Software Piracy

[RobinFinderson]

I'm putting this in the 'religion' forum because it is about personal ethics (which is as close to 'religion' as an atheist is going to get). The question of whether or not people use Photoshop, in the photography thread, has me wondering about the widespread use of pirated software. My students use a lot of pirated software. So did I, when I was a student. I was under the false impression that software companies wanted students to pirate their work, in order to increase market saturation. I don't believe this anymore, but it was the kind of mental gymnastic I was once willing to make in order to save myself a few hundred bucks.

Anyhow, some programs, like MS Word, Photoshop, and others, get heavily pirated. I guess I tend to doubt that anyone but a professional would drop $500 for programs like Photoshop and Lightroom. So I wanted to conduct a poll to see what people think about this.

[beelzebabette]

As a point of clarification, you're calling a substantial # of our photog participants liars and thieves?

(I do love to put words in others' mouths from time to time.)

[RobinFinderson]

As a point of clarification, you're calling a substantial # of our photog participants liars and thieves?

(I do love to put words in others' mouths from time to time.)

If people are using a pirated copy of Photoshop, I personally consider that to be a fairly serious ethical failing. I used to do it. I got better (though I guess I have to wonder how I would feel if I didn't get special academic pricing).

[Jarid in Cedar]

I consider piracy a redistribution of wealth.

[RobinFinderson]

I consider piracy a redistribution of wealth.

I've known a few 'stick it to the man' types like you. They simply steal whatever they like, and call that 'sticking it to the man.' What always bugged me about these people is how bloody materialistic they were. I can understand stealing iPods to use as skipping stones, thereby making a broader political statement about materialism and corporate infiltration into our lives, but when the thief steals to have nice things, that makes me think he is just a petty criminal.

[Indy Coug]

Software piracy results in a price spiral. Companies have to charge higher prices to offset the loss of revenue due to piracy.

Actually, I don't think it does, but I'll throw it out anyway.

[woot]

I think it's a big problem if one is in turn making money from it, but I have a softer view regarding software or any other media that the user would never in a million years have purchased. It's still illegal, of course, but that doesn't mean much to me. I still consider it to be somewhat unethical, but on the same level as various other improprieties that even good people commit.

For example, I've come to think that eating meat is ethically problematic, and possibly even wrong, due to the great deal of harm it does to our environment, the untold suffering it causes, the great wastefulness of it in terms of food given to our animals instead of starving people, etc. I continue to eat meat anyway, as I'm just not at a point in my life where I feel I can live up to my ethical perception on that issue.

[jay santos]

It's wrong and I should probably feel guilty for it, but I don't.

[Indy Coug]

I used to use pirated software a lot up through college, but I don't anymore. Part of that is that I don't consume a lot of software for home use, part of that is that I have enough money to cover the minimal expenses for the software I use and part of that is that I would feel guilty breaking the law for a relatively minor expense and part of that is because now that I'm in software development I don't want to be a hypocrite.

[Katy Lied]

If people are using a pirated copy of Photoshop, I personally consider that to be a fairly serious ethical failing. I used to do it. I got better (though I guess I have to wonder how I would feel if I didn't get special academic pricing).

Photoshop cost for Joe Sixpack: $899.00
Academic Discounted cost for Photoshop: $199.00

Since you can get the academic rate for any software you like, isnt this somewhat um....

[woot]

Photoshop cost for Joe Sixpack: $899.00
Academic Discounted cost for Photoshop: $199.00

Since you can get the academic rate for any software you like, isnt this somewhat um....

I haven't ever used photoshop and was just checking out the prices I can get on it. It seems that the 3D modeling and way-over-my-head package is 169, but I can get photoshop elements 8 for 60 or lightroom II for 85. Are either of those good enough for basic photo editing? Do non-professionals really need the 900 dollar version?

[clackamascoug]

Everything I do has a negative impact on something else. Eating, Driving, Sewage, Dwelling, Heat, Cooling, even my breathing. You could make the list a million items long.

So at item #13,453, you pull out software piracy. The truth is, I used to have Photoshop 3.1, back in the day. I still have 4,000 mp3's. I play royalty free performance on YouTube.

Item #22,478 is parking in the "senior only" parking at church, and claiming I'm old enough.

Item #784 is Income Taxes. Let's just say I try to pay as little as possible.

Item #234,990 is home teaching. Yes I wave when I drive past.

The truth is, I don't have the luxury of worrying about every little nuance of life. I speed, I roll stop, I give thousands to charity each year. And in the end the love I take, is equal to the love I make.

If there is no God - and to extrapolate No Government, how does one persons right of ownership supersede another's right of stealing? Morally its a mute point isn't it? To say ones moray is superior to another's moray, is judgmental. Unless there is a moral standard and authority which rules supreme.

[RobinFinderson]

I haven't ever used photoshop and was just checking out the prices I can get on it. It seems that the 3D modeling and way-over-my-head package is 169, but I can get photoshop elements 8 for 60 or lightroom II for 85. Are either of those good enough for basic photo editing? Do non-professionals really need the 900 dollar version?

Lightroom kicks butt. I love it, and it is capable of doing just about all of the photo fixing a necessary.

Anyhow, most academic licenses do not allow for professional use outside of education, so I am still stuck, if I ever want to sell my photography commercially. Lucky for me, when/if it ever comes to that, Adobe will upgrade an academic package to the professional package for the price of the professional upgrade (much lower than the full professional price). For this reason alone, I encourage all of my students to buy as much of the software as they can afford, before they graduate.

[woot]

Everything I do has a negative impact on something else. Eating, Driving, Sewage, Dwelling, Heat, Cooling, even my breathing. You could make the list a million items long.

So at item #13,453, you pull out software piracy. The truth is, I used to have Photoshop 3.1, back in the day. I still have 4,000 mp3's. I play royalty free performance on YouTube.

Item #22,478 is parking in the "senior only" parking at church, and claiming I'm old enough.

Item #784 is Income Taxes. Let's just say I try to pay as little as possible.

Item #234,990 is home teaching. Yes I wave when I drive past.

The truth is, I don't have the luxury of worrying about every little nuance of life. I speed, I roll stop, I give thousands to charity each year. And in the end the love I take, is equal to the love I make.

If there is no God - and to extrapolate No Government, how does one persons right of ownership supersede another's right of stealing? Morally its a mute point isn't it? To say ones moray is superior to another's moray, is judgmental. Unless there is a moral standard and authority which rules supreme.

Rawr!

[RobinFinderson]

If there is no God - and to extrapolate No Government, how does one persons right of ownership supersede another's right of stealing? Morally its a mute point isn't it? To say ones moray is superior to another's moray, is judgmental. Unless there is a moral standard and authority which rules supreme.

Accepting the Golden Rule does NOT require belief in a supreme being.