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Software Piracy Due to Expensive Hardware, Says Ballmer

Posted by michael on from the passing-the-buck dept.

frdmfghtr writes "ZDNet is running a story where Steve Ballmer tries to pin the blame of software copyright infringement on expensive hardware: 'One way to stem piracy is to offer consumers in emerging countries a low-cost PC, Ballmer said. "There has to be...a $100 computer to go down-market in some of these countries. We have to engineer (PCs) to be lighter and cheaper," he said.' Does he think that cheaper hardware will make copying software harder to do?"

1 of 814 comments (clear)

  1. Nop by flibuste · · Score: 0, Troll

    Does he think that cheaper hardware will make copying software harder to do?"



    No, your reasoning is wrong.


    Reducing the cost of hardware leaves budget for buying softwares.


    Give your mum a free PC and she will buy a Windows license to go with it, which she would have copied from you if she had to buy the PC too and go over budget. Do that a hundred thousand times and you get the picture.


    That's the logic behind the idea.