Things that should be done to break the piracy debate.

[Osterbaum]

Originally Posted by krogothwolf

I disagree with pirating because it really doesn't hurt the company at all that much and would more then anything hurt the people working on their project because their worth seems based on whether the thing sells or not.

I really don't see people buying all the stuff they download. People pirate a lot because it's FREE. If it wasn't, people most certainly wouldn't buy all the stuff they're now pirating.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Osterbaum

I really don't see people buying all the stuff they download. People pirate a lot because it's FREE. If it wasn't, people most certainly wouldn't buy all the stuff they're now pirating.

Counterpoint: if there's less DRM, there's less reason to take it as a challenge and therefore make the software available to pirates. In the absence of backlash, many people will feel better about supporting the companies making the games because they won't have the self-righteous feeling doing it because there won't be bad press. Yes, people may eventually get the game for free, but the crack team of hackers won't be there tirelessly working on it for them, so it will take much longer and may suffer in quality. Many more people will buy a good game they agree with to get it earlier than will wait longer for a game everyone else has already played just because they don't want to pay for it. Humans work much better in the concrete present than the abstract future. Piracy may even become a stigma in that climate because people will wait around to get a pirate copy of a game others have already beaten, leaving pirates "behind" on the information front, which is seen as less socially acceptable. It will also highlight the illegality of it in concrete terms, because the people who wait around for a crack will be seen as hard-headed and unreasonable, removing much of their justification.

See where I'm going with this?