[AgentZero]

I think the whole problem comes down to two things: too many lawyers and too much money. Basically, whenever you install a piece of commercial software, you agree to an EULA (End-User License Agreement, if memory serves). This is a contract between you, the user, and those involved in the creation of the software, in which you agree not to do anything that would in any way hurt the profits of the company. That's all it boils down to. If you actually muddle through an entire EULA, you'll actually find out that if, for example, you have a PC and a laptop, you can't actually install the software on both computers, even if you will be the only one using the software, and even if you will never use the software simultaneously on both machines, you are still expected to pay for two copies of the software.

I totally agree that programers, artists, manufacturers and yes, even marketers, deserve to be compensated for their efforts, I honestly believe that the whole piracy issue has been blown WAY out of proportion. I'm sure we've all heard the quote of the billions of dollars that piracy costs the music/movie/game industry every year, and at face value, it looks pretty staggering.

But stop and ask yourself one question: Where do they get that figure from?

Easy, they take the estimated number of pirated copies of music/movies/software that exists, multiply it by the average cost of said media, and you have yourself this figure of billions of dollars of lost profit. This is, however, making a very large assumption: That if unable to obtain a pirated copy, every pirate would go out and pay for it. Which is entirely untrue. A vast majority of pirates download illegal copies of software, etc because they simply can't afford to buy it legally. Ergo, if free illegal Versions weren't available, then the pirates just wouldn't pay for them.

That's a bit like saying if someone tapes a CD of a band I hate and gives it too me, then that's cost the band money. Sure, I now have a copy of their album I didn't pay for, but if it hadn't been given to me, I would have never, ever bought it. Therefore, it's not lost money to the band, because either way they never would have gotten my money. I know that's not a perfect analogy because people who pirate media do actually want it, but it's the best I could come up with.

Now, to be sure, there ARE people who could afford it who pirate anyway, for the thrill, to be rebellious, or just because they're too cheap to actually pay. But mostly, pirates are motivated by purely financial reasons.

Now, I'm not saying I condone piracy or any shape or form, nor do I believe lowering the cost of media will help stop it (if someone can't afford $60 for a game, $40 is probably still out of their range). The vastly over-inflated claims of lost profits really just grates on me, as does the fact that the corporates come up with just boil down to, 'We're making money, but we could be making MORE money.'

At the end of the day, piracy, like any crime, will happen no matter how Draconian the anti-piracy laws get. Every effort should be made to protect developers (especially smaller ones), but quite frankly, this notion of prosecuting people who provide a utility for a legal reason when others use it for illegal purposes is absolutely ridiculous and whoever came up with it should be dragged outside and shot. If things keep going this way, we'll soon be able to sue people for making something that COULD be used illegally, even if nobody acutally does. And wouldn't that be fun?