economist.com — America and China lead the world in terms of total losses from piracy at $7.2 billion and $5.4 billion respectively. But when calculated according to the number of computers in each country a different picture emerges. Cash-strapped countries dominate the leader board.
May 30, 2007 View in Crawl 4
senorfrog21May 31, 2007
But I really don't think after pirating a copy of Photoshop and deciding that you like it that you are going to go to the store and buy a copy. Let's get real. You've already downloaded it, so why not just keep it, right?And if you hear a song you like, you can buy it for 99 cents - there is no need to pirate a copy of the entire album.You act like it's your right to "try before you buy". Before everything was digital, did you ever take a copy of a CD from Musicland, listen to it at home, and then decide if you want to go back to the store and pay for it?
voidvectorMay 31, 2007
I am a little surprised why China didn't make the list either. I know they are getting better in recent years. Retail computer companies like Dell, Lenovo, and Founder are all selling PCs with OEM Windows and OEM software. Like in US, non-techie are buying computers from them instead of building one. Some of popular Chinese software, such as "WPS Office" (a competitor of Microsoft Office in China), are now offered as free download to home use. Nevertheless, I can assure you that movie piracy are still rampant.
jarasmenMay 31, 2007
Fact: 80% of people will believe anything that has statistical information.
nixdoctorJun 1, 2007
True, the figures appear too fabricated. There's no RAW data (or at least semi-raw data) anywhere on that page, and it's just one paragraph! Dude, pirated windows itself amounts to approximately $150. Add a couple of low-end apps and it quickly crosses $250. How the hell they did that survey, it's beyond my cerebrum... unless they were biased against those countries beforehand!!
Closed AccountJun 1, 2007
> To everyone spouting, "If I couldn't pirate Photoshop, I'd just use GIMP," why don't you just use GIMP? I'm just asking.Because I'd rather use Photoshop. Once you accept that you're not going to buy the damn thing under any circumstances, there's no reason not to pirate it, so if you have a mild preference for it over the GIMP, you use Photoshop.Add to that the fact that any skills you learn in the GIMP are going to be useless in 99% of workplace environments you ever encounter, whereas skill with Photoshop might be an asset, and you have a pretty compelling reason to pirate Photoshop instead of using the GIMP. In fact, if you accept the premise that no revenue is lost because you wouldn't have bought Photoshop if you couldn't pirate it, then it works out in Adobe's interests for you to pirate it rather than using a FOSS alternative, as any skill you develop with it will be an encouraging factor for any future employers you have to purchase it. Sure, you aren't going to buy it, but if you work at $SOFTWAREHOUSE and mention to your boss that you know your way around Photoshop when they're considering renewing their $GRAPHICSSOFTWARE license, that's potentially going to net Adobe some revenue.It's a little like going over to a friends house to watch a pay-per-view football game on a huge HDTV, and being told that you're stealing revenue from Sky Sports and HDTV manufacturers. You reply "Well, I'm not really, because if I don't care enough about football or TV to spend much money on them. If I couldn't watch the match on my friend's HDTV, I'd watch the highlights for free on my tiny ten-year-old TV at home."You're then asked "Well, if you're happy with the highlights on a small TV, why come over to your friends house in the first place to watch the game on a huge TV?"Well, it's obvious - because at $0, watching the game on an HDTV is a very attractive prospect, and you're not costing anyone anything. At the cost of premier cable TV + a large HDTV, it's not an attractive prospect at all.At $0, I'll use Photoshop. If Photoshop costs me $600, I'll use the GIMP.
rarsonJun 1, 2007
Using their logic, if I were to pay $10 for a DVD (or $3 for a rental of one), and it sucks, then I am owed compensation in the form of quality entertainment, since I paid for it.Lately, I've been picking up a lot of movies at the rental store which look decent on the box but suck extreme ass. Even big box office titles, like Babel. That movie was such utter drivel that I deserve to get paid for watching it all the way through.
deckchairJun 1, 2007
How to calculate software losses1. How much profit was made last year2. Multiply by any number 3. Divide it by your dog or cats age4.Multiply by the Number of Software Companies5 . Divide by the square root of a loaf of bread6 Add Fifty%