Software Pirating is compeletly out of hand

[Reilley]

Well said, Danny.

 

[warrengtype]

No one cares that the 16 year old kid has been ripping off the government by not paying taxes for several years? He's like, pirating the IRS, or something. And you people sit there condoning it. It sickens me, I tell you. Sickens.



Yeah, not really.

 

[mentalattica]

No one cares that the 16 year old kid has been ripping off the government by not paying taxes for several years? He's like, pirating the IRS, or something. And you people sit there condoning it. It sickens me, I tell you. Sickens.



Yeah, not really.

Now it's just wrong to rip off Adobe, Propellerhead and Steinberg but ripping off family is excusable... Uncle Sam's not exempt

 

[TragikRemix]

who said it was 17Gs all at once? He made it sound like he's aquired it over the past 3 years. That's about 5-6 grand a year. And even THAT is extrememly doable by a kid his age working 25 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, at even $5 an hour. He's well off because he works for it. He just doesn't have the expenses that people over the age of 18 have. Hell, I still wish at times I could live at home again and didn't have any expenses/loans....THAT would be great

There are plenty jobs out there for teens that pay above minimum wage. If you are in a major city/suburb, most jobs will start at $7 (at least around me) and go up from there. Again, like I said, my sister worked the front desk of an optomitrist's office and was making more than I ever did at 18. And she still complained about school expenses, car payments/insurance, etc.

thanks for understanding- you hit it on the head.

yeah, it wasnt 17k all at once .. i spend about half of what i make.

it's still hard, becuase my parents don't exactly know how much i've bought. i have to send packages to work becuase my mom flips out on my sometimes, which is understandable..

ok so back to the software, could we?

 

[TragikRemix]

The only way I was able to make more was to have a skill.

i started at $6 like everyone else, and when my boss found out i could do things everyone else couldnt, thats when the money started rolling.

at 13, i was offered the job, and no one asked for my age, so i didnt give it. they assumed i was 14, the legal age, and i didnt question it.

as per ripping off the IRS, i guess you could call it that.. can't deny it, it is what it is. the way i look at it, my parents get raped enough in taxes, err, i mean pay enough taxes, that it doesnt matter if i do or not.

i got the rest of my life to be raped, er, taxed, by the government. and also, if i'm spending half of my pay on studio crap, then it's not really an income- more of an investment..

so i guess i owe the IRS $60 this year.

 

[xstatic]

Out of all of these types of threads, I still have not seen even one argument that can adequately defend piracy of any sort. I DON"T CARE how much you do or don't make. It doesn't matter. If you can afford to buy your computer, monitor, cables, sound card, mics, preamps etc... than you can afford the software. If you are truly dedicated and love what you do, then you will find a way to do this.

If your argument is that your mom got you the computer and the rest of the stuff you are using is dirt cheap, then you definately do not need the deluxe software that costs so much. If you are just using a 57 through your computer's on board preamp, you can still afford the $49 or less software that is out there. Plus, if this is all you are using, then there is no reason why you NEED the more expensive software.

Basically, cheap gear does what it does. If this seems to be good enough for so many people, why do they seem to feel the need to have fully featured software? The rest of their rig is not "fully featured" so why should the software have to be? The difference between a vintage Telefunken 251 and an sm57 is much greater than the difference between something like N-Track and Nuendo. If you came and stole one of my nice mics like you steal the nicer software I guarantee you would receive one hell of a beat down and/or legal ramifications. People need to grow up and quit trying to argue in favor of software piracy like some sort of 5 year old kid. There is NOTHING you can say to prove that you are somehow entitled to anything of the sort.

In the end however there is one thing that I hate worse than the guy that sits at home on their lazy ass downloading software that has been pirated. I hate the guy who does this sort of thing and then tries to justify it with a bunch of baseless pointless unrealistic crap.

 

[mrT]

No one cares that the 16 year old kid has been ripping off the government by not paying taxes for several years? He's like, pirating the IRS, or something. And you people sit there condoning it. It sickens me, I tell you. Sickens.

For real... all ou people bitching about me using warez and this kid is fucking YOU over directly. not even some software company. Because he doesn't pay taxes he's not paying into unemployment, social security etc. No different than going to the federal reserve and stealing some money is it...


Not that I really care that you get paid under the table though (cause I really don't) just makes me think you guys are a bunch of hipocrits.

You are a thief and are just trying to justify it with the "who does it hurt". Go away from our board, we respect software devlopers here. REPORTED...

^that was attatched to some anonymous rep I got. So you better watch yourself around here Tragik, there are some bitch snitches hanging around.








and by the way.... "REPORTED"? I'm real scared. Is Steinberg gonna beat down my door now?

 

[mrT]

Out of all of these types of threads, I still have not seen even one argument that can adequately defend piracy of any sort. I DON"T CARE how much you do or don't make. It doesn't matter. If you can afford to buy your computer, monitor, cables, sound card, mics, preamps etc... than you can afford the software. If you are truly dedicated and love what you do, then you will find a way to do this.

