Piracy in the Indie Community
by Jacob Dankovchik · 07/31/2010 (5:49 am) · 76 comments
With piracy being such a mainstream issue now involving all forms of media I took a moment to think about how this may affect people like us small-time indie guys.
My catalyst for this line of thought came from me thinking about how to distribute my Torque 3D Environment Pack. I'm not much for developing websites, truth of the matter is I don't know a damn thing about it, so I don't feel like making a complex system of extra security and user accounts, I simply don't have the time to learn all of that with college on the side as well. Eventually I came up with a way to do it that will be easy enough, but definitely not secure. I figure just make a password protected download page. Someone makes a purchase, they receive an email with the download link and password. Nice and simple.
However as you can guess, this leaves things open to piracy, if people should be so inclined. All someone has to do is hand out the link and password to other people and anyone could download my work for nothing. Which of course led me wonder about the impact piracy may have on our entire community.
There's of course no need to be so naive as to think none of us here have ever done some level of piracy. A lot of times it's justified in the sense that major companies really won't lose much through some small-time piracy. Download a movie or some songs? The people who worked on that are still going to be millionaires with more money than they know what to do with. But what about the indie game scene like us here?
Obviously starting from the top source, Torque itself, a quick piratebay search shows 3 torrents. One that doesn't have a version, a TGE 1.5, and a T3D 1.0.1. So clearly Torque itself isn't safe from pirates which means we have to have a few right here in this community itself. (especially considering there's a significant amount of people seeding the torrent)
So, what about stepping it down a bit to something more specific? Well, as I was writing the previous paragraph I had the thought to search for Marble Blast and sure enough, a Marble Blast Gold torrent. Also multiple torrents come up for various model and art packs, no immediate way to tell if some did or did not come from this very site. So while obviously there's no doubt people here who occasionally pirate some form of media from some major company, there also those around here who actually are providing some of the stuff here to BE pirated.
This all concerns me so much because soon I'll be apart of that which may be pirated off of. When people pirate software or other media they justify it in that the other person really doesn't NEED it however for some of us here this is very far from the truth. I use for example my own situation. Last November I was discharged from the military 3 years early for a shoulder injury. I had two large surgeries and more physical therapy than I ever want to think of in an attempt to fix it and in the end it wasn't enough and I was kicked out way soon than was planned, also leaving me with a right arm that is virtually useless for any real physical work. Last time I tried, I was able to do an entire 1 pushup before it gave out. So I get removed for a steady source of income, thrust into the outside world during difficult economic times, greatly limited in what I can do. Obviously my only practical option was to go to college, military helps pay for it and I'm going to need the degree. Still doesn't fix the fact though that money isn't exactly easy for me to come by due to my injury and that I was thrust out of my previous job sooner than expected.
With this environment pack I'm working on, I'm hoping to come up with a few extra bucks. Nothing super special, but every dime helps, you know? I'm working on a degree in game design, one of my favorite things to do, next to engineering. However with my shoulder the way it is, things with engineering usually are just painful anyhow as soon as physical work comes into play, so... game design is the safer path. So I figure make a few dollars doing something I love while tryin to make things work everywhere else in my life.
So, that there is the rundown of my story here and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a story like this to tell. Maybe not those exact ways but I'm sure there are others here just like me hoping to use this stuff as an outlet for their practice and love for the art while getting a small amount of compensation.
I'm sure we have pirates here, some people reading this may be the very ones guilty. People that, given the chance, will take any game, movie, or artwork for free and pass it on to others. If anyone like that IS reading this, think about mine and everyone else's situations first...
Download the DVD rip of Avatar, James Cameron will still be able to afford the 10 brand new sports cars for his mid-way birthday. But steal the work of people like myself or others here and you actually ARE taking food out of someone's mouth.
I don't support piracy but in the full corporate world, it has minimal impact. In the indie world though, it is the death of all that we work for. Don't do it. :(
My catalyst for this line of thought came from me thinking about how to distribute my Torque 3D Environment Pack. I'm not much for developing websites, truth of the matter is I don't know a damn thing about it, so I don't feel like making a complex system of extra security and user accounts, I simply don't have the time to learn all of that with college on the side as well. Eventually I came up with a way to do it that will be easy enough, but definitely not secure. I figure just make a password protected download page. Someone makes a purchase, they receive an email with the download link and password. Nice and simple.
However as you can guess, this leaves things open to piracy, if people should be so inclined. All someone has to do is hand out the link and password to other people and anyone could download my work for nothing. Which of course led me wonder about the impact piracy may have on our entire community.
There's of course no need to be so naive as to think none of us here have ever done some level of piracy. A lot of times it's justified in the sense that major companies really won't lose much through some small-time piracy. Download a movie or some songs? The people who worked on that are still going to be millionaires with more money than they know what to do with. But what about the indie game scene like us here?
