From Tom Millar Sent Thu, Apr 15th 1999, 21:25
From Tom Millar Sent Thu, Apr 15th 1999, 21:25
Little Ms. Trinitron makes a good point about pirated software, but leaves out an important part of the equation. I will elaborate. A lot of software companies (Microsoft, Adobe, and other major victims of piracy especially) add piracy into the cost of their products. What that means is this: For every copy they actually sell, they predict that some X number of copies will go unsold because that copy becomes pirated or otherwise used without proper registration by lots of different people. I know that Adobe usually predicts 10-12 pirate users for every copy sold- this is the way they protect themselves. So every time you actually BUY an Adobe product (god forbid!), you are paying ten times what the normal price would be without piracy. Carry this over into the music industry with MP3's and what you may very well get is a marked increase in album prices; for every song you sell, you factor in X number of MP3/CDR pirate bastards who copy the shit for themselves for free instead of buying it. I personally don't want to see CD prices go any higher than they are now, and I live in the USA where they're comparatively cheap. So whether or not software piracy, CD burning and MP3 trading are ethically permissible, the honest end user who pays good money for his shit is going to get screwed most likely; the people who produce and sell music have price control in the end and that's where we're going to get hurt. So enjoy the free music distribution system while it lasts. Before too long we may all be paying ridiculous prices for CDs because of it. Tom