On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 13:59:17 -0700, you wrote: >scuse me, but dont put words in my mouth. i mentioned A product, >photoshop, for which there is no comparable competitor, becuase of the >monopolistic way they control the industry. i have not said that >software should be free, i have not said that people should pirate >everything. i did not say any of the things you so delight in saying >i said keith. do the actions of the big houses have anything to do >with anything other than making maximum profit? the vast majority of >piracy of software is of titles NO LONGER OFFERED FOR SALE FROM THE >ORIGINAL COMPANY. please do not subscribe to me a policy i do not >bear. i did not make the suggestions you stated i did john. im >stating reasons WHY some pirate, not trying to get others to do. if >piracy actually became prevelant to the point where it hurt the >industry, id be working against it. but thats not going to happen. i >did not say they have no overhead, so its okay to rip them off, i >stated that my "discounted" purchase of photoshop contained no >overhead for the company as they had no printing costs, which, btw, >for photoshop (quoting an article for memory, please give a margine of >error of +- 5 %) the printing and packaging costs are about 6 bucks a >copy, and the coding and creating about 3 bucks a copy. distribution >of about 10. thats right, 19 bucks to make, and a price tag of 599 a >copy (less 200 if you are a student and send in teh rebate form, >rebates already being discussed previously) > >how about facing the fact that the actions of the big houses are what >are driving piracy in the market today, and not vice versa. how about >looking at the fact that software and music that IS pirated at higher >rates also sells at higher rates, and that drops in price have shown a >cooresponding drop in illegal copying. how about recognizing that the >average american cannot afford the confiscatory rates being charged by >many companies, and that trying to create a competing product is >worthless due to market pressures and inabilty to gain funding. im >curious keith, what type of software? whats competition like? whats >your per unit costs and prices? and if you have found pirated >versions of your software, how much of an impact has it actually had >on your bottome line? > > >and again, lastly, john, i dont want to not pay a fair value. i am >more than willing to pay fair value. i refuse to pay an arbitrarily >inflated price that has been put beyond the reach of the average user >in order to make per unit sales look better in order to keep stock >prices up. and then companies turn around and lay off their staff in >large numbers to get stock risers and make a bunch of money on >options. > >photoshop is a great way of looking at it, a perfect example. >according to a report by ADOBE last year, there are almost 4 times as >many pirated copies of photoshop as legal copies. and adobe doesnt >care, because they are still making as much money as if they lowered >prices to be able to sell that much, becuase even though theyd make >more profit that way, it doesnt look as good on certain ratios used >for reporting. its rediculous.
--- What's "rediculous" is the posturing you're doing in order to try to get off the hook that you've gotten yourself onto by writing: " i keep my consience clear, if i pirate a piece of software, i send the company a cashiers check for what i feel is a fair price. 30 bucks for photoshop, say. they cant track me, but i paid them what is essentially pure profit, as there was no overhead involved to them, and i wasnt going to buy it no matter what, so no loss is involved." I'm sure you understand that Photoshop isn't shareware and that the company isn't asking for voluntary contributions from pirates to keep them going, and yet you pretend that by having the "decency" to do so that relieves you of any responsibility for your theft. It doesn't, and no matter how you whine and cry and scream and stamp your feet, if you don't pay the going rate for the software or buy it discounted from a legal source, you're stealing it. It's just that simple. --- >and dont get me started on walmart. if sam knew what was being done >in his name, we could wrap his ass in copper wire, stick him in a >giant donut magnet, and solve the worlds energy problems off the >generated power. --- Since you haven't even gotten close to Sam's shoes, let alone walked a mile in them, I doubt whether you really have a clue about how he would have acted under _any_ set of circumstances. -- John Fields