If your argument is that your mom got you the computer and the rest of the stuff you are using is dirt cheap, then you definately do not need the deluxe software that costs so much. If you are just using a 57 through your computer's on board preamp, you can still afford the $49 or less software that is out there. Plus, if this is all you are using, then there is no reason why you NEED the more expensive software.

Basically, cheap gear does what it does. If this seems to be good enough for so many people, why do they seem to feel the need to have fully featured software? The rest of their rig is not "fully featured" so why should the software have to be? The difference between a vintage Telefunken 251 and an sm57 is much greater than the difference between something like N-Track and Nuendo. If you came and stole one of my nice mics like you steal the nicer software I guarantee you would receive one hell of a beat down and/or legal ramifications. People need to grow up and quit trying to argue in favor of software piracy like some sort of 5 year old kid. There is NOTHING you can say to prove that you are somehow entitled to anything of the sort.

In the end however there is one thing that I hate worse than the guy that sits at home on their lazy ass downloading software that has been pirated. I hate the guy who does this sort of thing and then tries to justify it with a bunch of baseless pointless unrealistic crap.

I'm hurt... really. You probbably don't download music illegally either. But your example is rediculous. Software piracy is in no way like physical theft. For software you are "Stealing" a COPY. Even though someone actaully gave it to you. Not someone elses unique item. that's why nobody really gets in trouble for it.

What a bunch of holier than thou bitches...

 

[crankypants]

I'm hurt... really. You probbably don't download music illegally either. But your example is rediculous. Software piracy is in no way like physical theft. For software you are "Stealing" a COPY. Even though someone actaully gave it to you. Not someone elses unique item. that's why nobody really gets in trouble for it.

What a bunch of holier than thou bitches...

If you're worried about rep points you're not going to get much sympathy here. A few weeks ago I got negative rep just because I said I had tried some warez, but had since gone legit, deleted all the cracked crap and bought Cubase SE.

Ironically, I just bought two more legit WinXP licenses for a couple of my home computers - just in time to decide to give Linux a shot. The learning curve seems a bit steep, but I'll see how it goes - and it's free. And so is Ardour which is supposedly as good as similar Windows/Mac based DAW programs in the $1000 range.

Which brings me to this question: if one can use (due to a lack of funds, or simply because you're cheap) a Linux/Ardour setup or WinXP/Reaper setup and not pay a cent to anyone, is it really stealing to download a cracked Cubase/Logic/PT since they were never going to receive a cent anyway?

I've bought plenty of legitimate software over the years that turned out to be complete crap. Norton Systemworks caused as many problems as it resolved and contributed to slowly crippling every system I ever installed it on. Several other things I bought turned out to be almost completely useless, but I didn't figure that out until I bought them.

In light of that, I think someone using a cracked version for a while or experimenting with 3 different DAW programs and then buying a legit version of the one they liked the best when they can afford it is better for the software companies in the end. (I do think that NEVER buying the legit software when you a.) have the money and b.) KNOW that it's the one for you is wrong.)

But there are always some who would rather have consumers buying their music and software in complete ignorance and finding out later it was crap. But that sort of swindle is socially acceptable I guess.

CP

P.S. bring on the negative rep if you must - it's only an internet forum.

 

[mrT]

come on. Pony up guys. I know WAY more of you use warez than have said... You affraid of these neg rep pussies? It's just the internet. Let them know how many of you really DON'T agree that piracy is as bad as some people think.

 

[sonnylarsen]

The problem is, there is simply no stopping it. Whenever someone comes up with a legal or technological solution, those who pirate software just find another way to get around it. The only way to stop online trading of illegal files is to shut down the internet. Good luck with that.

I guess the worst part is that people who go the legalroute pay the price for those who don't. Either by being forced to use increasingly incovenient and/or annoying copy-protection (which sometime works well, but adds another breakable piece to the machine) or by paying higher prices for legal licenses.

This is the cost of doing business in the internet age. Anything in digital format can easily be cracked, pirated, etc. I don't know if there is a solution, but so far I think the legal users far outnumber th illegal ones, or else companies like Propellerheads, Steinberg, Cakewalk, and others would be out of business by now.

I think that there is probably something sort of nefarious going on. I wonder how many of the software crackers out there are actually people working for protection companies, creating business for themselves. Like a digital protection racket or something. I am probably paranoid, but still. . .

 

[sonnylarsen]

There are good solutions out there for the poor (like me). I work at a church and get paid very little because the church does not have much money. So I go online and find a site that sells PT M-Powered for a hundred bucks cheaper to students, churches, and non-profits. (At the time, the license was the same as a standard license, it may be different now). The same site is selling Cubase 4 academic to schools, students, and churches for 399, which is half the normal retail. It is also selling Reason 3 for Academic for abot 200 bucks. I realize that many academic licenses don't always have great upgrade paths, but if you are a student or qualify in some other way, you can get up and running fairly cheaply. Really, it is not difficult or expensive to get student status nowadays, considering you can take a few credit hours at your local community college for very little money (and you might actually learn something...many of these schools offer audio engineering classes or music classes) and then take advantage of these great prices.

