Doesn't the nature of computing and the Internet lend itself to the free sharing of information? What does the infatuation with ownership and possession have to do with law. In some parts of the world people plant food and others are allowed to "free harvest" and it has been that way for a long time. So if you don't want to share it, don't plant it.
Comments?
2007-12-31 04:17:25 · 17 answers · asked by Mud 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
I understand the need for people to answer in a p.c. fashion, but most of your answers revolve around selfish attitudes.
People, relax... it's just a question. Why are we so infatuated with getting paid? Share your work and promote competition, and the whole world will benefit.
2007-12-31 04:32:51 · update #1
If you don't want your software jacked, design better, more secure software... and that's the bottom line.
I don't steal, nor do I appreciate the accusations. I am just asking a question to get a variety of responses.
Musicians used to make music and share it with the world without pay. Where did the digression occur?
2007-12-31 04:42:35 · update #2
Yeah, and why would a carpenter build a table if he wasn't planning on giving it away? And why would a plumber go to school to learn how to repair pipes if he wasn't planning on donating his time for the betterment of humanity? And why would a bank have so much money if it wasn't planning on just handing it out to everyone for free?
Do you see a pattern here? Software engineering is a trade. Someone put their hard work... their heart and soul... into making a product that will earn them money. If you pirate that software, then the company the guy works for will make less money because nobody is buying it. And because of that, your software engineer gets a cut in pay, or even loses his job. It's the same with songwriters. You pirate the songs, and the songwriter loses money. It's work. It's a trade that these people have struggled to learn, and when you download it from the net and not paying for it, you might as well be walking into their home and taking it off their coffe table. It's theft, plain and simple.
2007-12-31 04:26:47 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just because you do not earn money from programming it does not mean others can not, unfortunately all the hours spent creating software means nothing if you do not earn from it. If you do a days work, do you let your boss have that time for nothing? I can not afford to work free, most of us can't. Of course piracy is illegal, it is as bad as someone stealing your wages.
2007-12-31 04:33:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you are taking the fruits of someone's labor without offering compensation. How would you like it if you spent 8 hours as a burger flipper at the local mcbarf and then got only paid a tenth of what you should have received because the food and your effort should be shared like in some communal society?
It is an entirely different matter if you set up your bbq on the front lawn and choose to give away the burgers. That is your choice. But if you cook a BBQ for your family, and I walk in with six of my friends and grab most of the burgers without even asking, that is theft.
2007-12-31 04:29:34 · answer #3 · answered by busterwasmycat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it really is theft. What you are doing is essentially no different than shoplifting, which was, last time I looked, a form of theft. The software you pirate deprives the company that created it of the profits from the sale thereof, and those profits go to pay the people who worked TO make it. When you look at it THAT way, it seems a LOT less inconsequential, doesn't it? How would YOU like someone taking something YOU had worked to make and sell, thereby depriving YOU of the earnings therefrom? You'd think it really sucked, wouldn't you, and I bet you'd bust their heads open if you had to in order to stop them, wouldn't you? Say any different, and I'll know you're a liar.
2007-12-31 04:28:32 · answer #4 · answered by Stephen H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you had a money making ides would you be happy if others used it and did not pay.
2007-12-31 04:27:26 · answer #5 · answered by Contented 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its all about intellectual property law. If you spent time and effort creating a program, wouldn't you want to be rewarded for it financially? Just like if you spend time and effort building a car, shouldn't you be able to sell it? Just because something doesn't exist in the physical realm does not mean that you have no right to profit from it.
And keep in mind, if there was no money involved in software development, no one would develop new software, and we would all suffer.
Also, allowing people to 'free harvest' implies that you have given your consent for them to harvest that food. This is very different from people just showing up and taking it.
2007-12-31 04:26:25 · answer #6 · answered by justin_I 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YES! it is still stealing
2007-12-31 04:25:34 · answer #7 · answered by Andrew S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Software piracy really is theft!
The question is very similar to the Pre-Fall question: "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
Does anyone remember how that turned out? Different Fruit, same concept!
From: ADDITIONAL DETAILS
The reason that people are obsessed with getting paid is that the earth is filled with non-angelic creatures called "humans" who generally are not altruistic, but who are generally competitive and want to rule over each other.
In a perfect world, the people would always strive to be good, benevolent, intelligent, altruistic, holy, ungreedy, etc. But that is not where we live at the moment. Therefore, we have a system of payment set up to reward those who manage to find a way to get others to pay. It takes the barbarism out of 'getting on'.
On the other hand, there are those in the software-world who are benevolent, altruistic, idealistic, and beneficent; these are RMS and his followers, LT and his followers, the leaders of Grisoft and their followers (the Swedes in general), FSF, most users of GNU GPL, T&RG, and hordes of folks who have made this answer possible (Hallelujah!) -- or, as Madea might say: "Halleluyur!"
2007-12-31 04:23:45 · answer #8 · answered by deanyourfriendinky 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, there can be different interpretations. Do you really believe programmers would study programming careers, get a degree and work hard creating computer programs so that they can distribute it for free and get no profit whatsoever? I don't see a career in that. Is just like the music business, but with programs replacing songs. In the long run. it is illegal no matter what anyone comes up with.
2007-12-31 04:22:16 · answer #9 · answered by japongt 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We live in a society in which we need to work to eat. If you take away the ability of someone to get food for their efforts, that is stealing.
2007-12-31 04:21:55 · answer #10 · answered by Mike K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