| From: | Gary Peake |
| Date: | 18 Aug 2000 at 18:01:54 |
| Subject: | Re: Amiga Piracy |
On Fri, 18 Aug 00 17:47:12, tim@ramjam.u-net.com wrote:
>Hi Gary
>
>> There is a real dilemma today in how to deal with piracy. What makes open
>> source so attractive is that they give away the software, so no cracking
>> has to take place. However, manuals, support, etc are charged for thus
>> providing revenue streams for developers and developmental companies.
>
>Charging only for manual & support is viable only for certain markets.
>Very few home users will pay for support for free software - it is the
>large corporate customers that pay for support. That's fine, but it
>does leave applications which don't appeal to corporate users as being
>commercially uneconomic - even though they may have thousands of users.
>
>The worse scenario for open source, is that it will always be ported to
>the most common platforms very quickly (i.e. PCs) leaving other platforms
>trailing. This makes it hard to attract users to alternative platforms.
And it doesn't leave room for the commercial developer, who, as you say,
does provide constant updates and works hard to make a buck supporting the
platforms of his/her choice.
>> Methods such as serialization, system ID, user ID, key files, etc just do
>> not work.
>
>They do work, but not 100%. Nothing will work 100%.
Sad but true ...
>A big problem with piracy of Amiga software in recent years has been that
>the rate of release of upgrades of popular software has been slow. That
>allows time for pirated versions to circulate throughout the Amiga
>community. More frequent updates (say 4-6 monthly) won't stop piracy
>completely, but limits the extent of the circulation of pirated copies.
>While cracked version will appear on bulletin board within days of a release,
>relatively few people actively seek out such pirate versions. The real
>damage is done when copies pass from friend to friend - but that takes
>time.
And smaller developers who are forced to have a "real job" and just code on
the side have the most trouble trying to keep updates fresh and coming.
Over the years I have watched in amazement as Amiga developers seem to do
this quite well. It really saddens me to see the amount of piracy still
rife in the community.
I guess we do eat our own. :(
>> Jail time for them would do some good, except many then view themselves as
>> heros and martyrs which still doesn't solve the problem.
>>
>> Confiscation of equipment hurts them in the pocketbook and this may be a
>> good way to handle individuals and groups using and providing cracked or
>> pirated applications.
>
>All well and good, but laws vary from country to country. Cross-border cases
>are very expensive and difficult to prosecute.
And many developers would rather ignore piracy than take an active stance,
not just financially but also publicly, against pirates.
When the ICOA had the anti-piracy group working, we saw several developers
get threatened if they became involved. The threat consisted mainly of "we
will crack every application you produce and make sure everyone knows where
to get the cracked versions until we drive you out of the market if you go
against us."
Catch the Dream ... Amiga Dream Team
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