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There is a great book about this subject by Matt Mason which you can download for free at http://www.thepiratesdilemma.com/

One of my favorite books is The Pirate's Dilemma: http://thepiratesdilemma.com/

Did you buy it or steal it?

One of my favorite books is The Pirate's Dilemma: http://thepiratesdilemma.com/ It talks about the association between ancient methods of production and distribution, and streamlined methods of delivery. Piracy has always been on the bleeding-edge of mixing things up, and getting things out there faster than any large corporation could handle. I don't see that changing any time soon. Sure, the corporations might force governments to lean on the pirates, but they will just push them underground - won't stop the signal. Corporations and governments should earn from piracy, improve their business models, and give the people what they want - not what they think they want.

Fine for me. At least allow me to redirect you to http://www.thepiratesdilemma.com/

Altho it doesn't address the (non)equivalence of copyright infringement to stealing, it proves how piracy is beneficial for everyone AND a common commercial practice. Check it out.

Please don't say IP. There is *NO SUCH THING* as intellectual "property". Musicians and content "producers" have the right to get a return of their investment. But after that return, they're no longer being "stolen" by pirates because they already got their money back.

I'd recommend you to read The Pirate's Dilemma, and see how piracy is beneficial to EVERYONE. It's more about economics than morals. In fact, the U.S. progressed so fast because they "pirated" european patents and paid absolutely no royalties (don't believe me, read the book).

That's a fair point, but it doesn't make Hasbro's strategy any less retarded.

Two issues:

1. Copyright law. This game has been around for over sixty years. Is society (including the owners of Scrabble as well as its enthusiasts) really best served by granting such long terms of copyright, well beyond the death of the original creator? Sure, it's great for the owners, but is it the best policy for society at large?

2. Business strategy. Hasbro could do four things that I can think of: 1. Ignore Scrabulous, 2. shut it down, 3. shut it down and harness the interest with its own version, or 4. cut a deal with Scrabulous- "hey, great job, let's work together, here's some $ to keep you going, by the way you totally infringed on our trademark, otherwise we would have paid you more" type of thing. #1 and #2 are dumb (for different reasons), #3 is expensive and tough to pull off, #4 is smart.

It absolutely matters to Hasbro if they are selling more due to Scrabulous. Hasbro is a business; they aren't interested in legal theory except in how it affects their bottom line. They are interested in selling their wares. Having millions of people thinking about Scrabble who otherwise would be thinking about something else is good for Hasbro. It's great advertising; the increase in mindshare is very likely much, much more valuable than any loss due to cannabalism (due to some choosing to play online instead of buying the board game). I think the argument put forth by warez and music sharers is usually self-serving and overstated, but it's not entirely wrong.

We actually bought a Boggle game recently because of an online boggle-like game (which I won't link to, though if you search for 'web boggle' I suspect you mind find it rather easily...).

Let me say that again: We started playing a Boggle-like game online. We loved it. But we recognized that it would also be fun to play the real game sometimes (b/c sitting around a table is more social than staring at a screen, etc.). So we bought your damn game.

Hasbro, I've got four kids under six. I am your wet dream demographic: I have both money and kids, and I love toys. Don't piss me off.

Try a different strategy.