OK, so we've discussed music piracy on Snark before (I'm sure) but what about software piracy...

Do you pirate software?

Do you think software piracy is different to music piracy? Do you do one and not the other?

Discuss!

I pirated Photoshop (and it came with Illustrator) and Microsoft Office.

I do it because I don't have the money to spend on the actual programs. If I did, I would buy them. By the time I have enough money to buy them and have some to spare, I'm sure there will be new versions out, so I will definitely upgrade legally. I try not to do it very often - I wouldn't pirate games or anything that I have enough money to buy.

I don't pirate music. I guess there's no real difference when you get right down to it - I think it's just that whereas you can connect a specific person with music (i.e. I'm cheating x out of the $10 that their CD would cost), software is just software, and you don't really put a name or face to it. Not saying that that makes it okay, or even that it's a conscious thought process - it's my best explanation, though.

On my old Windows laptop I had pirated Photoshop.

Now, I have the entire CS4, legally bought, because my instructors won't help me if something goes wrong on pirated software. iWork is bought from the Apple Store, etc.

I don't know if I really have a stance on it, but my non-pirated software seems to work nicer.

I pirate both. I don't have the money to buy new music all the time. Or new software.
Add to that the fact that I don't have a credit card and my parents are reluctant to use theirs and it makes it nearly impossible for me to get music from bands that are not 'out' here yet.

I pirate music without a problem, and have Photoshop CS2 on my laptop which I downloaded back in 2007. Otherwise, all other software on my computer is open source - Open Office, etc.

I don't feel guilty at all about Photoshop - it's not as though I would have purchased it if it hadn't been available to download, as I use it maybe once a fortnight to edit photos, if that. I don't use it for anything particularly heavy-duty, nothing I couldn't use GIMP for if I really had to. I just CBF removing Photoshop and downloading GIMP.

I pirate both software and music (along with movies). See as how I'm not a professional designer/developer and don't spend my entire day working in these programs, I'm not going to spend $2000+ on just Adobe products.

That being said, there are some programs that I would actually buy. I bought the last MacHeist bundle, and plan on buying the next one as long as the apps look good. I would also consider buying apps like Tweetie and Coda. Atebits (making of Tweetie) isn't that big of a company; I believe only one person runs it. Spending $20 to pay for the hours of work he's put in doesn't bother me. I know I would like that $20 if I spent over 100 hours on an app. Coda I would buy because I use it so much.

I don't think there's too much harm done if the person (in this case me) doesn't burn the program onto a CD and start selling/giving them away. Not saying piracy is good, though.

But they presumably got it from someone who did that (or uploaded it).

^ You can turn of smileys in the post options!

Ooh, I can too! I usually just use the Quick Reply box so I hadn't noticed that before.

So...? You said that there's no harm if "the person" doesn't do it - but clearly some "the person" does do it.

I just could go on and on about this, so I'll try to be straight to the point.

Software:
In Poland the prices are outrageous, they always were and developers never seen it as a problem. It's because we're not considered as an attractive market - so no student discounts (well, Adobe used to have one years back), lucrative offers and whatnot. Buying software is considered as an ~elite~ privilege, thus family/friends/society encourages you to download illegally. People laugh at you if you dare to buy something legally, hell even if it's inexpensive. Why? It's considered to be irresponsible - if you can get it for free why buy it?

There's another issue all together with operating systems. No computers in my town (of 60.000 people) had a legal system before Vista came out. Honestly. Even those who thought they did - they were actually ripped off (as they paid for the their system). My brother was surprised when after an year of having a brand new computer he found out his Windows X.P was pirated. Also, there's another case - in my town people used to be computer illiterate, so there was no way they could have installed everything they needed. Of course, then comes the money issue... So, those computer shops installed everything a new user needed on their computer (mostly Microsoft Office, an Antivirus, etc.). When your computer got broke, or you just wanted another OS, you came to their services, left your PC and voila for a small amount of money you had everything set up.

A few years back, these computer shops gave in and were bought by various networks. Also, the government started to butt in more, so needles to say, everything has to be legal now. I don't have to say that people are pretty much unhappy, right?

Okay, so now let's imagine that you needed a piece of software you didn't have or a game - what do you do? You go to the town's black market of course! Sure we had internet a few years back, but it was slow and horrid, thus we preferred to buy stuff from our neighbours and friends (in my case it was my neighbour). Now, we have quick connections, so needles to say no one sells these any more.

I don't have to say I had and have pirated software / games, do I? Sure, it's still stealing no matter how justified, believe me everyone knows. The thing is if the prices were normal, most of people would actually buy things on their own.

Music:
It's really mostly the same case - people preferred to buy it on the black market in the past or ripp it off from friends. Now, it's all download mostly. However there is a bigger background to this, I believe I wrote about it before. Our music associations are politicised institutions which ripp off money - it's as simple as this. Sure, the prices are horrendous, but it's artists who actually lose as well. Hell, musicians actually don't make money on CD sales - they make them on concerts / public appearances and ... acting (yup, very popular). In the past it wasn't so bad and tapes were cheaper than CDs now. I own lots of them, even those of international artists (well, at most).

Still, the older generation has a different issue - trust issue. Most teens who lived during communism (and older, but mainly them) smuggled into the country tapes of artists forbidden by the regime, borrowed the tapes to one another and considered it to be a form of protesting. So, today, people brought up then don't trust the music industry.

I would love to support the artists I love and I actually do - I have a few CDs of those who I listen to constantly. The problem is they don't get much from it.

I know I live in a different country now, where everything is cheaper and a tad bit less complicated. However, people are creatures of habit and it's hard for me to re-adjust, or ... be guilty about it.

[Offtopic]Also, the funny thing is that it was the same with me about photo/graphic copyrights - no one understands this concept in Poland. The law is unclear on that. Also, professional designers constantly use copyrighted images without asking for permission or paying for them. What happens when the owner finds out? Nothing! They can take it to court, and they would probably win, but they don't know about it![/Offtopic]

Yup, we're strange.

Yeah, I should have clarified in my second reply. I meant that someone like me, a teenager, shouldn't be selling pirated software as income.

That too.