From: benw@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (bennett.weber)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Re: I found a pirate - what shall I do?
Date: 5 Nov 92 21:39:32 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewsm.1992Nov5.213932.10692
Organization: AT&T

In article <Bx93tw.62C@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> shulick@acoma.ucs.indiana.edu (Sam Hulick) writes:
>
>Boo!  Evil pirate!  Throw him away!  In my little terminology, there are
>good pirates, and bad pirates. :)  Bad pirates are the ones who buy/copy
>major products and SELL them to others.  Eeevil!  Good pirates are the
>ones who just distribute the stuff free. :)

Ok, you've established yourself as a moron...let's go on...

>
>Listen, you can't stop piracy.  Piracy is a crime,

Let's repeat that..."Piracy is a crime...Piracy is a crime..."

>which is a result of
>poverty, and that's no bull. I've had to resort to piracy because of no
>cash and high needs.

This is bull to the n'th degree.  Poverty??  You have a computer and
you're pleading poverty?  Let's make that "my disposable income does
not match my rather expensive tastes".  Apparently you have no idea
what real poverty is.  That aside, does "Needing " (read: wanting real bad)
something justify stealing it?  I REALLY NEED that Mercedes, so it's OK
to steal it.  I REALLY NEED that great term paper you spent a month writing,
cause I just didn't have the time to write one myself,
so it's ok to copy it and hand it in as my own.  'Cause I NEEEEEEED it.

>...Do you
>honestly think that by stopping piracy, software prices will cease to
>rise, or even go down?

Yes...see your own statement below.

>Yes, piracy does increase software price because
>of companies losing money, but even if there was NO piracy, companies
>would still kick prices up for their own benefits.

And pirating is just giving the companies an excuse (which may indeed
be justified) to keep prices high, even against market pressures (ie,
low sales).  And even worse, even the perception of a particular market
being rampant with piracy will keep software companies out of that
market.  We see that time and again.  Only super-high volume markets
like the PC world can justify a company producing products despite
piracy.  Amiga users don't have the luxury of a huge user base.


>And if there is so
>much piracy going on these days, I don't see the side-effects.

OK, then go buy all the hottest PC and Mac software conversions for your
Amiga.  Hmmm?  Having trouble?

>...And I can imagine SOB3 is being pirated out the butt.

Yeah, that's generally where most pirates hang out...

>
>So turn in pirates if you want to.  1) You'll only be hurting the
>pirate.  2) You won't be helping anyone.

1) Good  2) Wrong
>
>-- 
>Sam Hulick          | "You can't discover new oceans unless you have the
>shulick@indiana.edu | courage to lose sight of the shore."  --Anon.
>(NeXTmail welcome)  |

Most people outgrow the "I need this and I'll hold my breath till I turn
blue" syndrome about age six.  Apparently, some don't.


Ben Weber


"I develop software...Oh, you've stolen my work?  Can we meet in person,
preferably in a locked room?..."

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Not speaking for, or about, AT&T
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