tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4538961658949262850.post5865682896165889980..comments2024-03-29T00:11:52.589-07:00Comments on Video Game Ruminations: Software ≠ AutomobilesCasey Goddardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01090820441049118534noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4538961658949262850.post-27167290334110759332012-09-16T13:06:50.087-07:002012-09-16T13:06:50.087-07:00Another great article! Although I think your thir...Another great article! Although I think your third point is weaker than your first two. The way I think about piracy is not is it ethical or illegal, but rather piracy exists, so how can companies adapt to it. I don’t think trying to use stricter legal action is going to work because 1) Many piraters are under aged, thus making it more difficult to take legal action against them. 2) No matter how strict you make the punishment for piracy there will always be countries which consider it legal and technologies which make it difficult to track piraters. 3) The more companies clamp down on piracy the stronger the resentment becomes, since many piraters are also these companies customers. Perhaps the best approach for companies would be to consider piracy as a competitor to selling their products and changes their practices to make piracy less attractive. I feel there are 3 main reasons why people pirate. 1) The price of the software. Often times people pirate because they don’t feel the cost of the software/movie/music… is worth the quality. So, instead of paying $20 for a movie they are only half interested in, they can pirate it for free. This way, if the movie is terrible you can just stop watching it and it didn’t cost you anything. 2) Another major factor is the convenience. As download speeds increase, it is becoming easier to do a quick search online and download what you want, instead of going to a store or buying it online and waiting for it to arrive at your house. 3) My last point is kind of related to the previous two, but it deals with the quality and convenience to the user as a whole. There is free software out there which lets you sort, search, and watch your movies is a much more user-friendly manner than the current movie watching softwares. As for video games, I have played several titles where the pirated version ran considerably better than the legal copy. I think the companies should take the things that make pirating attractive and incorporate them into their products. The best examples of companies that have taken this approach, which I can think of, are Netflix and Steam. The cost to subscribe to Netflix is very reasonable, and user interface is pretty friendly. Steam has large sales, customer support for their games, a user-friendly interface, and is very convenient to use. Companies need to make the overall advantages of buying their products better than piracy. I think this approach would be better than trying to use legal action or a moral guilt trip that piracy is unethical.Bradenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11533531667768365707noreply@blogger.com