There are also many fine apps that come as bundled software with audio interfaces. Live Lite is very good andd comes with tons of different sound cards and interfaces.

The bottom line is that pirates don't care to use what is in their price range, they would rather steal a full version of something they think is better. In fact, how good your music sounds has very little to do with the app you are using, It is all about you and if you suck, you suck. If you don't suck, you will be able to make enough money to buy what you want and then make it pay for itself.

I started recording using Cakewalk LE(I think or something like that) version 8 which gave me like 4 audio tracks and 128 midi. I learned quite a bit on that setup while I was just out of college, still figuring out how to record and make music. I saved enough money (at a sad minimum wage job) that I was able to buy a package that I wanted (CW Pro 9), and if I have wanted some app that I couldn't afford, just like gear, I saved up for it. Now that I work for the church, between that and my own projects I have been able to pay for what I want.

It is easily possible to afford any of these apps if you are willing to work hard and sacrifice for it. If you are not willing to work hard and make sacrifices, what the hell are you doing in music? If you are not working hard, you are just making noise and you should just GO AWAY.

 

[mrT]

I think that there is probably something sort of nefarious going on. I wonder how many of the software crackers out there are actually people working for protection companies, creating business for themselves. Like a digital protection racket or something. I am probably paranoid, but still. . .

I always wondered how kids got ahold of all that code that should have been protected. Unless they were good enough to just reverse engineer it.


and let's not forget that a lot of code stealing/pirating goes on between the companies themselves. {*caugh* microsoft} So you actually rewarding stealing by buying windows.

 

[crankypants]

I guess the worst part is that people who go the legalroute pay the price for those who don't. Either by being forced to use increasingly incovenient and/or annoying copy-protection (which sometime works well, but adds another breakable piece to the machine) or by paying higher prices for legal licenses.
. .

Good point. I like Cubase SE okay, but I can't see myself ever upgrading to SX because the dongle situation is just out of hand. If you ever lose the dongle you buy a whole new copy of SX. I can see why Steinberg wants to do that in a way, but it's too much of a risk. It's a simple matter of being priced out of the Cubase game for me. I will choose something that is dongle-free if I need something more powerful one day, and as long as such software is available.

CP

 

[bennychico11]

So you actually rewarding stealing by buying windows.

keep telling yourself that. I guess whatever helps you sleep at night

 

[mrT]

keep telling yourself that. I guess whatever helps you sleep at night

yeah... once more; I don't think I'll loose any sleep on the money I didn't give to Bill Gates.

 

[beezelbubba]

I feel I must express my support for pirated software because I'm a total prick!
Go piracy!

 

[Reggie]

So it sounds like, mr.t thinks the software companies should invest a bunch of money in copy protection schemes that end up being a pain in the a$$ for all the paying users while driving up the costs of the software significantly. So then you poor piraters just trying to scrape by won't even be able to record at all, because all the good stuff will finally be uncrackable. Sounds like great progress to me... Just use the cheap/free legit software and be happy about it. Quit being part of the problem. If you have money for hardware, you have money for software.

 

[mrT]

So it sounds like, mr.t thinks the software companies should invest a bunch of money in copy protection schemes that end up being a pain in the a$$ for all the paying users while driving up the costs of the software significantly. So then you poor piraters just trying to scrape by won't even be able to record at all, because all the good stuff will finally be uncrackable. Sounds like great progress to me... Just use the cheap/free legit software and be happy about it. Quit being part of the problem. If you have money for hardware, you have money for software.

look. they choose their profession knowing all of this. I don't like the whole concept of software liscensing. It would be like the music industry making it so that you could only play a CD on one player or giving you a 128 mp3 unless you pay an extra $20. So consioder me a passive resister to the software companies assertion that since they made it they have the right to say who can use it where and how.

 

[Reggie]

No, it would be like the music industry charging you to further distribute or broadcast a CD that you paid good money for. Oh wait, they do that already. I don't think you are raging against the idea that you can't buy software and put it on your computers at home, at work, at school, at your studio, at your summer home, at your winter home, etc. You are still reaching to justify a reason why you should have to pay for a legit copy of something that you could just as easily steal.
Of course they have a right to say how/where you can use it. It is intellectual property, like a song; they are not in the business of selling apples or carpet or stereos. If you want to use someone else's intellectual property, you have to license it. Or you create your own from scratch (code your own software programs DIY-style). You do not buy the all-inclusive rights from the record label when you buy a CD. If you think all intellectual property should be free, then you are a moron and God forbid you ever put your time and effort into an original thought of your own.