MakeMobile wrote: > I believe I've already answered the question of why Google would do > something about this, but I'll say it again. Piracy damages the > platform as a whole. Google cares about this kind of thing because it > slows the progress of the platform as a whole.
That is debatable. For every force (developers electing to abandon one platform with piracy for another platform with piracy) there can be a countervailing force (more consumer interest because of wider free app availability). > But my > specific inquiry is who can I talk to about this? who or where do I > report this? If you have an app on the Android Market, and you are using their copy protection, and you find your app is pirated, complain to the Android Market (via their support forums) that their copy protection did not help you. I suspect you'll find a few posts to that effect out there already, though I haven't looked. > On another note, I think the common attitude of apathy surrounding > this issue is shocking. I think an attitude of not *worrying* much about this issue is decidedly healthy. For those who have been living under a rock for the past two decades, digital goods get pirated, plain and simple. I distinctly remember the precursor to warez operating off of BBSes for the Apple II in the late 1980's. And, in the present day, we have torrents full of music, movies, apps, and (if the reports are true) Android application development books. IMHO, developers for all platforms can take three possible approaches to piracy: 1. Embrace piracy, by coming up with business strategies that do not require payment for individual copies of apps. 2. Ignore piracy, treating it as a manageable loss (akin to "breakage" in a retail store), and focusing on serving those customers that do pay. 3. Have their blood pressure climb to unsafe levels. Personally, I'm a fan of #1 where possible and #2 where not. Here's my take on piracy specifically: http://www.androidguys.com/2009/12/22/rethinking-android-app-piracy/ In there, you will also find links to two of my five blog posts on Android business models, few of which require payments from individuals for software. Now, when the opportunity presents itself and it's not much effort, feel free to smack down a pirate. I do that from time to time myself. If you are truly serious about app development, get truly serious about choosing a business model you'll be happy with. With luck, you'll settle on one for which piracy is not an issue. BTW, in addition to _Approaching Infinity_ that I mention in the above-linked blog post, another interesting read is _The Pirate's Dilemma_, which looks at the history of piracy over the last half-century or so: http://thepiratesdilemma.com -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com | http://twitter.com/commonsguy Android Training in US: 22-26 February 2010: http://onlc.com
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