How piracy changed my life

[nsane.forums]

As anti-piracy measures are becoming more and more extreme, I say it's time to take a step back and have a serious discussion on the subject, considering both the good and bad aspects.

There have been many discussions lately about piracy and how to combat it, including some pretty radical measures. But I believe most people glance over some of the positive effects that piracy has. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not encouraging it and I’m not saying it’s good, I’m just saying that it’s not all black and white. Piracy is only a symptom of something more: whether it’s bad business models, restrictive markets, or economic problems. And I think my own story proves this point.

I was born in Romania, a country that had just gone through a revolution and was re-becoming a democracy. We, as a society, were just remembering what democracy was and how a free market works. We were just seeing what major technological breakthroughs had happened in the last 30 years in the west while our own country and populace had remained uninformed and technologically inept.

My first PC was a Pentium MMX which had an amazing 166 Mhz processor, 2 GB hard drive and 64 Mb of RAM if I remember right. At this time most of the folks around had 386 and 486 machines running DOS, so the blueish background of Windows 95 was kind of a big deal.

Now here’s the twist: that copy of Windows 95 I used was pirated. It came from a family friend who had it on a few floppy disks. It’s not because my family was cheap or wanted to commit a crime, it was because there simply wasn’t any alternative. Windows wasn’t sold anywhere in the country – at least not legally.

A few years later when Windows 98 came out the same thing happened all over again. The family friend came by with a bunch of disks and installed the OS on our PC.

By the time XP was rolling out, Microsoft had finally taken a real interest in our country, not to mention the fact that the free market was finally in full swing, so there were a lot of legitimate ways to buy the new OS. But here’s the catch: often times it was at least as expensive as the PC itself, so buying it would literally double your costs. Oh and in case you are wondering that would amount to about 3 months worth of salary. To give you a better idea, imagine Windows costing about $2000.

I was pretty lucky as I got an original copy of XP bundled with the new PC my family had just bought. However, one year later when the motherboard went up in flames and we had to buy new hardware, we went back to the family friend.

For the next 5-6 years I used that PC with that pirated version of Windows to download an infinite number of games and software – all illegally. From the most basic Half Life and Warcraft to the full blown Creative Suite from Adobe. Again this happened not only because of price, though shilling out a few thousand dollars for Adobe’s CS would have been absolutely insane and would have sent any family into poverty, but rather because most of this software wasn’t even available on the market.

It is because of piracy that I had access to information that would have otherwise been impossible to find. It is because of piracy that I learned how to use Photoshop, how to edit movies, how to install an operating system.

And I am not the only one. All of my friends that have ended up working in the IT field, began by using pirated software. How else would a 15 year old learn to use software that costs thousands of dollars, when the average income was about $200? How else would an average kid in this country have learned stuff that’s price restrictive even in the US or the UK?

And here’s the thing, it’s because of piracy that most of us have jobs today. Without all those hours spent learning the software, my friends and I would not have become graphic designers, or game developers, or technology writers. I daresay we would have been much less productive members of society.

I know I’ve said some pretty incriminating things but here’s the catch: none of us pirate anymore. Why? Because we always knew pirating wasn’t right, but we never really had any other choice. But now when we all have jobs, when the content is finally available, and when the companies have changed their business models to give cheap access to students and teaching institutions ($39 Windows anyone?) we all choose to buy our software, music, and movies. Oh and that family friend that always had hacked operating systems for us? Well he’s now a manager at IBM.

Most people pirate out of need not out of greed. And pirated software can be of vital importance to the development of a generation in under-privileged regions. Of course cheap and accessible software would be a lot better, but there’s so little of that going around.

As for the people who do pirate out of greed, well they’re just bumholes but luckily for us there’s not that many of them out there. I'm really curious what your own thoughts are, and hopefully we can get a real intelligent conversation going.

View: Original Article

[DKT27]

Someone give this guy a medal.

Here, take this:

Simple, short, and truth.

[irefay]

I kind of wonder if we would have ever gotten services like Netflix and HBOGO if not for piracy. I still contend that people will pay for content if it is convent to access and a reasonable price.

[a2ms]

I can relate pretty well to that story. Now-a-days it is minimum the amount of pirated software I use. Thanks to Steam and the Humble Bundle, I don't see any point in torrenting games. I am glad some things have change for good. Even if a lot of people dislike win8, the agree they even prefer to buy it, 'cause its just cheap.

Of course, it is always good to know we have an alternative.. just in case.

[Simon1245]

I totally agree, I'm usually watching Hindi movies here in Sweden and there's no way to purchase any of these movies here in Sweden so I have to download them in order to watch it or else I have no other way to see it.

Also as the other guy mentioned, I did purchase Windows 8 aswell as it was pretty cheap but most of my other Windows copies has been downloaded because of the rip of prices.

[irefay]

And I am not the only one. All of my friends that have ended up working in the IT field, began by using pirated software. How else would a 15 year old learn to use software that costs thousands of dollars, when the average income was about $200? How else would an average kid in this country have learned stuff that’s price restrictive even in the US or the UK?

And here’s the thing, it’s because of piracy that most of us have jobs today. Without all those hours spent learning the software, my friends and I would not have become graphic designers, or game developers, or technology writers. I daresay we would have been much less productive members of society.

This has to apply to a HUGE percentage of the best people in their respective industries. There are probably some people who went into media creation because they wanted the money, and happened to be good at it. For most people, they had prior exposure to Adobe or other software, learned on it, then eventually went to school for it.

