RoR: Forum

Post 0

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - 6:21am

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Keep in mind though that this is a temporary state of affairs in countries where the rule of law is weak, and is not sustainable if a Nation wants to move forward and make real progress. So I don't see that this necessarily means that the country must remain the same way, for instance in order to join the European Union or achieve any other kind of economic benefits of trade, they will need to begin to enforce copyright law and other laws. The incentives need to be there for good behavior vs. bad behavior.

Post 1

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - 6:26am

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A lot of nations that want to move forward are using something called Linux.

Post 2

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - 9:04am

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The EU is reported to have a software piracy rate of 35% to 39% depending on the source. The EU has been threatening China with sanctions if they don't work to lower their 86% rate (4th highest in the world). Vietnam and Zimbabwe are tied for worst at 90%. Brits are at 27%. The United States had the lowest piracy rate - 21%. The world average is 35%. The median piracy rate is 64% (half the countries studied have a piracy rate of 64% or more - the average of 35% is low compared to the median because the average is weighted by highly developed regions).

Most of this is from the Third Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study of May 2006
http://www.bsa.org/globalstudy/upload/2005%20Piracy%20Study%20-%20Official%20Version.pdf

The report states that in 2005 for every two dollars� worth of PC software purchased legitimately, one dollar�s worth was obtained illegally.

Then there is the piracy of other digital goods, like movies and music. And that is on top of the counterfiting of hard goods and money. Then add the amount that is given away (voluntary charity as well as foriegn and military aid).

Our economy is carrying quite a burden. Try to imagine what it would be like if all of that were thrown off.
(Edited by Steve Wolfer
on 2/06, 9:06am)

Post 3

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - 11:02am

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won't work:

- EU has already postponed Romania accedence for three years because of bribery in the government - after that they can't stop them even if they don't get their bribery (and now piracy) under control - the recent speech by the president right in front of Gates himself is another indication that they don't even intend to

- Linux? oh yes: the little kid on the other block - they are still growing slowly thank you - but nobody takes the time to thank Linus Torvalds these days - and what is there to 'benefit' if it's free

- sanctions look nice in the papers if some politician wants to make a statement - they don't really happen or have much effect these days - and economic statistics would only serve as a reminder for Gates how much money he actually lost for that 'warm welcome' :-)

fact is (and for me that's cause for celebration) that we are another step closer to the final stages of AS - keep going you weak pathetic little parasites - onward to total destruction so I can still see the 'New Dawn' :-)

VSD

Post 4

Thursday, February 8, 2007 - 8:04am

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I don’t know, a long time ago I used to pirate a lot software, I was even part of a release group once. I straightened myself back in college but I guarantee you that there would be no chance in hell I would spend as much as I do on software now if I didn’t get myself hooked on “free software” earlier.

Don’t get me wrong, it was wrong but M$ and the rest of the bunch are making a ton of money off me now because I used software earlier that I wouldn’t have bought otherwise. The release group I was with broke up because we all grew up. In the US, 90% of (software) pirates or in high school or college and once they have money, like me they’ll stop and become a software maker’s best customer outside of businesses.

My point is to keep enforcing piracy laws but don’t take it too far, you don’t want to drive away customers and future developers.

Post 5

Thursday, February 8, 2007 - 9:28am

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Hi Clarence,

I see us as still in the early stage of a lengthy transition period. We don't really know, as a culture, how to deal with digital property rights yet.

There is a lot to be worked out in terms of minor ethical issues (e.g., can I make a backup copy? What about a copy for my spouse?), legal definitions, technical means for dealing with piracy and for tranfer of valid rights, as well as the economic and marketing differences for a marketplace with, say, piracy rates of 5% or lower.

I'm sure the prices will be significantly lower once everything has adjusted. And there will be lots of new market niches for cheaper software for those unwilling to pay top dollar for bloated do-everything packages.

And, keep in mind, the 'average' price right now should be calculated based upon 35% of the people paying very little to nothing (global average portion of software that is pirated) combined with those paying whatever retail sales price they are getting (including the OEM's cost for those who get packages with the computer they buy).

There is a lot of market share to be picked up with big profits despite much, much lower prices.

Post 6

Thursday, February 15, 2007 - 4:25pm

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Back in the 1980's my chemistry teacher was invited to bring some students to a speech by federal regulators of various scientific industries. After a speech by a nuclear regulator, I stood up for the Q&A period. I said, "Madame X, you stated that you are proud that during your tenure as head of the ABC department, the number of pages of safety regulations has doubled. Is that becuase you unexpectedly found twice as much circuitry or hardware existent in nuclear plants than your predecessors had been aware of, or is it simply due to an inability on your part to be concise?"

Needless to say, there were howls of laughter, followed by chagrined protests at my impertinance. She "refused to dignify my question with a response," and my teacher kicked my shin under the table.

But the question remains. Why do we even need a congress, other than to ratify treaties and to pay the military? Most of what passes for legislation nowadays is grandstanding or piecemeal socialism.

Of course, there actually is one area in which we could use some rationalization of the laws and regulations - software related intellectual property rights. But this is neither glamorous nor easy to understand. I'd love to see Kennedy or McCain try to work on these issues. (Well, actually, I wouldn't, but I'm sure it would be good for some laughs.)

Ted

(Edited by Ted Keer
on 2/15, 4:27pm)