maemo.org - Talk - Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

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Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dana.s (Post 820531)

what if you don't have a choice?

As cold as it sounds, you always have a choice.

I've chosen to pay for my goods and services. If I can't afford them, I don't obtain them. If they're unavailable via anything but illicit means, I don't obtain them.

Start down the path of rationalization, and you find you risk undermining any ethical positions you would take on other subjects.

But some are okay with that.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

Quote:

Originally Posted by geohsia (Post 820397)

Um, no its not cool but that doesn't give you a license to steal. How about this, send us your address and we'll send all of the homeless people in your city and take all the stuff they need. Yeah, what's wrong with that? They're starving and hungry. You'd be glad to right that wrong, right?

The bottom line to your thinking is that its a good thing as long as its someone else's dime. Once it's yours, then wait, hold up. That's not right.

Hypocrite much?

We're talking about right and wrong. Let's talk specifics. What software? Photoshop? you can it for like $199 (someone else said) or maybe it's Office fo rlike $70. Can not this starving child save $70? Unless that child is literally naked and starving I'd say he can probably scrimp and save.

That college boy will spend more on the cool laptop he wants or MCB or iPod. But somehow they find money for that. Let's be real. Kids that need software in college have student labs they can go to to get access to everything they need. Don't pretend that the student will die or all of a sudden lose his brain and fail because he won't. He just has to work a little harder.

Wait, your saying if you're black you can get higher scores on tests because of the color of your skin? Seriously. No.... that's wrong... I know we disagree, but trust me, Affirmative Action doesn't give you different test scores. I'm pretty sure about that.

The fact that you would belittle the plight of blacks from the past by comparing them to students? You have got to be kidding.

Slaves were kidnapped, beaten, sold, raped and forced to work in inhuman conditions against their will and you compare it to students that a) want to go to college b) know that in order to go to college they need school supplies?

So no, they're not the same and you're still wrong. I mean if you follow your thinking that poor students have a moral right to steal, then what prevents them from taking other "rich" student's laptops?

And what constitutes poor? Naked and starving or the student too lazy to get off their *** and get a job and only live off the allowance their mom gives them? Please.

Oh please...you bring up race in your argument, then act all self righteous when I thing you have a false premise. You can't be American right? Anyone from over here liberal or conservative would at least have understood that I am saying certain groups can score substancially lower on tests and still get into colleges/police depts etc with those scores, where another group would not have a chance. Debate away if it is justified or not but it is fact. Btw I spent 6 years as a case worker in the worst areas in nyc (bed stuy and bushwick). So my opinions are not out of a text book they are out of experience (oh and I do believe in some limited affirmative action too).

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

I'm invoking Podwin's law in this thread.

I think all Apple products are ok to pirate. So there.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

@Texrat actually it sucks when in 2010 no software company accepts direct purchase from your country while you can get their latest product with only 1 or 2$.

I have Ubuntu 10 on my laptop and all softwares are l have are free so I'm good software wise.

@ysss apply that rule for MS and Adobe products too and everyone will be happy.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

LOL... Man, i'm 15 and every software i use is pirated. To me it sounds weird when someone says to me he bought a program. I sometimes buy games, but most of the time, I use rapidshare. But, if you're planning on using pirated software for your college work, then I'd recommend to stick with free software. But if's it's for personal use, ... Just enter "warez" on google and see how much pirated software you find.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

I will speak from the other side and might be blamed only here or on the forum.But this should have been said.

First of all, yea I'm from Russia where only lazy doesn't steal stuff in the internet - songs, video, software, whatever else. And I admit 95% of them, if they're asked "download free"(that's how people define piracy here) or purchase it, answer "of course download it free,why the hell I'd spend my money on this". Unfortunately, it's a wild place and people tend to value only visible things(cars clothes and so on,you understand me). For stuff like software, movies and everything else people use, see or hear but can't literary touch there's no value. It's considered to be irrelevant that's why people can't think of paying somebody for movie for example.

Secondary, speaking about myself, yes I have some pirate software(W7 and CS5(i have a lame excuse for it^^) on PC) but I always try to find and use freeware applications. I also have some lossless music and few movies I downloaded via torrent. If you ask me how I sleep I honestly answer good enough. There are more serious things that may not let me sleep than piracy. You may call me bollock or whatever...

Honestly I don't want to vote in the poll. I don't want to vote "yes" because I don't want to support this way(it's like smoking. Every who smokes say to non-smokers "don't start it's very bad habit" but still smokes). And "no" isn't an option too for the reason it's everyone's own decision. Basicly you shouldn't use pirate stuff but practicaly there's an easy way and some choose it.

PS there's another reason for piracy to happen - in some contries like Russia and others you won't get punished for it. Basicly nobody cares that's why people feel free to share and use pirate stuff.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texrat (Post 820427)

I fail to see how the argument is broken, Benson.

Using that logic, someone who would never buy a Mercedes but steals one is not committing theft.

Allow me first to quote "that logic":

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benson (Post 819548)

Initially, they have a certain amount of physical assets (e.g. boxed software). If I don't download it, they keep all their physical assets and I don't pay them any money. If I do download it, they still keep all their physical assets, and I don't pay them any money. They didn't lose anything by my downloading it, either vs. the initial state, or vs. the hypothetical state where I didn't copy that floppy, and where there is no loss there is no theft

Now to adapt that to your Mercedes example:

Quote:

Initially, they have a certain amount of physical assets (e.g. ~~boxed software~~ cars). If I don't ~~download~~ steal it, they keep all their physical assets and I don't pay them any money. If I do ~~download~~ steal it, they ~~still keep all their physical assets~~ lose a car, and I don't pay them any money. They didn't lose anything lost an actual vehicle by my ~~downloading~~ stealing it, either vs. the initial state, or vs. the hypothetical state where I ~~didn't copy that floppy~~ wouldn't steal a car.

See the difference? They still didn't lose a sale, but they lost actual property, so it's theft even without the dubious notion of counting hypothetical sales as stealable property.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

I've gained things through less than honest means before but I tend to go by a bit of a I have a rule of thumb, Would I have bought this otherwise?

For example i was happy to pay for starcraft 2 (even before i knew about all the copy protection) but I'm not going to pay $100 for a average PC game that I might play twice..

If a developer goes out of their way to make a superior product I am happy to go out of my way to pay for it, same goes for movies, books music whatever I'll by the things that I see a value in. but the 'average' stuff I'm not going to pay for...

Is it moral...probably not, but I don't really care, If developers put more effort into what they produce then people will see value rather than a price.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dana.s (Post 820556)

@ysss apply that rule for MS and Adobe products too and everyone will be happy.

Podwin's law [a variant of Godwin's law]:

"As a tmo tthread grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Apple or iPhone approaches 1."

It was mentioned in jest.
Personally i think all pirates are ignorant of the society at large. They're able to live within pockets of community 'wealth' and become out of touch with principally important issues.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texrat (Post 820533)

So not pirating stuff has made you a perfect person, no slippery slope and some poor guy who got a pdf is on his way to being jack the ripper?