Obviously starting from the top source, Torque itself, a quick piratebay search shows 3 torrents. One that doesn't have a version, a TGE 1.5, and a T3D 1.0.1. So clearly Torque itself isn't safe from pirates which means we have to have a few right here in this community itself. (especially considering there's a significant amount of people seeding the torrent)
So, what about stepping it down a bit to something more specific? Well, as I was writing the previous paragraph I had the thought to search for Marble Blast and sure enough, a Marble Blast Gold torrent. Also multiple torrents come up for various model and art packs, no immediate way to tell if some did or did not come from this very site. So while obviously there's no doubt people here who occasionally pirate some form of media from some major company, there also those around here who actually are providing some of the stuff here to BE pirated.
This all concerns me so much because soon I'll be apart of that which may be pirated off of. When people pirate software or other media they justify it in that the other person really doesn't NEED it however for some of us here this is very far from the truth. I use for example my own situation. Last November I was discharged from the military 3 years early for a shoulder injury. I had two large surgeries and more physical therapy than I ever want to think of in an attempt to fix it and in the end it wasn't enough and I was kicked out way soon than was planned, also leaving me with a right arm that is virtually useless for any real physical work. Last time I tried, I was able to do an entire 1 pushup before it gave out. So I get removed for a steady source of income, thrust into the outside world during difficult economic times, greatly limited in what I can do. Obviously my only practical option was to go to college, military helps pay for it and I'm going to need the degree. Still doesn't fix the fact though that money isn't exactly easy for me to come by due to my injury and that I was thrust out of my previous job sooner than expected.
With this environment pack I'm working on, I'm hoping to come up with a few extra bucks. Nothing super special, but every dime helps, you know? I'm working on a degree in game design, one of my favorite things to do, next to engineering. However with my shoulder the way it is, things with engineering usually are just painful anyhow as soon as physical work comes into play, so... game design is the safer path. So I figure make a few dollars doing something I love while tryin to make things work everywhere else in my life.
So, that there is the rundown of my story here and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has a story like this to tell. Maybe not those exact ways but I'm sure there are others here just like me hoping to use this stuff as an outlet for their practice and love for the art while getting a small amount of compensation.
I'm sure we have pirates here, some people reading this may be the very ones guilty. People that, given the chance, will take any game, movie, or artwork for free and pass it on to others. If anyone like that IS reading this, think about mine and everyone else's situations first...
Download the DVD rip of Avatar, James Cameron will still be able to afford the 10 brand new sports cars for his mid-way birthday. But steal the work of people like myself or others here and you actually ARE taking food out of someone's mouth.
I don't support piracy but in the full corporate world, it has minimal impact. In the indie world though, it is the death of all that we work for. Don't do it. :(
#62
Extradited Software Piracy Ringleader Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/griffithsSent.htm
"Their victims included not only well-known companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, Symantec and Novell, but also smaller companies whose livelihood depended on the sales revenue generated by one or two products."
Guilty Plea Entered In Federal Copyright Infringement Case:
www.thekiaa.org/news-1.html
"Stephen Douglas Freeman, 62, of Mound, Minnesota, pled guilty to a three-count felony information that charged him with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, criminal copyright infringement, and trafficking in circumvention technology"
Software Piracy Crackdown ‘Operation Fastlink’ Yields 50th Guilty Plea
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/eavesPlea.htm
"Eaves’ conviction represents the 50th conviction resulting from Operation FastLink, an ongoing federal crackdown against the organized piracy groups responsible for most of the initial illegal distribution of copyrighted movies, software, games and music on the Internet."
Justice Department announces fifth guilty plea in P2P piracy crackdown
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/kuonenPlea.pdf
"Sam Kuonen, 24, of Columbus, Ga., pleaded guilty to a two-count felony information charging him with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and criminal copyright infringement in violation of the Family Entertainment Copyright Act. The plea was entered before Judge Carlos Murguia, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Kansas. Mr. Kuonen faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release."
Operation Safehaven: Pennsylvania Woman Pleads Guilty To Federal Software Piracy Charge
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/szokePlea.htm
“Stealing the intellectual property of others is no different from any other form of thievery,” U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O’Connor stated. “It is a priority of this Office and the Department of Justice to protect the intellectual property rights of our nation’s inventors and creators.”
Iowa Man Receives Two-Year Prison Sentence in Internet Software Piracy Conspiracy
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/motterSent.htm
"After the sentence was announced, U.S. Attorney Tom Colantuono said: “Many individuals and companies, small and large alike in New Hampshire, are involved in the development and distribution of new software applications. Our federal copyright laws give those individuals and companies certain rights in that intellectual property, designed in part to encourage development which contributes to the betterment of society. Those who steal protected intellectual property, like the defendant and his co-conspirators here, hurt not only those entrepreneurs who develop the software, and rely upon sales of that software for their livelihood, but they hurt all of society. Who among us will spend the time and money, sometimes millions of dollars, necessary to develop new software applications if those applications are simply to be stolen by software pirates?"
Arlington, Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Pirated Software Over the Internet
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/fitzgeraldPlea.htm
“Individuals, like Mr. Fitzgerald, who believe that the Internet provides a safe haven for illegal activities such as software piracy are wrong.” said U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty. “This prosecution is another step in our continuing effort to eliminate intellectual property crime on the Internet and puts people that criminally infringe copyrighted software on notice that we will investigate, prosecute, and convict them,” Mr. Chertoff noted.
