actually trust them to do the right thing.

Yay, Apple!

Have Fun,
Keri

PS. I'm in the middle of a transition from Premiere Pro to Final Cut Pro. Adobe's mistrust of (and poor treatment of) me was a large factor in my decision to drop what I know and take on learning a whole new approach.
 
MS cares about software piracy because they are a software driven company. Apple is a hardware driven company so their basic method of fighting piracy is to require people to buy Macs to run their software. Apple didn't crush Psystar just for giggles.


Lethal
 
There's nothing you can do. Pirates will always pirate, honest people will always pay.

As an example, EA put the most foul and bullsh*t DRM spyware into their game Spore. Spore was cracked and on torrents within 1 day of release. DRM does nothing, it will always be bypassed.

All you can do is sell your software at a reasonable price with as little DRM or activation as possible.

I can take my single user OS X disk and install it on 5 Macs if I wish to, no serial or activation, but knowing that Apple trusts me to do the right thing makes me want to do the right thing. So I buy the family pack.

It's little things like that slight amount of care and trust they show that makes me buy Macs in the first place.

Besides that, Mac users are far more likely to pay for software and music, fact. If we pay £1000 for a MBP we can afford £1 for a song. It's easier to pirate stuff because less people do it. I would leave a wheelbarrow full of money on my front step if I knew nobody would steal it.
 
roadbloc said:
I agree. Software Piracy is far too easy on OS X. They oughta tighten their grip.
Click to expand...
Yea don't I love the sound of that. :rolleyes: Welcome to the Apple Restriction Zone. And while apple should be concerned with piracy, I'll go complain to Honda and bitch at them for that car accident I saw someone get into yesterday. They should be concerned with car accidents more. That Honda Accord should have been gripped tighter. I think a governor is in order. 35mph limit. It'll save gas, make people drive carefully, and best of all you can't outrun the cops! Criminals beware!

roadbloc said:
Although, I guess the app store on OS X will pretty much solve the problem.
Click to expand...
Only when OS X is crippled to the point where you can't manually do anything.
 
I personally am fed up with all the DRM and activation and multiple serials just to use my legally purchased software.

In order to be able to use my bought software :
I should not need an internet connection to activate it
nor an internet connection to verify that is it legit so I can use the app/game
or install a rootkit.

I bought a game the other day required three serial AND internet connection to make it work. this is a single player only game.
I downloaded the crack for it, 1 min later I was good to go.

Also Adobe's activation is ridiculous. CS4 especially.
I have the box in front of me , but was much easier to use the crack.
 
Hellhammer said:
Piracy exists on all platforms. Apple's anti-piracy system sucks; no serials in OS X and Aperture, iWork etc. work with pretty much every serial.

It's easy as long as someone keeps doing cracks and posting serials, there are more available for PC though.

Cracks can always cause issues but Apple doesn't make your Mac to go to sleep
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure they do that because Apple trusts you not to pirate the OS, unlike Microsoft which they don't trust you with the software you bought.
 
ZbHRP said:
I'm pretty sure they do that because Apple trusts you not to pirate the OS, unlike Microsoft which they don't trust you with the software you bought.
Click to expand...

I disagree with the first part of your statement. I don't put apple and trust together anymore. I do appreciate the differences, no genuine advantage or activation, but we do have serial numbers to plop in on osx programs (apples and others).

I think for the most part, the work effort required to institute such mechinisms are counter to the amount of $$ saved. Its like that news story that broke a few weeks ago how all the corporate password controls companies instituted, cost more then a possible security breach. Given apple's small marketshare, its quite possible that they don't want to piss off the customers they do have nor drive any others away with draconian measures. Plus its a good point to differentiate between apple and ms.
 
emir said:
Hello, i just switched to Mac from Windows, after using windows since 95. I gotta say it is amazing, i love Macs even more after using :) . But something caught my eye, i assumed that Apple was careful about piracy and you had no piracy on macs just like you had no viruses on a mac. It turns out piracy is even easier on a mac than a pc. Torrents and serials everywhere. Is Apple or anyone doing anything about that? It is much easier to pirate on a Mac than a PC.

I heard that if you are using cracked or "pirated" apps etc... your Mac constantly goes to sleep. Is that true? Is that Apple's plan to fight piracy?
Click to expand...

With jailbreaking on the iPad,iPhone, and Touch, it has been reported that piracy is much more of an issue on the iPad, Touch, and iPhone then on Macs.
 
maflynn said:
... I do appreciate the differences, no genuine advantage or activation, but we do have serial numbers to plop in on osx programs (apples and others).

... Given apple's small marketshare, its quite possible that they don't want to piss off the customers they do have nor drive any others away with draconian measures. Plus its a good point to differentiate between apple and ms.
Click to expand...
As I stated in my post above, some of Apple's software titles have serial numbers, but several do not. Your fallback on the shopworn canard about marketshare goes nowhere. Apple's fee-based offerings have unit sales that many commercial software developers green with envy. The notion that Apple's lack of activation is intended to differentiate the Fruit Company from the Redmond Monopoly does not pass the Laugh Test.
 
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