No excuse to pirate software in SA

Take that 1.9bn, divide it by HALF, that's how much we are supposed to be spending on the products we get screwed over for here. The problem with piracy here aren't necessarily the pirates, its the fact that the prices of goods are so exuberant man!
 
When they consider this R1,9 billion - do they deduct the massive amount that people spend on bandwidth so they can pirate? Could bring the figure down a bit ;)

Do what you want, because a pirate a pirate.... You are a pirate!
 
Its because of companies like Incredible Rip-off over charging for software - scares people into thinking thats the actual price.

:p
 
If you use your personal computer for work with pirated software, will the company be in trouble?
 
Look the evil people here are guys who keep lining their own pockets as middlemen, im talking gov, distributors, the works, targeting pirates as the cause for them losing profit is just fkn stupid.
 
If a concept can't be communicated in 30 seconds or less, it's more than likely a con.

Three pages of drivel and unsubstantiated estimates. Mmmm, makes you think.
 
I can think of plenty of excuses to pirate software... some of them good and some of them not so good.

But do I need an excuse? No.

The greatest deterrents against pirating software are...

1) The real virus threat when using cracked software.
2) The trend among anti-virus vendors to flag cracks and keygens as malware.
3) The lack of support and updates and the hassle of updating it manually when it starts getting old.
4) Online activation checks. More vendors are now talking to their software over the internet to check its legitimacy and remotely disable or cripple it if not licensed.
5) The guilt associated with robbing the hard working coders and developers of their input costs.

But most pirates feel nothing for the greedy, and often unscrupulous middle-men who are little better than pirates themselves.
 
Did M$ really expect us to pay R4500 for Vista ultimate copies? And give me a legal place to download tv shows and i`d happily pay a reasonable price for it. Even pirates spend insane amounts of money on software, downloading a 3gig program internationally still costs a few hundred rand. I spend 6 months trying to launch a legal download site for tv shows here, but thanks to the multichoice monopoly that was a no go. So yes, we have plenty of reasons to pirate software, and some sad story of how we are costing people their jobs will not change that. Actually providing it at a reasonable price might. Paying R330 for a bluray disc for a movie u want to watch once or twice is completely ridiculous.
 
we have all heard the argument that the 1.9 billion is an inflated figure because a number of items that are pirated would not have been purchased if that was the only option available- for example maya- I dont know too many hobbiests who would fork out tens of thousands of rands for the program, they would rather go with out.

Now to say that it is destroying our economy has to be incorrect. That is implying that the money that I would spend on software, ends up being dead money, hidden under my mattress. This is not the case, if I purchase windows 7, im paying R3000. I dont know what the actual figures are, but lets say R500 stays in the country, and R2500 goes to the USA. That is only R500 not going into the economy. If I pirate that software, im going to spend the R3000 on other things, for example going to dinner, buying clothes etc and that case the whole 3000 will end up in the economy. you could argue that if I purchased software, I would do both, eg buy software and go to dinner, but then you would be assuming that I have an endless supply of money. If I am earning R10000 a month, that is all I can spend, and whether I spend it on software or other things, spend it I shall, every month. Its the law of the lid, I will spend as much as I earn.
 
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"software piracy continues to cost SA economy R1,9-billion"

Yeah Right

Some basic math, I don't have R300 to buy a game. - I don't buy it - industry gets 0

I have R3 and copy the game to my R3 DVD - I don't buy it - industry gets 0

Either way, they would not have received any money.

They are basing their figures on copied games confiscated or estimates of copied games/software

All bullsh*t maths.
 
How do they even get the R1.9 billion figure? Suck it out their ass?
 
very good point ave! pirates are actually saving the economy :) if we actually purchase all our software the money just end up going to the USA or wherever the software is created. but if we buy a blank dvd for R3 and copy the game, then the retailer makes R3 instead of nothing. but alas, i play PS3 so i still have to fork out R700 per game :/
 
Company A’s solvency is perhaps most at threat given the fact that it has made the commitment to use licensed software regardless of the cost. Assuming that Company A goes bankrupt
Click to expand...

Is software so expensive that it would make "company A" insolvent? I can't really blame "company B" for pirating in that case. IMHO, the only way to drastically reduce piracy (and increase revenue: see below) is to lower prices.

I think this principle applies in this instance: The Laffer Curve
 
Logic says that in these tough economic times Company A’s solvency is perhaps most at threat given the fact that it has made the commitment to use licensed software regardless of the cost. Assuming that Company A goes bankrupt, despite the fact that they sought to be a good corporate citizen, Company B will continue to operate, its bottom line unaffected by a need to pay software licence fees. This is clearly unfair.
Click to expand...
It would be more fair if both companies went out of business? Who comes up with these "logic"?
 
Piracy adds to an economy by creating jobs :D

Think of all the people who make money via piracy. I wonder what that figure works out to in our economy?
 
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A study comparing piracy rates in 84 countries (including USA/European countries) found that ZA has the 18th lowest rate of piracy. In 2007, the chairman of the BSA of South Africa, Stephan Le Roux, said piracy cost ZA only R950m.

Suddenly pulling R1.9bn out of a hat is highly detrimental to any argument the BSA might have, it just shows they are making the numbers up. They also fail to mention that a large percentage of that R1.9bn is actually money that's staying in the country and not going over to the US which actually influences our economy positively.
 
saffakanera said:
Take that 1.9bn, divide it by HALF, that's how much we are supposed to be spending on the products we get screwed over for here. The problem with piracy here aren't necessarily the pirates, its the fact that the prices of goods are so exuberant man!
Click to expand...

xrapidx said:
Its because of companies like Incredible Rip-off over charging for software - scares people into thinking thats the actual price.

:p
Click to expand...

saffakanera said:
Look the evil people here are guys who keep lining their own pockets as middlemen, im talking gov, distributors, the works, targeting pirates as the cause for them losing profit is just fkn stupid.
Click to expand...

+1


in my opinion pirates are like robin hood. they steel from the greedy and distribute to the needy!
 
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