I'm sorry, but this thread boarders on a piracy discussion and I have some strong feelings,.. "The problem is not with the Software Industry. (ie Developers, Publishers, Distributors) The problem Is now and 'Always' has been due to flooding the market with the 'Hardware' needed to do the copying and making 'duplications for backup purposes'. The fact that for $60 (cdn) The price of many games (some are even higher now) I can buy a CD Burner and a pack of 25 Blank CD's is the MAIN REASON Piracy has become rampid.
I equate the selling of 'Extremely' low cost duplication technology in the same vein as selling radar detectors.. (ie You can Sell/Buy them legally but it is against the law to use them.)
Note: My solution may seem drastic, but it is the 'Only' solution that will ever have a chance to slow the progress of Piracy. Make the 'Duplication Hardware' more expensive, 'AND' make the cost of blank CD's much higher. (ie $250/burner and at least $5-$10 per CD (like 49.95 for a 10 pack) and to further encourage the sales of 'official' copies lower the selling price of the originals.)
Some of you will think this idea is outrageous but I for one believe that persons and or companies could afford to pay the extra money to backup their legitimate data. There could even be a tax credit for businesses who buy the hardware and blank CD's just like some other business expenses are eligable for tax credits.
Note: this would not affect the cost of 'Mass-Duplication machines/CD's just the ones available through retail. In fact this could be solved by placing a hefty retail tax in the 'recording media and hardware'. Priced for pre-recorded media that cannot be overwritten would not be affected. One of the main reasons that DVD took off so fast (replacing VHS) in Video store rentals is that the stores had to pay a hefty tax on the purchase of 'videos' they rented. (I have a friend who is a manager at Blockbuster and he told me the VHS versions of the movies often cost him $100-$130 per unit. When the DVD's came out,.. (because the DVD is not a 'recordable' Media) only Cost him $30-$50. Needless to say he is making much more money now, and that has in turn allowd many new promotions and 'Rent for 5 days type things without affecting the bottom line.
To sum up, As long as it costs 50 cents to make a copy of a game that sells for $19-$89 there will be piracy. No If And Or's about it. Pirates are not idiots, they just take advantage of how things work. When the system favors piracy to an extreme (like software piracy) then it thrives.
Nuf said, Cheers!
P.S. Software 'Protections' do not prohibit piracy, They like a challenge. Only by making it more costly and or less profitable will piracy finally be slowed to a crawl and let the PC Software industry florish again.
Sorry for the rant,.. but every discussion I see about piracy makes me think the world is full of idiots. It's like people argue about which ongions to put in Apple pie, when there is no ongions in apple pie.
