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Why is so much software cracked?

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f0dder:
I think you're missing the point, Cpilot.

Tiered pricing is about actually wanting to pay, but not being able to pay full price (think students, unemployed, low-income workers). Tiered pricing, if it was done (unrealistic, I'm afraid), would enable those people to get a legit version instead of pirating it, ultimately giving the company a larger income.

Darwin:
I think Cpilot's point is that companies should be free to charge what they want and that they are not repsonsible for making it financially possible for people to use their software legally. If you want to use the software, you pay for it. If you can't afford it, find an alternative or don't use it. I happen not to agree with some of his/her arguments, but can see the logic of his/her argument.

Personally, I've used cracks in the past. Initially, because I hadn't considered the implications of what I was doing, later because I could not afford the software that I was using and latterly to more thoroughly test shareware that come with very crippled demos (like many here, I can't see paying more than $20 for something that I haven't been able to test thoroughly - I like to know that the features that I'm going to fork out my hard earned cash for actually work!). Over the last year, though, I've stopped using cracks altogether, mostly because I realised that I was stealing. I have purchased many of the software titles that I used to run cracked/pirated and use regularly (Office Pro and Endnote come to mind) or I have installed cheaper/opensource alternatives. I feel better about myself and am happier with the stability of my system.

I have read this thread thoroughly and really think that Cpilot has missed the spirit of many of the comments here - this seems to me to be a discussion of what motivates people to crack/pirate software and how this practice might be minimised, rather than an attempt to justifiy the practice. And lest my discussion of my own experience using cracks be misinterpreted as "justification", I view myself as an average user and offer my "story" as one more illustration of how piracy occurs in the wild.

It is tempting, perhaps, to take an absolutely moral stand on this issue but doing so does nothing to address the problem. If we don't *think* about and discuss these issues and their ramifications, how will they ever be resolved? Discussion leads to change and this discussion is about finding solutions to this particular problem that will result in positive changes for all concerned, not a rationalisation for theft.

Edvard:
I don't think anybody's debating whether the programmer should make money from their efforts or not. What is being debated is that a smart programmer should look for the best sales strategy in order to, indeed, be paid and paid well especially if their effort is useful and ongoing. The authors of large commercial packages have done quite a bit to enhance the lives and work of many who use their products, of course they should be paid.
But...
we are talking about 'Software'.
Most of which is not a static thing that can come off the shelf at a store and used by a certain number of individuals at a time (licenses notwithstanding). Only one person at a time can feasibly use, say, a vacuum cleaner last time I checked. No, we have these wonderful things called computers which are not only the medium for consumption of the product, but the means by which it magically gets reproduced, often en masse to the detriment of the software authors pocketbook. If I could purchase one vacuum cleaner which I could then reproduce at will either to use in different rooms in my house or give away to a neighbor or charity, the manufacturer has lost those as sales. Because we can't reproduce a vacuum at our convenience and destroy the copies as we see fit, nor can we demand a lower price for an "upgrade", but we can with Software, we have such sticky things as EULAs and Dongles and Product Activation to ensure that Software, in it's consumption, behaves at least a little bit like a vacuum cleaner or toaster or other essential appliance than a trifle that can be thrown in the Star Trek replicator to be popped out as we please.
The point is Software, as a product, needs some sort of sales strategy that will ensure the author gets paid without inspiring the less scrupled among us to make copies distribute them simply because they can.

Carol Haynes:
Suppose a vacuum cleaner cost $5000 - then very few people could buy one and maybe (as in the 1920s) you would find people hiring rather than buying and some people would carry on using a brush. It makes economic sense for the manufacturer to make and sell 75 vacuum cleaners for $200 each because then everyone will buy one and he will make far more than $5000 in the process. If I do buy a vacuum cleaner I can lend it to my family and friends.

A pet hate is eBooks - I made the mistake o buying some in the early days - I can no longer read them now because Amazon (where I bought them from) no longer stock the titels so I can't reauthorise them at all. If I buy books I can read them where and when I like, lend them to friends - underline bit - cut out my favourite bits and frame them if I like, or sell it in a secondhand bookshop. My ebook ... I can't even read them!

One of the things I particularly hate about software companies is product activation - and it is becoming a growing issue even with small shareware companies. Having just reinstalled windows on my system from scratch I have had to email numerous companies around the world to be allowed to use the software I purchased. The only company that has any sense in this matter is Adobe because a single menu click allows me to deactivate the products instantly and a second click allows me to activate it again on another computer or after a reinstall. Effectively I can use Adobe products legitmately on as many computers as I like - but only one at a time which is fine.

All the other companies treat me like a criminal - I had to phone Microsoft twice (because Windows and Office refused to activate automatically and there is no way to deactivate the product) to explain that no I hadn't installed my software on another computer and yes I was reinstalling after formatting my hard disk. The only people who don't suffer in this way are the cracked software users who never have to bother.

At least with large companies they are likely to be there when you need to reactivate - but small companies come and go all the time and software may or may not be sold on. What do you do then when you have a legitmately bought piece of software that you can't use. In my vacuum cleaner analogy it is equivalent to the manufacturer having to OK its use every time you plug it in.

Cpilot:
i hope there's still room in this world for reasonable people to seek a reasonable middle ground.  those of us who recognize we have to make some money to live but who have desires that are more important than profit, like doing something we enjoy that doesn't make the world a worse place.
--- End quote ---
Oh Geez.
You know one is not exclusive from the other. The idea that only "altruistic" motivations are the only ones that are "pure" is absolute bunk.
I'll give you an example. Everyone here seems to absolutely bleed for the down trodden and poor around the world. Famine and disease are of course a bane to humanity and a scourge to some nations around the world.
So the first thing everyone does is demand that the government, usually the United States government, do something!!!
And we do, as a nation the U.S. itself has contributed hundreds of billions in food aid in the last 50 years. And yet famine around the world still occurs on a regular basis.
So guess what folks ...altruism doesn't work, because the easy thing to do for everyone is to demand that governments give money and individuals give to charities and go to "relief concerts" and there ya go....we fixed the problem.
Ha
The solution to this problem goes way deeper than slogans and U2 concerts.

Economist Blames Aid for Africa Famine

As a matter of fact all these "feel good" remedies actually do more damage than good and makes the world a worse place. By creating dependent societies on foreign aid. There is also the corruption of local governments, little or no infrastructure to move supplies, civil wars and warlords seizing then hording supplies for their private armies.
No one wants to address these problems, so the food is there but never gets to the starving.
Altruism in this case is a dismal failure.
Even economists of the affected countries see the folly of excessive foreign aid as detrimental to their countries.
The real solution to the problems in these countries is, instead of reacting to each "crisis" as it comes along, slow and steady investment in the infrastructure and economies of the affected nations and encouraging political stability. That would save more lives in the long run. But these are profit driven goals and basically frowned upon. So millions continue to die.
There is a limit to "touchy feely" solutions to problems in the world. Like it or not profit is the leading innovation for just about anything. Computers wouldn't exist if it were not for the search for profit.
Software is no different, companies employ people, not out of the goodness of their hearts but in search of profit. Employees work for said company to receive a paycheck to support their families and buy goods from other companies and around it goes.

It's easy to sit in a air conditioned home drinking a latte, with the TV on CNN and gripe about the cost of software on a computer hooked up to a high speed connection.
Yeah, we can afford all that and yet begrudge someone a fair profit for their product. :tellme:

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