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Android Software Piracy Rampant
bednarz writes "Pirating Android apps is a longstanding problem. But it seems to be getting worse, even as Google begins to respond much more aggressively. The dilemma: protecting developers' investments, and revenue stream, while keeping an open platform. Some have argued that piracy is rampant in those countries where the online Android Market is not yet available. But a recent KeyesLabs research project suggests that may not be true: 'Over the course of 90 days, the [KeyesLabs] app was installed a total of 8,659 times. Of those installations only 2,831 were legitimate purchases, representing an overall piracy rate of over 67%.... The largest contributor to piracy, by far, is the United States providing 4,054 or about 70% of all pirated installations...'"
Piracy and global warming are directly correlated! So, with more piracy, we'll finally see the global warming trend reverse!
http://www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/
char*f="char*f=%c%s%c;main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}";main(){printf(f,34,f,34);}
If it is useful software, people will develop for it for free.
What about people who want to eat?
I'm not a coder, but I work with them. Lets take a not so hypothetical situation where we produce software that you find useful. We say that if you want to use our software, you have to pay us a certain amount of money on a regular basis. Now, either you can pay us to use our software, or find another way of doing what our software does for you.
You can try to obfuscate the issue and try to reframe it all day long, but it won't work. The fact of the matter is simple. A person who produces something gets to dictate the terms under which it is used. It is the same in all aspects of society, but for some reason the digital segment of society fails to recognize it. If I want a ditch dug in my backyard, I can either dig it myself, or pay someone else to do it. If I pay someone else to dig a ditch for me, I do not have some stupid notion that they are obligated to dig other ditches for me at no further charge. Why is software any different? You paid for some software, so you can give it to your friends for free? Free loaders are the bottom feeders of society. They are the arrogant bastards who have no concern for others. They are so ego centric that they fail to consider how their actions negatively impact others. Now, you can go right ahead and be comfortable among them.
It does not matter what you, and a bunch of like minded tools like you want to believe about copy protection. The reality of the matter is that real people are spending their lives and brain power writing code that makes life better for everyone who uses it. They are developing applications that help businesses run more efficiently. They are codifying processes that improve the way people do things. You might think that you have some right to it, but you don't. Your only right to it involves your ability to reproduce it on your own. If you aren't creating it, you don't own it and you don't have any right to it. How idiotic do you have to be to believe otherwise?
Do you have a wife, girlfriend, lover? Do you have sex with them? You know what... I know how to have sex too. Can I come right along and put myself into the middle of what you've got going on? Me fucking your partner is more legit than you copying software. At least if I fuck your partner, it is consentual... assuming I don't rape them. When you copy software, you're ignoring the wishes of the person who created it. You are violating them. You are taking away their right to earn a living for their labor.
Now, if you want to use free software, go right ahead and use it. If you want to use software that has a cost attached to, pay the cost or do without it.