Why people steal software and how they justify doing so is based on their personal opinions regarding stealing and theft. What constitutes stealing? Sticking a gun in someone's side is undeniably stealing. Are "White collar" crimes, like embezzlement and fraud, stealing? Is cheating on your income tax, or padding your expense account an criminal offense? Is it stealing to 'borrow' a pen from work to use with non-company business? Is making personal phone calls on company time, taking an extra hour at lunch, spending work time daydreaming, or otherwise putting in less than a full days work stealing from your employer? Most people consider these things nothing more than normal and in general acceptable behaviour (within limits, obviously a person who constantly takes long lunches or sits around doing nothing is going to raise eyebrows from the higher-ups). Even though the law distinguishes between petty theft and grand larceny, what constitutes "stealing" for most of us is a matter of personal opinion.
You realize, that argument is totally BS.....right?
Well you've yet to properly counter it.
So if I share a copy with a friend it's piracy, in your mind, but If I sell it via Ebay it's OK?
Yes. Of course it's piracy.
Do you even realize how stupid that sounds to the real world?
Yes, I've spent some time there. You should give it a shot some day.
You can call it whatever you want, but I call it doing a favor for a friend.
Apparently, everything is piracy or just plain WRONG, unless it puts money in your pocket. Right?
Three things: I never said piracy was wrong. The fact is that making copies of copyright software is piracy. It's also against the law in all countries that are signatories to the Berne Convention. Whether it is morally wrong is another question altogether and fits in with the above regarding subjective viewpoints.
Second, if you don't want to pay for software, there are plenty of free alternatives.
Third: it's odd that you make the argument "unless it puts money in your pocket". First, I don't work for Microsoft, so it wouldn't put money in my pocket anyway. This has nothing to do with money and everything to do with what is and is not illegal, and therefore safe to endorse on the forum. And if it had to do with money, it would have to be your own refusal to part with it to get a piece of software, while making ad hoc justifications based on it being old, or some other nonsense.
Just try to buy MS dos from Microsoft and see how far that gets you. Rots O Ruck!
asserting your original claim without addressing the argument I put against it is meaningless. As I said, there are alternative channels to get it. Most people don't buy their software directly from the company in question anyway, and sometimes it's not possible from the get-go, instead relying on a specific distribution platform run by another company.
People who don't write software are especially quick to dismiss software as intangible and that copying commercial software products is a victimless crime. However the same argument could be put forward for "borrowing" a neighbors cable using a Y splitter. Most importantly, for software, there actually is a monetary loss involved in piracy. Not really from "lost revenue" which is difficult to calculate anyway, but more so from providing support for pirated copies of the software, which often comprises an alarming percentage of fielded calls.
It's sort of a example of the
Free Rider problem. This is a growing trend, and has been growing over time both as Computers and digital information permeate more of our lives and people catch on to the fact that they can get away with obtaining something without contributing; over time more and more people go from being contributors(buying software) to "free riders" (who pirate it or get friends to copy it). This is normal human behaviour because contributing incurs costs of various kinds, and consumers inherently try to minimize their costs if at all possible. For older software, the heavy cost is usually in time, just finding how to buy it proper can be difficult, and some people can't be bothered with the intellectual burden of such a task when they could either make a duplicate of one of their own disks or download a copy for free off the internet.
The free rider problem is not a static issue. It usually grows over time as people catch on to the fact that they can get away with obtaining something without contributing, and hence more and more people go from being contributors to free riders. This is normal human behaviour because contributing incurs costs of various kinds, and consumers inherently try to minimize their costs if at all possible.
Of course, that only applies when the software in question is being actively sold. What about abandonware? Where does that fit in?
Well, as I noted, you can buy it; and you can often get it for free- in boxes- from businesses that have been around long enough and happen to have old stock. However there is a distinct difference from purchasing a used copy of MS-DOS on ebay and copying your friends floppies; the former deprives the seller of the product and gives it to the buyer in exchange for a price. the latter- whether you call it "doing a favour for a friend" or not (would you use that same argument as the driver of a getaway van?) is still software piracy. It's a lot easier for people to find moral footing with it, but that doesn't change what it is, nor how it is regarded by the law and therefore by forum rules. Personally, I have no moral qualm with the very thing you mentioned, such as making a copy of the DOS install disks for a friend, for many of the same reasons you mention; the time-investment of getting a copy "properly" would often far exceed what I would be willing to pay (time wise and money-wise). However, I also don't fool myself into thinking it's legally above board or that it isn't piracy, because it is. More often I've been suggesting freeDOS, not because it's free and legally in the clear to endorse in settings such as this forum but also because it's functionality in many respects far surpasses what any standalone copy of MS-DOS can do.
I made no implications about the morality of piracy, or how I feel about it. I've only stated a few facts. To reiterate:
1. As per the Berne convention, making copies of copyright software is copyright infringement and therefore a criminal offense in all signatory countries, with varying ancillary rules depending on the country.
2. Piracy is the act of making copies of copyright software.
3. Therefore, making copies of copyright software- it doesn't matter what the purpose is, whether it's a torrent or you're using a DISKCOPY to create copies of the DOS 6 setup disks- is illegal. It doesn't matter how you feel about it- or how I feel about it (which I've not mentioned, so your suppositions thereof are nothing more than wild speculation) It's illegal and therefore it is against the forum rules to endorse it.
