Illegal file sharing on the Internet, what should we do?

I don't think that's a valid excuse, especially when it comes to software.

Most programs have a open source or freeware alternative these days.

Want photoshop? Get gimp.
Want MS Office? Get Open Office.

etc.

Sure the professional tools are sometimes better, but if you're a professional, then pay for them.

My rule: if I can't afford it and want it, I'll work until I can.

Easy when you earn a lot. But when you earn less than £200 a month like me it's not. It would simply be foolish for me to buy software that expensive when I can get it for free. GIMP is nowhere near as good as Photoshop. OpenOffice is fine for normal things. But I wouldn't buy Photoshop anyway, so it's no loss to them.
 
Easy when you earn a lot. But when you earn less than £200 a month like me it's not. It would simply be foolish for me to buy software that expensive when I can get it for free. GIMP is nowhere near as good as Photoshop. OpenOffice is fine for normal things. But I wouldn't buy Photoshop anyway, so it's no loss to them.

Why do you feel entitled to a product you can't afford?
 
GIMP is awful however somebody suggested Paint.Net and I can nearly do all the same things as I did with Photoshop.

I wouldn't say GIMP is awful, it's free, and has a good community, but it's interface isn't great, and it's never going to be as good as Photoshop.

Paint.Net just doesn't do enough things for me. It used to be fine for me, but now it's too basic to be honest.
 
I don't feel entitled or not entitled to anything. I can get it for free without any loss to anybody else, so I will.

So because it is IP rather then Physical property it is OK to take? You get free use out of others labours because you can't afford it? Doesn't seem overly fair to me, but then most of my work (and quite a bit of my personal hobbies) involve IP.
 
I don't feel entitled or not entitled to anything. I can get it for free without any loss to anybody else, so I will.

Why do you insist on having it then? Think next time I walk past a shop with mahoosive plasmas, I will take one of their hands, but not going to pay, god no, as clearly I'd never buy something like that, so the manufacturer is not missing a sale. No one gets hurt right, its not like I would be breaking a window to get it, you know, just walk in and carry one out. :rolleyes:.
 
So because it is IP rather then Physical property it is OK to take? You get free use out of others labours because you can't afford it? Doesn't seem overly fair to me, but then most of my work (and quite a bit of my personal hobbies) involve IP.

No, your over simplifying it.

Two things.

1. I only download things I wouldn't buy anyway because they are not worth the money for I use them for. So I still buy all my games, because there only ~£30 and I like to be able to use MP. But as I'm not a pro graphics designer I can't justify spending hundred on Photoshop, even if I had the money, so I wouldn't have bought it anyway, I'd have just got Paint.net/GIMP.

2. It's not really stealing is it? Stealing means that person you stole the thing off no longer has it. I wouldn't for example copy the single only MP3 of an artists new song onto my memory stick from there PC and then delete there copy. That would be stealing, and I wouldn't do that.
 
Easy when you earn a lot. But when you earn less than £200 a month like me it's not. It would simply be foolish for me to buy software that expensive when I can get it for free. GIMP is nowhere near as good as Photoshop. OpenOffice is fine for normal things. But I wouldn't buy Photoshop anyway, so it's no loss to them.

Sorry, but bull.

How much a person earns has nothing to do with it. If I want something and can't afford it. I either forget it, or save up for it.

A low salary isn't an excuse to break the law.

But as I'm not a pro graphics designer I can't justify spending hundred on Photoshop, even if I had the money, so I wouldn't have bought it anyway, I'd have just got Paint.net/GIMP.

If you're not a professional, and you don't use all the features you don't need it. So why don't you get Paint.net or Gimp then? They're free.

2. It's not really stealing is it? Stealing means that person you stole the thing off no longer has it. I wouldn't for example copy the single only MP3 of an artists new song onto my memory stick from there PC and then delete there copy. That would be stealing, and I wouldn't do that.

So what? You clearly don't get the idea behind what IP is.
People work hard to produce it, are they not entitled to earn a living from it?
 
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Why do you insist on having it then? Think next time I walk past a shop with mahoosive plasmas, I will take one of their hands, but not going to pay, god no, as clearly I'd never buy something like that, so the manufacturer is not missing a sale. No one gets hurt right, its not like I would be breaking a window to get it, you know, just walk in and carry one out. :rolleyes:.

Now you're just chatting BS. The shop would obviously lose out if I stole it, they'd lose the value of the stock wouldn't they?
 
Sorry, but bull.

How much a person earns has nothing to do with it. If I want something and can't afford it. I either forget it, or save up for it.

A low salary isn't an excuse to break the law.

I don't care, it's not supposed to be an excuse. I'm sure you regularly break the law by speeding in your car.
 
Why do you insist on having it then? Think next time I walk past a shop with mahoosive plasmas, I will take one of their hands, but not going to pay, god no, as clearly I'd never buy something like that, so the manufacturer is not missing a sale. No one gets hurt right, its not like I would be breaking a window to get it, you know, just walk in and carry one out. :rolleyes:.

Another one for the ignore list...

STOP BLOODY COMPARING STEALING TO DOWNLOADING.
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No, your over simplifying it.

Not really. You don't want to pay for it so you take it. It really is that straightforward.

Two things.

1. I only download things I wouldn't buy anyway because they are not worth the money for I use them for. So I still buy all my games, because there only ~£30 and I like to be able to use MP. But as I'm not a pro graphics designer I can't justify spending hundred on Photoshop, even if I had the money, so I wouldn't have bought it anyway, I'd have just got Paint.net/GIMP.

So to paraphrase you only take expensive products? At the end of the day you are still getting use out of the fruits of someone's labours for nothing. If you made your living making software would you be happy for lots of people to use it without you getting paid?


2. It's not really stealing is it? Stealing means that person you stole the thing off no longer has it. I wouldn't for example copy the single only MP3 of an artists new song onto my memory stick from there PC and then delete there copy. That would be stealing, and I wouldn't do that.

Who said it was stealing? I don't seem to recall mention stealing at all. But your justification seems to be "Because it is an expsensive non-physical product it is OK to take".
 
The only thing I can say is that if they make a decent product I'll buy it no matter what the medium (i.e. Game, DVD, etc).

There is too much rubbish floating around which makes everyone wary of buying it. Most items are overly expensive (Steam / iTunes) and just because we are in the UK we get shafted on the cost of things. Then, just to rub it in, they clog up legitimate purchasers systems with DRM.

I can see the values in obtaining software illegally. It's so much easier than buying it from a shop then having the DVD in the drive when you want to play and my system being crippled by the latest securom.



M.
 
So I still buy all my games, because there only ~£30 and I like to be able to use MP.
Right so for games that do not need a legal copy to play multiplayer you would still download.

]But as I'm not a pro graphics designer I can't justify spending hundred on Photoshop, even if I had the money, so I wouldn't have bought it anyway, I'd have just got Paint.net/GIMP.
So why do you use Photoshop then? If you were a professional, you would use paint/gimp? That makes no sense.

2. It's not really stealing is it? Stealing means that person you stole the thing off no longer has it. I wouldn't for example copy the single only MP3 of an artists new song onto my memory stick from there PC and then delete there copy. That would be stealing, and I wouldn't do that.
It is not technically stealing, it is however copying the data without paying the original creator for it.
 
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