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GogoTheMimic

Pimpin' Red Mage
khanmeister, I got a check for 14 bucks in the mail earlier this week from some group that sued the record industry for the overpricing of CDs. All I did was go to a site and filled out a survey. I didn't have to pay anything for a lawyer.
 

Alchy

New member
sytaylor said:
Has anyone seen the anti piracy stuff they show in theatres/cinemas before a major movie these days? In the UK we get some crappy promo about how piracy brings down democracy and promotes terrorism..
Yeah... The one where it asks you to report people recording films on cameras, right? Like any of the big movie warez groups still go into crowded theatres with a handheld cam/mic :rolleyes:

Besides, I'm the one funding terrorism? Who armed Osama and Sadam in the first place?
 

Hexidecimal

Emutalk Bounty Hunter.
AHHHHHHHH! STICKER! IT BURNS! I AM SO SORRY I DOWNLOAD THINGS!

wait a bloody second....


AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
 

smegforbrain

New member
khanmeister said:
Yes, I think that overpriced software, and a scandalous media industry are more to blame for piracy than the average PC user's ethics.

Well, for starters, I will separate the recording industry from my arguments, because they plan to rip consumers off regardless.

But, for alot of everything else, it's a chicken and egg.

People complain the software/games/whatever is too expensive, so they pirate it. But that just forces the companies to artifically raise the prices that DO sell legally to balance things out, and rightfully so.
So the rest of us get screwed. The prices go up, and people just want to pirate stuff more.

The sad part though is that video & computer games have NOT gone up in price over the years. A new PS2 game is still the same $50 that NES games cost 15 years ago.
So I can't buy the "too expensive" argument, epsecially since people make more money even at the minimum wage level than 15 years ago.
 

khanmeister

Banned
smegforbrain said:
Well, for starters, I will separate the recording industry from my arguments, because they plan to rip consumers off regardless.

But, for alot of everything else, it's a chicken and egg.

People complain the software/games/whatever is too expensive, so they pirate it. But that just forces the companies to artifically raise the prices that DO sell legally to balance things out, and rightfully so.
So the rest of us get screwed. The prices go up, and people just want to pirate stuff more.

The sad part though is that video & computer games have NOT gone up in price over the years. A new PS2 game is still the same $50 that NES games cost 15 years ago.
So I can't buy the "too expensive" argument, epsecially since people make more money even at the minimum wage level than 15 years ago.

I agree with alot of your comments, but I think $50 is too expensive for most games. There are very few games that I have bothered to purchase over the years, but if they'd been $50, I'd likely have passed altogether.

It is a chicken and egg problem for many other items, most prevalently commercial software. One solution in my opinion is open source. Almost every program I can think to use is available for free, and in a clean incarnation at:

www.sourceforge.net

I think if games weren't such a lucrative market (i.e. the game companies are making ALOT of money, more than Hollywood last year), there would be more open source games as well. Alot of this is a different chicken/egg problem though, as it is not very hard to make a good game and get it distributed by a large company, and sit back and collect. It's little wonder that people with initiative don't choose the open source route in this industry. If I'd written even a half ass game (as most of them are actually), I'd be selling it off to Activision, EA games, Microsoft or the like in a HEARTBEAT.
 

My95ZR2

New member
If I must buy a PC game, I wait a year or so, and it'll drop in price. However, I rarely buy that crap anymore. Most of the games are a joke: Need for Speed 6: Hot Pursuit 2

Adam
 

smegforbrain

New member
GogoTheMimic said:
khanmeister, I got a check for 14 bucks in the mail earlier this week from some group that sued the record industry for the overpricing of CDs. All I did was go to a site and filled out a survey. I didn't have to pay anything for a lawyer.

Yes, the group that sued are lawyers who are getting far more money than the consumers they work on "behalf" of.

Our society is now filled with these litigation-happy lawyers, and it really sucks.

A check for $14? Woopdee. That is *maybe* enough to buy another cd. These lawyers get millions.
 

khanmeister

Banned
smegforbrain said:
Yes, the group that sued are lawyers who are getting far more money than the consumers they work on "behalf" of.

Our society is now filled with these litigation-happy lawyers, and it really sucks.

A check for $14? Woopdee. That is *maybe* enough to buy another cd. These lawyers get millions.

It is the record companies, and the millions they've already made (and paid lawyers), that are really getting the good deal. They've made so much money, they can buy their way out of real litigation.

:ranting:
 

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