Jonbouy
Man, that stings my heart to read.
Get a grip, the man is hiring halls and lining up a parade of oriental drums to play with.
Listen to some of the stories some of your buddies share on this forum if you want real life heartache.
I'm not some hippie condoning piracy, I don't condone piracy anymore than I'd condone someone stealing my bike from outside a shop, but I put a lock on it because I know it's likely to get stolen if I don't. I also learned early if something you get something with out working for it it worthless, that is true in my experience. I've even bought some library off that guy some time back, he ain't thanking me for that he's moaning about theives.
They're out there we all know it.
You can't expect a return on something you do just because you do it, if you've overlooked the idea that a sample library is prone to be pirated then you are either completely mad or stupid. That's how it IS and you'd be mad to operate a business without looking at the hazards to your margin realistically.
It isn't a moral issue it's a business decision he's making and if he had a half decent accountant on hand he would also tell him not to bother.
I'll tell you what, if anyone thinks this is a heart-wrenching story then all I can say is that you must lead very sheltered lives.
So you're implying that I don't care about the real life stories that people share here on the forum - because they never had their software/music/movies/whatever pirated in the digital domain?????? Man, Jon, I thought you knew me a little better than that! That was out of line.
But you're not geting my point at all! And let me just say this; comparing software piracy with theft of physical items is not at possible - internet piracy is internet piracy, a totally different issue all together. The major difference being:
1:
I didn't spend weeks creating that one bike and putting my heart and soul into perfecting it
2: The company that did make it made plenty of bikes at the same time and now they will sell a new bike and it will be paid for by the insurance company - probably. Either way, they'll have revenue to create and perfect the next new bike.
3:
I nor the bike manufacturer, lost any personal value by having it stolen. I loose a couple hours sending in a police report and insurance report, and I'd have to walk home. Guess what, come pay day and nothing will be changed. My house maintain its value, the time I spend at work maintain its value, the work I actually do maintain its value. Of course, it sucks if you're a bike messenger...
In digital piracy it's often argued that the owner of the product doesn't loose anything - and that's true. The files will still be there and it can still be sold lisences but the value of the product is significantly decreased and more or less removed. Like the article said, why would people buy it when it's freely available on the net? In the end, when you buy a software product, all you really pay for is the support.
Now here's the thing; you pour your heart and soul into something, you perfect it to your standards, like a master chef does to his dishes, like a painter does to his paintings, like a carpenter does to the stair case he put up in your house but because it's digital you aren't
alowed to protect it?
So here's the deal, I make something, many people like it and want to be able to use it/listen to it/watch it. I spend countless hours and dollars making this available to everyone. I'm hoping to at least get something back for the effort so I can afford to set aside the time to set more of my ideas into life and pass it on to them. Sure, anyone can create a turkey and experience that what they made didn't at all gel with the masses - and that's fine, it happens. There's the first calculated risk. The second being that yes, it will probably land on a pirate site - but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt whoever was behind creating it in the first place. Which, by the way, was my entire point.
I used to think like you Jonbouy and have probably given that pad lock on my bike example at some point. But unless you have actually experienced the impact of having your stuff pirated, especially when you're a beginner in the biz of choice, you won't see it from the other side. That's why I usually stay out of piracy debates because quite honestly, very few people know both sides first hand. And those creating the content are usually outnumbered by the people who defend or marginalize piracy and are more or less "threatened" to silence on the subject. Besides, who wan't to make them selves more unpopular by taking a stand against something so many harvest the benefits of, a world of cool stuff for free, when they actually want as many as possible to have it?
I'll be keeping my bike to my self.
Do we have to accept piracy? Sure. It's there and I don't think we'll see it go away, even if there are great legal alternatives to pretty much all of it. People won't change.
But I don't have to LIKE it!
I still feel the sting when I see that pirates "thank me" for the great job by wanting a copy but don't appreciate the work it took to bring it to them. The article explained this from a creators point of view really well. And keep in mind, when someone loose their homes to fire and pour their hearts out here, I find that extremely sad too, most likely even more so, so don't make assumptions about me living a "sheltered" and "non caring" life, dude, just because I think piracy is BS!!
Anyway, I've said what I have to say.