I see that I can apparently
buy software at a fraction of the normal cost. I wonder if this is fully legal, and if it is risky, in the sense that the shop is likely to be an outfit which might do unethical things with my credit card information or such?
8 comments:
On a side issue, someone came to the office the other day to hand out flyers for cheap fireworks - a very controlled product in CA. The first few pages were firecrackers and btlle rockets, the last page was extremely dangerous professional grade stuff (my boss is an ex-fireman and an ex-pyrotechnician so he recognized the stuff).
Turns out it was a sting operation, anyone who called up for the dangerous stuff ended up with a warning and a fine.
With software piracy being so prevalent you wonder if any of these cheap downloads are a sting.
I know people who have got the $50 Office, it comes as a download with no technical support and no manuals. I think that says a lot about its legitimacy.
The stores with the "surplus" OEM disks puzzle me too. They have install disks for a variety of packages, mostly labelled "For use with your new XYZ PC" only (replace XYZ with Dell, Toshiba, eMacine et al).
I wish pirated software didn't exist, then I wouldn't feel a mug for paying full price. I know though the minute I get a grey market copy, I'll encounter something bad - a nasty virus, a raid from the piracy police, or credit card fraud.
Best thing, become a student or teacher, and get the academic priced copies.
I like to pay for software, but only if the price is reasonable. Most of MS's prices can't be called that. Don't tell me they don't make a nice profit on academic versions at a third of the price. It's filthy.
Free and open source is better than "cheap" and possibly illegal and harmful. A suite of office type software is available from openoffice.org. It has the functionality of MS office, is compatible with MS office, and is available in multiple languages and for multiple operating systems, and stores the document files in ISO approved format.
Okay, granted, unsafe fireworks are illegal AND dangerous, and citizens should be educated against them, and eventually punished for taking the risks and causing them to others. No discussion there. But I have very mixed feelings about those sting operation methods. It feels like making up false criminals in order to arrest potential accomplices. You have false client cops arresting prostitutes, and false hooker cops arresting potential clients. What's the point, where's the crime? Why don't they focus on slaver pimps instead, huh? To ask the question is already to answer it.
Three days ago, I read that title in the local news: "The authorities have seized and destroyed 100.000 pirated CDs, worth $3 million".
Well, first of all, this is a tractorload of bull: such CDs are priced between two and four dollars apiece, not $30.
And then... WTF??!? This country's facing a wave of terrorist bombings right here and now, possibly a planned coup, and the cops are trotting around seizing counterfeit CDs? When was the last time one of those killed or injured a citizen? Heck, when was the FIRST time?
Forget cheap software, I have a gripe with cheap justice systems. Nobody seems to care about hunting down the real, dangerous, and spontaneously acting criminals.
A few years ago, our Information Minister went off rambling on TV(!) about how very softcore, Playboy-like magazines and TV programs were "a grave threat to the foundations of Society" and were therefore prohibited. Well sure, it's not like the daily ultra-violent movies, series and ruddy TV NEWS could cause any harm, right? "Make war, not love!"
"I wish pirated software didn't exist, then I wouldn't feel a mug for paying full price."
I wish legitimate publishers were more sensible and less greedy. I'd immediately pay triple for a genuine product (and I do, on occasions, from sales bins and special offers), but not 20 times the price. This parallel market is earning fortunes to the crime syndicates that control it in its entirety. If organized crime bothers, it's because the vast profits are worth the effort. Most of this money would go to the legitimate rights holders if they weren't so stubborn about their price policies. Heck, if it's profitable in spite of the added expenses of illegality, it should be at least as profitable in the legal circuit, with the massive sales more than compensating for the modest margins. The principle of sharewares works and is profitable, because most people will jump at the chance to live up to the trust you initially place in them.
But official companies prefer a raw loss than adapted fares for poorer countries. You know why and how I can manage to find legal PS2 videogames for $8? Because they don't sell, so their prices end up cut by up to 88%. And they don't sell because for the 66 bucks that an original costs, if people have that kind of money to begin with, they're very much more likely to buy 20 different pirate games.
You think "everybody does it" explains the total and dismal failure of marijuana smoking repression in the West? Well, those "everybody" are nothing compared to the proportion of videogamers. Besides, such raids only target those retailers who haven't bribed the authorities, the others don't even bother to be cautious. Can you hear me snicker from the bottom end of the Mediterranean?
Legitimate publishers could strike a fatal blow to piracy "not tomorrow, but this afternoon" (Colin Powell, about when he'd like to close down Guantanamo it if were up to him). And they just won't accept to see it. The're deliberately turning their backs on a huge potential low-price market, not unlike generic medications.
P.S.: And unlike with PC software, DVD movies or console videogames do not conceal malicious software, simply because it is pointless. Also, they're sold for cash, so no phishing to fear either. Would YOU use your credit card for a $3 sale? Not that credit cards are much used over here anyway, duh! Too many working fees.
As Eolake says, I too like to pay for software. At the very least, because not only do I resent stealing, I much more resent bringing profit to mafias which are also involved in far worse activities. But when I feel I'm being literally robbed by the prices of big companies, I feel like organized crime is a wider notion than commonly considered.
On a side note, I've just seen an article in a reputed science magazine about the $100 PC. With free open-source OS and software.
I'm sure Microsoft could earn a lot by giving away theirs for a symbolic fare of, say, $3 each (like local copy CDs), with no working cost if they installed it by wireless connection, on the hundreds of millions of computers involved. Heck, just the PR benefit would compensate for distributing it freely! But... not only are the Redmond people just as stiff-minded, their product is also vastly inferior to Linux as soon as you return to the basics.
):-P and ):-P again!
Speaking of shareware... I have a very silly problem: I downloaded WinRar and installed it for a try. After less than 48 hours, I decided I didn't want to keep it. So, in theory, I absolutely don't have to pay the fee for it. Except for one detail: I can't find how to uninstall it! It seems as if they forgot to include that option! I'm not using it, it's just taking up space on my hard drive, but I'm stuck with it and technically I'm an outlaw.
But technically, in this country, NOT considering all jews as mortal enemies also puts me in violation of the Zionism Boycot Law. Ah well, this whole country may be filled witth 99.9% of law-breakers, but it feels like a giant prison anyway. So if I do the time, might as well do the crime, right?
It's filthy.
agreeable, just like your porn site.
Still not keen on putting your name to your comments, eh?
I'm pretty sure he's not Keen.
I've known Keen for years, we used to play laser tag together.
Got my copy of OpenOffice today. So far the drawing package looks like it could compete with Visio. I've got a pile of state diagrams to draw, so by the end of the week I should know for sure.
It is a bit harder to use than both Visio and SmartDraw, there are a few missing features. But it does seem okay for now, and saves me a few hundred.
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