Chantelle: I can see your point about stealing in a way. See most software that people use, is just taken "out of the box" so to speak. So it's not like you have to work more to sell 10 copies as opposed to 1 (you have to work more to make 10 shirts as opposed to 1).

But think of it like this, you work months to make a certain software. You lose sleepless nights to fix bugs, to ensure that the user's data is secure etc etc... you get 203 buyers and then 2000 people just download an illegally uploaded version. Would you still feel motivated enough to continue improving that program when you know that only a handful of people are going to give you some sort of reward (in this case, pay for it)?

Sure, people use a lot of things they could do without. Heck, theoretically my parents don't need the computer to survive. BUT, they sure do have a lot of stuff on there which makes their lives a lot easier. And that's not mentioning the stuff they have for entertainment.

@Vera: It probably sounds like I'm advocating piracy, but I'm not.

Different people would react to that situation in different ways. Most people would probably be pissed off, but me, I'd be curious about why the 2k downloaded it. To answer your question simply, I'd keep working on it. Honestly, though, it depends on so many other things. Why am I making software? What kind of software is it? Who is it for? Who is downloading it? Who uploaded it? How much am I getting paid?  Am I getting 100%, 50%, 2%, .01% of the retail of the price?

My post wasn't about what people can do without. The point is that when given a choice between going without and buying, a certain group of people will always choose to NOT buy. Some may be children with parents who will not let them spend their money on software or music. Others may not be able to purchase the product in their region. Some people just download to download (because they're curious) and they want to see what something does or what it sounds like. Others, still, may not like what they've downloaded that much so if they had to pay for it, they simply wouldn't have it. It's just not worth it to them. 

Me either.. but I have nothing to feel guilty about 0:)

Nope. In fact I downloaded a movie just tonight. The Black Cauldron. It's amazing how after so many years I can still love these old cartoons, and even appreciate them more...

I do feel bad for the people who fall over themselves trying to justify piracy when they realise they've just admitted doing something mildly illegal/immoral (either or both depending on where you live). Just... don't sweat it?

@Jordie -  Ohh back in October, Warezbb had a thread full of Halloween themed TV shows and old movies. They had a CRAP load of the old Disney Halloween movies, so I went nuts watching 'em.

 There are others that do it for different holidays. The Christmas thread was INSANE with stuff. It's amazing what some people have been able to save over the years.

 Some of these were very old episodes of Scooby Doo and other older TV shows. Kinda crazy!

Well lets see. I'm running a bug-less pirated version of Windows 7 Ultimate, I have all Adobe stuff pirated, from Illustrator, inDesign, Dreamweaver, Photoshop to well, what not. I have another priated version of Paint shop Pro and I have Microsoft Office 2010, also pirated. Guilty as charge. I also have about five pirated games, but they're mostly the "cooking games" type that's only 6 euros or so, but I decide not to buy because I only play it once for like an hour and then hate it. I pirate music too, but I'm trying to save for my own collection, so that's going down. I pirated all episodes of my favourite anime series and of the OC. And...I'm a law student. One could call it hypocrisy (uhm, I can't spell that word), but I call it poverty.

I buy all my software for the same reasons listed previously about supporting developers, funding research, etc.

A while ago I probably would have said piracy can be forgiven when people cannot afford the software but need access to it. However, I now find that unlikely.

I will use Photoshop as an example — most commonly used as a creative tool. A student will have access to Photoshop at their educational institute. A freelancer or studio will create a budget to purchase a license — as with any business where you need to purchase tools in order to provide a service i.e. builders get vans, restaurants get pans, n'est-ce pas?

Therefore, there are two main excuses to pirating software. Either the user is unwilling to make use of those resources available to them (which is lazy) or they do not take the software seriously enough as a tool to invest money in it.

If it's the latter, then there are always cheaper alternatives. Even free ones. So software piracy is inexcusable.

Having said that I do not believe in the merits of copyright. Adobe have all the money in the world to legally chase anyone who profits from a pirated copy of Photoshop. But a smaller software company, or even a single developer, will probably not. So does that mean that copyright is a selective law that favours the rich, rather than the citizen?

That's not exactly true. I use Photoshop because I like being creative, but I'm not taking a course that has anything to do with web design. Therefore, if I want to buy Photoshop for no purpose whatsoever except my own entertainment, designing my website, etc. then I have to buy it at the full price, about 2000 euros if I'm not mistaken. I don't have that kind of money. If I were to follow an education that has to do with web design, in which the license for Photoshop would be much cheaper, I would buy it. If I was working for a company, I would ofcourse buy Photoshop. But I'm not. I work in Photoshop as a hobby of mine, but I simply don't have 2000 euros to spend on a hobby. If Photoshop was 50 euros, I'd buy it. If it was 100 euros, I would buy it too. Because that is the sort of money I can afford on a hobby. 

You are however right that there are cheaper alternatives and I could always go for those. But it's not because I don't think Adobe is great, I truly believe it's marvellous, but I simply cannot afford it. 

"I can't afford it" is as shit a reason as any. You can buy older versions of software for a fraction of its original retail price. Try ebay, for starters.

^ Excellent!

I'm talking new, boxed versions & not used.

Not all eBay sellers are shady