Kittens or it didnt happen :P

Yes I said that and I like cats.

Most users capable of finding, downloading and installing (cracks, patches, keygens etc) are tech savvy enough to either run it in a sandbox enviroment, or have the facilities and gumption to deal with any malware or viruses that are attached.

Ho-Hum, punish the twats selling the stuff. You listening flea-bay???

Software piracy => Use of proprietary software => Poor security.

A lot of this software costs in the mid £100s

Fine if you're a business, but johnny home user isn't going to shell out several hundred for a Photoshop licence when all he wants it for is making lolcats.

If Adobe sold "home" licences for something on the order of £40, giving home users access to the full software with the stipulation that they must under no circumstances use it for commercial gain, well they could make millions overnight. Think how many people have a cracked copy of PS that they only use once a month that they might well pay for if it wasn't several orders of magnitude out of their price range.

Ok I know what I'm talking about exists and that it's called Photoshop Elements. But users would rather pirate the full version and not use any of the advanced features than pay for a version that has only the features they need with none of the advanced ones. Yeah it makes no sense but that's psychology for you. Just give them the full thing cheap and let them have fun with it.

Not picking on Adobe of course, same thing goes for anyone who thinks a software licence should cost more than your first car *COUGH* MICROSOFT *COUGH*

And got a Bullshit Maker of +10?

It's so nice of them to be worried about security threats I may open myself up to if I download pirate software. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy...

The BSA continues to send out misleading information in this release. First, I highly doubt the figure that 41% of software is illegal, and second, the "estimate" of the value of illegally copied software is ridiculous because most of that software would never be installed at all if people had to pay for it.

Note - personally, I run Linux and hardly any of the software I've installed is proprietary. I do run some proprietary software with CrossOver Office. I resent both the BSA with their lies and mistruths AND the software pirates who make cheap copies of proprietary software available. Free and Open Source software would compete much better against proprietary software if there weren't so much unfair competition from pirates.

Inded got some pirated software to see how hard it is to use, how easy it is to learn, advance my skills set somewhat, does it do what the maker sys etc etc.

The retail cost of the software is in the region of £8000 for the basic package and if you include all the knobs and whistles, it costs £21 000.

Per seat.

Although to be fair that does come with 12 month free support and 2 years worth of updates/bug fixes

Sadly, for a home bodger like me, its a bit out of my price range.

Boris

PS. for the anti-pirating comments.... realise that the company I work for needs 3 of these seats, and I have 50% of the say on what system we buy

Home users using pirated software is *exactly* what The Big Boys *want*.

If Fred in the Shed is quite happy using some £50 photo editor, there's a slim, outside chance that he could get a job where he would be editing photos for a living -- and if he does that, there's a rather more bankable chance that he could persuade that company to buy the £50 photo editor that he already knows how to use. Thus representing a possible lost sale for Adobe.

If, on the other hand, Fred in the Shed is using a knocked-off copy of Adobe Photoshop, that represents a lost sale -- but *NOT* for Adobe!

If Fred absolutely couldn't get a pirated Photoshop, then he'd most probably shrug his shoulders and splash out £50 on a cheap photo editing package instead, and still think he's saving money compared to buying a full copy of Photoshop. But because Fred *can* get a pirated Photoshop, the makers of that £50 photo editor miss out on shifting a unit. Either way, Adobe appear to miss out.

The crucial difference is that with Fred knowing how to use Photoshop, there will exist a demand for a fully-paid-up-and-legal copy of Photoshop, if and when Fred in the Shed ever gets that elusive photo editing job.

When you learn to use a piece of software your brain grows into its inverse, the end result is that you can't use that part of your brain without paying the license holders. If you learn to use some complicated piece of software illegally, then you're essentially handing your brain over rather than getting something for free. Choose open source for the sake of your own long-term freedom.

IMO society shouldn't even grant copyrights to binaries, they will be woth nothing when the copyright finally expires. If it isn't published with source code then it shouldn't be protected by copyright law.

"Globally, there is significant evidence to link software piracy with the frequency of malware attacks. While this correlation has not been measured with precision[...]"

So which is it then? Significant evidence, which implies at the very least some sort of measurement, hopefully done with precision, or anecdotal 'evidence' which isn't worth the double-quilted super-soft paper it's 'written' on?

Really, there should be a law against making stuff up and spouting it in a press release like it's some sort of scientific fact.

1) Flog software with security holes.

2) Let people pirate your software.

3) Let people exploit security holes.

4) Rush to the aid of users by patching the security holes, but only allow legit users install the patches.

5) Users of pirate copies are sitting ducks for malware. Said users rush to by legit software.

6) Profit!

7) Rinse and repeat.

Sound familiar? So it's in the interests of software developers to have weak security and allow it to be exploited! Nice.

"Really, there should be a law against making stuff up and spouting it in a press release like it's some sort of scientific fact."

Could a press release be considered as advertising?

"IMO society shouldn't even grant copyrights to binaries, they will be woth nothing when the copyright finally expires. If it isn't published with source code then it shouldn't be protected by copyright law." -- I like, very much.

If you don't supply the Source Code, you are attempting to subvert the provision of copyright law which ensures that your work will eventually enter the Public Domain, the condition upon which the law's protection ultimately depends; and therefore, you do not deserve the other side of the bargain.

"pirated software means malware"

Don't a fair amount of legit software come with that also now a days? Last I checked Securerom acted like malware and can we not forget the sony's rootkit, all of which came with legitimately purchased material and installed itself without notification and is harder to remove than most malware. Last I checked pirated stuff usually strips off the malware software makers put on the PC to try and stop people from copying it or using it on a 2nd pc.

Time to raise ye flag and sset sail on the IRC's and get ye untainted copies.

You mean so many "greedy and stupid" companies, either charge absolutely heaps for software; and either;

It takes AGES for one to become proficient in it's use; and or

They give limited trail time or none at all;

And if they give limited time, then the average Joesephine or Joe tapping away a few hours here and there will take at least a year to get passable at it, in order to find out if it does what they want and if they should actually consider purchasing it - which is about a year more than the trial time lasts....

AND

These companies like Adobe for instance - with the CAD software - instead of having ONE all in package, they fragment it into 10 varieties - again with no prolonged try before you buy or adequate explaination - which can only be "understood" by getting to use it for a long time...

And they charge squillions for it; which is way out of the leauge of the average home experimenter......

And then they wonder why people say "Fuck them" and get a FREE cracked version......

What? can hardly do maffs and yet trying out HOW to calculate the heat flow into and through a turbine blade to the root - AND trying to get the software to model it - in a running engine?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yep...... Good one Adobe and the BSA.....

Too Big, Too Greedy and Too Stupid.

Most of them remind me of the supermarkets that jack their food prices up so high that they end up dumping most of it in the waste bins and then they call the police on people who go dumpster diving to get stuff to eat - instead of send it off to rot in land fills..

Will I need reminding of which software vendors to buy from when I am able to actually afford it on a professional basis? Not likely.