but not games, stealing games just sucks
Piracy is killing the internet and is destroying our family values, and makes terrorists come and kill your friends. Apparently, according to FACT in the Uk. I kid you not, in the cinema at the moment the antipiracy advert actually says "piracy is destroying the very fabric of our society". O....K.....
What about Students? Im currently learning all about Multimedia authoring and digital production methods. As part of my course i use (in an average day) Dreamweaver, Flash, Freehand, Illustrator, Photoshop, Premier, After Effects,Lightwave, SoundForge, Office, and on mac, Final Cut and Motion, and once in a while Reason, Cubase et al. I need two or three PC's to handle the workload (Whilst one os rendering, i can continue to work on the other, and if that one is rendering also, then at least i can do some 2d on the mac), now, the college i go to doesnt have up to date versions of the software, the machines are unable to run most of the software needed(and i mean NEEDED as part of the Scotvec Descriptors), and to top it all, there are ten machines for twenty students,and at least five dont quite work correctly. So, in summary i pay approx £10,000 PA for course fees, i have paid a lump sum of £1000 for a PC, £1500 for a laptop, and £45.00pcm for 3 years for the powerbook, on top of this i need to work to pay rent etc, and then i am supposed to buy teh software as well? (approx 20,000 all in)
Now dont get me wrong, i am in the process of upgrading my pirated versions to real, legitamate versions as and when i can afford them(reason, and Dreamweacer so far), but it would be impossible for anyone to learn how to use these tools without piracy. Impossible. And them where would the next Brad come from? Or the netx funny flash movie that you download, or teh cool FX on the next movie you see? If Companies want to stop poiracy, then let students have free, unlimited access to the tools for Non commercial use, a la Alias, Borland et al, then the next generation of content creators will be able to do just that. If not, then the industry will die, as no new blood or competition is introduced, and only the eliet will ever be able to get in the door.
So far from destroying society, i am enriching it with creative content, i am enabling people with accessibility focused websites ive made, but i apparently am a terrorist for wanting to learn? BS
Oh, and stealing games and movies, well, that just plain sucks, Games costs a LOT to develop, and you will only hurt yourself by pirating them. Movies, well, it just isnt the same skipping through the minefields of the internet to get a low quality mpeg as it is going to the cinema with friends, getting a big bucket of popcorn and hiving fun. Duh, Movies are a social experience, thats what you pay for at the cinema.
Anyway, next time you go out on the net looking for W4r3z, remember the same ppl who are cracking the progs are also, in many cases, spammers, phreaks,phishers and the arseholes who invented the Toplist system of annoying the web user. Innovation deserves your cash, but learning how to innovate shouldnt cost the same as a house (in scotland, anyway). As soon as i can, i will pay.