Interesting to see how long it's hung on.
Anyway, I'd like to throw somewhat of a curveball at this discussion. First, to lay the groundwork, I am not young...I'm just about 40 years old. I have a decent job, and therefore I am fortunate in that I can afford to spend a bit on gear and software. I am also a member of a band that gets paid to play out several times a month, so I do have somewhat of a steady income from my musical endeavors. I mention all of this to set the stage and let you know where I'm coming from and where I am in the music "business".
It's been interesting to see the "black or white" nature of this discussion right from the beginning. And for starters, I agree - theft is theft...is theft. No matter what. And the law says that theft of intellectual property is punishable by any number of penalties, depending on the severity (and monetary value) of the crime.
But life is not (or only very rarely) black and white.
However, here's the curveball....what about the theft committed by Software corporations. In most instance this crime is unpunishable, not codified, and therefore no way exists to enforce a fair marketplace. In addition, this form of theft is often much more sinister than any particular user's piracy of any given software.
What's that you say? You'd like an example? O.K. ...Here's one I'm in the middle of experiencing right now. I just bought a Presonus Firepod....advertised to be a firewire interface with 10 simultaneous inputs. It's also advertised as coming with a full-featured music editing software package - namely Cubase LE. Let's take a gander to the reviews/faq site at Presonus - a quick glance will show you a number of people reviewing the product as working fantastically...all inputs functioning as they should. Cubase's sight (when speaking of LE) mentions the same facts.
But is this truth in advertising? Aha...NO way...Cubase has decided to put a little limitation to the bundled version of LE that limits simulataneous inputs to 4....kind of incredible given the fact that having 10 inputs is the major selling point of the Firepod. Interesting that this fact isn't highlighted at all by either company in the "glowing and gushing" review and sales pages for the product.
So what happens? The end user (who spends 600 dollars for this box) has two choices:
1. Be happy with 4 simultaneous inputs (and wish he'd spent 300 dollars less for something with fewer inputs - which would be just as functional)...or
2. Upgrade the software to something that supports all the inputs...at a cost of 250 dollars (a "special" upgrade price for LE users).
This, my friends, is not only theft, but also conspiracy to defraud, fraud in advertising, and a host of other definable crimes.
As I said earlier, I enjoy a decent job and enough financial security to be able to purchase another editing program (which will NEVER be a Steinburg product, by the way, they have lost a customer by being deceitful).
However....
Should I have had a friend who offered to let me install his copy of Cubase SL/SX on my computer...I would have done it in a heartbeat...and used it for years...and not felt guilty in the least. They promised full-functionality, and I paid for it....and got half-functionality at best.
This is but one example among MANY such experiences.
I am all for paying for services/products/etc. rendered. I am also all for fairness in the marketplace...and in this respect, the world is not black or white - it is many shades of gray.
Jay