[SPECTRUM]

the question is ¿ why we call it "PIRACY" when is not ?

let's ask the question in a different way... ¿ why the people is still using non official and non original copies, instead of buy the original product ?

the answer is totally simple, and we all know this ;)

is because the money is not part of the human nature and basic instincts of the life.

and one the basic instincts of the human nature, is share with others anything we could find/discover or create, because at the end we are still animals, and animals participate in groups where all helps each other sharing knowledge and the things they found/discover in the environment, create, etc.

[T0nyB]

But is it a good idea to still pirate when your country has the free market? There's always the chance, that you can save up the money and buy the thing you need. Isn't it bad that we lie to ourselves, that if the chance is there, we can grab the thing free? This thnking that we have is the reason, because of most of the problems in the world exists... On the other hand, piracy is a vital part of computer technology development. Like said before, if we hadn't had piracy, we wouldn't have services like Netflix, Huuluu and so on.... So what is the right thing to do, when it comes to piracy?

EDIT: And when it comes to movies, we can go to the cinema to enjoy them, rent them. Worth the wait, I think.

EDIT 2: Hmmm..., when it comes to cinemas, you don't have to wait for the decent quality release to come out, you can go out and enjoy it with all the effects the cinemas has to offer for you. :)

EDIT 3: Okay, I admit. If I hadn't pirated all this time, I wouldn't know the IT knownleadge I know today. And interestingly enough all the games I played and movies/TV shows I've watched have made me the intelligent man I am today. Okay I admit, half of the stuff I know from these things is garage, but even garbage can be recycled. :P

[Avitar]

It is because of piracy that I had access to information that would have otherwise been impossible to find. It is because of piracy that I learned how to use Photoshop, how to edit movies, how to install an operating system.

All of my friends that have ended up working in the IT field, began by using pirated software. How else would a 15 year old learn to use software that costs thousands of dollars

Without all those hours spent learning the software, my friends and I would not have become graphic designers, or game developers, or technology writers. I daresay we would have been much less productive members of society.

Oh and that family friend that always had hacked operating systems for us? Well he’s now a manager at IBM.

I wouldn't have investigated anything, nor learned to code at all, if it wasn't for the prospect of producing a hack. Now look at me. Degree in Computer Science. Can code in Visual Basic, C, C#, C++, cmd, Pascal and HTML. All because I *obtained* Visual Studio way back in 2005.

Our future generations are going to be computer users instead of computer makers. Software USERS instead of software MAKERS. Sure there will be the ones trained and the gifted ones.. but fewer and fewer will go deep enough to understand what makes a computer work.

[T0nyB]

It is because of piracy that I had access to information that would have otherwise been impossible to find. It is because of piracy that I learned how to use Photoshop, how to edit movies, how to install an operating system.

All of my friends that have ended up working in the IT field, began by using pirated software. How else would a 15 year old learn to use software that costs thousands of dollars

Without all those hours spent learning the software, my friends and I would not have become graphic designers, or game developers, or technology writers. I daresay we would have been much less productive members of society.

Oh and that family friend that always had hacked operating systems for us? Well he’s now a manager at IBM.

I wouldn't have investigated anything, nor learned to code at all, if it wasn't for the prospect of producing a hack. Now look at me. Degree in Computer Science. Can code in Visual Basic, C, C#, C++, cmd, Pascal and HTML. All because I *obtained* Visual Studio way back in 2005.

Our future generations are going to be computer users instead of computer makers. Software USERS instead of software MAKERS. Sure there will be the ones trained and the gifted ones.. but fewer and fewer will go deep enough to understand what makes a computer work.

And if I hadn't "made" genuine all my Windows OSes I used, I wouldn't have known half the things I know know about Windows and Microsoft. Teaching yourself setp-by-step is the best way to obtain things. Everything the world has to offer has a effect in our lives. It's up to us if we take the right choices. IMHO you got to go with your gut with things you do in your life... :)

EDIT: That being said, learn from the things you encounter in life, the teachings you stumble upon. (Sorry for going so philosohical on you guys, I like to do that, find a meaning to the things we do and what is bad and good to do :P)

[Avitar]

And if I hadn't "made" genuine all my Windows OSes I used, I wouldn't have known half the things I know know about Windows and Microsoft. Teaching yourself setp-by-step is the best way to obtain things. Everything the world has to offer has a effect in our lives. It's up to us if we take the right choices. IMHO you got to go with your gut with things you do in your life... :)

EDIT: That being said, learn from the things you encounter in life, the teachings you stumble upon. (Sorry for going so philosoohical on you guys, I like to do that, find a meaning to the things we do and what is bad and good to do :P)

Exactly my point. From watching how the loader is executed in the pirated versions of windows, I load all my drivers on the script too. Saves someone a hell of a lot of trouble than installing them one by one.

[Guest JusChillin]

I had some random feeling a. Artisist maybe complaining here :s

[T0nyB]

And if I hadn't "made" genuine all my Windows OSes I used, I wouldn't have known half the things I know know about Windows and Microsoft. Teaching yourself setp-by-step is the best way to obtain things. Everything the world has to offer has a effect in our lives. It's up to us if we take the right choices. IMHO you got to go with your gut with things you do in your life... :)

EDIT: That being said, learn from the things you encounter in life, the teachings you stumble upon. (Sorry for going so philosoohical on you guys, I like to do that, find a meaning to the things we do and what is bad and good to do :P)

Exactly my point. From watching how the loader is executed in the pirated versions of windows, I load all my drivers on the script too. Saves someone a hell of a lot of trouble than installing them one by one.

You got me wrong there. I was the user, not the creator. I've always been the user. I lack the skill to program. (Or I just haven't made the effort to learn it? Had other interests? Always enjoying getting to know the GUIs of the programs I used)

EDIT: I love to ask myself: "What can I/did I learn from this?"

[FreeRyde]

Good post!