On thin ice: Warez

So I am aware I'm on thin ice here, and probably will be shot down by a lot of you, but:

Has anybody ever been using Warez; e.g. Cracked (=Stolen) software?

Sadly I have to admit, I have done so until some years ago: But now I am happy I can say that all my software is fully legit.
I changed mostly because I can afford to have a conscience now.  And if I put some music out there, I want to be sure that no company comes knocking at my doorstep to check if the tools I used were legit. As a youngster I was not that concerned about buying the software as long as it was possible to download it somewhere. And I was not prepared to  adjust my toolset to my income.

But I'm glad I'm a real customer to Cakewalk and the likes nowadays. And of course the sound is better now too.

So what's your story?

I bought my first PC when I heard that they could be used to record and mix audio. I knew nothing about computers so I thought that you bought the PC and that software was, uh, free. A friend had told me that he'd burn me a cd w/ all those cool applications to make music.

Upon reading the "install notes' however when testing some of those applications however, I realized that none of that stuff was free. I got my legal copy of the less-exciting-and-full-of-features but at least legit Cakewalk Guitar Studio 2 soon after.

So, I guess one could argue that cracked software turned me onto Cakewalk, but that's one perspective.

These days, companies are literally giving away software that's 10 times as powerful as GS2 was when you buy hardware. You get Pro Tools Essential or Live Light or Studio One Artist or Cubase Whatever. 

But the funny  thing w/ people who can't afford the software is that they don't go for the small versions - they want all the best, the flagship sequencer, Waves plug-ins... Usually it comes w/ excesses in the other direction - they so can't afford anything that they collect everything, far more than they'd actually need. 

So the Robin Hood attitude doesn't hold much water. 

Just realized that I probably sounded judgmental and I didn't mean to point the finger at the OP. All the opposite - congratulation on doing the right thing and having the guts to share his story.

I use a cracked version of this forum software.

Sadly it does not work with all browsers.

bitflipper


Far more people have used illegal software than will admit to it. Even the U.S. federal government has been busted for using pirated software. I'd be willing to bet an audit of the Dutch government would reveal at least a few improprieties there as well.

A programmer friend of mine used to work for a governmental organization in Canada. When he mentioned that he needed a particular software to do a certain thing, one of his bosses suggested finding it "for free" on the web. 


Similarly, I don't remember seeing a paid for version of WinRar almost everywhere I've worked. They could have included "getting familiar w/ the nag screens" in the training for new employees... 


They were usually going by the books for Windows and Sound Forge and such, but little sharewares? Pfff....

When I first got started I used some cracked stuff that a friend gave me (we're talking 10+ years ago)  but as it got to the point where I could afford some stuff I stopped.   Also the idea that if I wanted people to purchase my music instead of steal it then I should probably do the same is important.

With all the software that I had that was cracked though, I either bought legit copies or stopped using it.   Also the cracked versions did expose me to some software that later generated sales for the company. 

SEV - QUOTE - "And anyone serious would probably have to buy an interface, and there in't cracked versions of that for download." ---------- Many interfaces even come with an LE version of software included, VS100 for example, which also has a decent start-up bundle of VST's and soft-synths and it's worht 50 bucks in the upgrade path towards X1-Prod.

I used cracked software a long time ago. Like many people, I did not think about the illegality at the time and just treated it like an extended trial.Other times it was a matter of functionality. The dongle that came with Cubase kept crashing my computer and I found the cracked version ran much smoother. Oddly, I hardly used the programs I downloaded. It became overload and too many options to actually master any. The programs i actually used, I ended up buying. One company was particularly gracious about me going legit. I won a loop production contest back when i was still using a cracked version of Sound Forge. Sonic Foundry (this was prior to Sony acquisition), one of the sponsors, did an interview with me and I admitted I was using a cracked version. They took it in stride and said many of their best customers started off with cracked versions and that it did not affect their bottom line much since they thought it silly to count people who were not buying their software now or ever as "losses". They fasttracked me to the le version of sound forge and from there I upgraded to pro. Have been upgrading ever since. I think there is something about investing your money in a product that makes you more inclined to actually learn it instead of simply collecting

I discovered cakewalk like this !! because no distribution in france at that time , a US friends isntakled it on my pc !

I used crack to try ( after loosing pretty one ilok of demos crap , i started to try with warez) and you gonna think i'm crazy but now i tend to buy only already craked software : in case i lose my ilok or reg serial ect ......i want to have an emergency solution until i solve the issue .. 

I must admit one thing : warez have impacted the market in a good way (and a bad of course) ....now developper are re thinking prices policy and licencing in a more cosumer friendly way ;))

Exemple : NI ..2011 results : 2 digit (%)increase in income , i will say that waves have sold a lot also and both are the most craked ....

^^ Yeah, those were the days...when the patches not only fixed registration, but had better installers.

Besides the legality and moral issues, pirated software can have real quality control issues. I never trusted cracks and patches for that reason. Too many crews re-engineered other crackers' work with trojans, etc. It's like Mos Eisley spaceport.

Give me a stable system with a few choice retail software packages, and some nice freeware utilities, and I'm happy. As far as the wild world of warez, I'm with Danny Glover... "too old for this sh*". :)

  I think the original "Try before you buy" argument was valid back when there were no trial versions available from the manufacturers. These days most software companies offer trial versions so that argument has largely gone away.

Glad I never stuck to the 'no sex before marriage'-thing. I'm still not married ;-)

Some people may remain in denial. But I think are quite candid in this thread on having used some cracked software once, and how it often brought them to go legit.

Now hoping I'll get something in return for my investment one day..
(probably not moneywise,as I'm a 100% amateur, but in satisfaction certainly)

In the beginning I purchased Kantos from antares. They abandoned it.

And then, the install package did not work with w7.

I suggested to them to release old software as free/donation ware, without the copy protection.

The tech dude wrote that it would not matter, cuz it would not work with w7.

I was not happy. So I went looking and found a crack that did not contain viri.

I works fine with w7 without the copy protection.

Cracked installs are good backups for orphaned programs. But beware that way too much of it is infected.

A few years ago I downloaded just about any and all Waves plugins.
I don't condone this in any way but it did help me decide which bundles I like and which ones I don't.
From that I purchased the SSL 4000 bundle, API, found out I wouldn't be happy with the V-Series but really like the Ren Comp. Also realized that I don't need all 500+ plugs in the Mercury bundle.

When I did my bi-annual PC wipe I dumped the cracked stuff and bought the plugs and bundles I liked.
Now I don't have to DL all the demos to try out the whole Waves catalog. I just demo the new ones that catch my eye (or ear should I say). 

Happy to say that every piece of software and plug-in is paid for and legit.

Mike  

Back in the days of DOS 3.1 there was a company that would  "rent" software to you for a few dollars per disk.... this was in the days of  the 5" floppys..... most of the programs were pretty useless anyway at that time... except for word processing and spread sheets. The internet was still not operational for the average person. They advertised in the computer magazines of the day. I'm guessing they were sued out of business since it was pretty obvious what they were doing. 

Now, all the software I have is 100% bought and paid for all nice and  legal.  I do have a friend, a buddy I used to play in a band with back in the old days, who, on the other hand, bragged to me about 2 years ago, that he has all the really good recording software and all the plugs and yadda yadda BS, BS....... and he didn't pay a dime for any of it. Whether he is telling the truth of simply spinning a line of BS to make himself look like he has it "going on" in the eyes of others, I can not say. But knowing him from those old days, I would not doubt one bit that he has a hard drive full of cracked code.