08/04/2010 (1:23 am)
Part 2:Extradited Software Piracy Ringleader Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/griffithsSent.htm
"Their victims included not only well-known companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, Symantec and Novell, but also smaller companies whose livelihood depended on the sales revenue generated by one or two products."
Guilty Plea Entered In Federal Copyright Infringement Case:
www.thekiaa.org/news-1.html
"Stephen Douglas Freeman, 62, of Mound, Minnesota, pled guilty to a three-count felony information that charged him with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, criminal copyright infringement, and trafficking in circumvention technology"
Software Piracy Crackdown ‘Operation Fastlink’ Yields 50th Guilty Plea
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/eavesPlea.htm
"Eaves’ conviction represents the 50th conviction resulting from Operation FastLink, an ongoing federal crackdown against the organized piracy groups responsible for most of the initial illegal distribution of copyrighted movies, software, games and music on the Internet."
Justice Department announces fifth guilty plea in P2P piracy crackdown
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/kuonenPlea.pdf
"Sam Kuonen, 24, of Columbus, Ga., pleaded guilty to a two-count felony information charging him with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and criminal copyright infringement in violation of the Family Entertainment Copyright Act. The plea was entered before Judge Carlos Murguia, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Kansas. Mr. Kuonen faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release."
Operation Safehaven: Pennsylvania Woman Pleads Guilty To Federal Software Piracy Charge
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/szokePlea.htm
“Stealing the intellectual property of others is no different from any other form of thievery,” U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O’Connor stated. “It is a priority of this Office and the Department of Justice to protect the intellectual property rights of our nation’s inventors and creators.”
Iowa Man Receives Two-Year Prison Sentence in Internet Software Piracy Conspiracy
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/motterSent.htm
"After the sentence was announced, U.S. Attorney Tom Colantuono said: “Many individuals and companies, small and large alike in New Hampshire, are involved in the development and distribution of new software applications. Our federal copyright laws give those individuals and companies certain rights in that intellectual property, designed in part to encourage development which contributes to the betterment of society. Those who steal protected intellectual property, like the defendant and his co-conspirators here, hurt not only those entrepreneurs who develop the software, and rely upon sales of that software for their livelihood, but they hurt all of society. Who among us will spend the time and money, sometimes millions of dollars, necessary to develop new software applications if those applications are simply to be stolen by software pirates?"
Arlington, Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Pirated Software Over the Internet
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/fitzgeraldPlea.htm
“Individuals, like Mr. Fitzgerald, who believe that the Internet provides a safe haven for illegal activities such as software piracy are wrong.” said U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty. “This prosecution is another step in our continuing effort to eliminate intellectual property crime on the Internet and puts people that criminally infringe copyrighted software on notice that we will investigate, prosecute, and convict them,” Mr. Chertoff noted.
#63
None taken. I have not been advocating any PRO or CON attitude on the subject. As far as i personally view piracy of digital content, it is no different from taking anything else that one do not have a right to ownership. By basis of definition it is stealing.
08/04/2010 (1:47 am)
Quote:@Dustin & Caylo
No offense intended. My apologies for my fervor.
None taken. I have not been advocating any PRO or CON attitude on the subject. As far as i personally view piracy of digital content, it is no different from taking anything else that one do not have a right to ownership. By basis of definition it is stealing.
#64
08/04/2010 (2:31 pm)
Well some companies feel they are cheated from a profit, nice to see they fight the pirates!
#65
;-)
08/04/2010 (7:32 pm)
-Sorry those were government people fighting the pirates, nice that they do battles for the small companies, -wonder why Caylo?;-)
#66
If you do not understand what 'ad hominem' mean, try and learn. Then re-read to find what ground I am debating from. Trying to link my points of discussion to irrelevance is a fallacy of association.
08/04/2010 (8:48 pm)
What makes you so very sure they are legal fighting loss of profit instead of theft of property? Quote:-Sorry those were government people fighting the pirates, nice that they do battles for the small companies, -wonder why Caylo?Is this a question? Or a personally aimed sarcasm? Either way its not a statement that helps support anything, or add enlightenment to the debate.
If you do not understand what 'ad hominem' mean, try and learn. Then re-read to find what ground I am debating from. Trying to link my points of discussion to irrelevance is a fallacy of association.
#67
I spend most all day(well under four hours) thinking about the possible meaning of this, because that is the special type of weirdO I am.
I will warn you, no matter what Peter had in mind, my deduction is based off assumptions.
Sentence reconstruction:
It is nice that government people are fighting the pirates for the benefit of small companies. Wonder why that would be, Caylo?
Am I close?
Anyhow, Ill assume I am and answer.
Coase theorem and the free trade agreement.
Dont mistake Coase for Chaos...
08/05/2010 (12:06 am)
Quote:-Sorry those were government people fighting the pirates, nice that they do battles for the small companies, -wonder why Caylo?
I spend most all day(well under four hours) thinking about the possible meaning of this, because that is the special type of weirdO I am.
I will warn you, no matter what Peter had in mind, my deduction is based off assumptions.
Sentence reconstruction:
It is nice that government people are fighting the pirates for the benefit of small companies. Wonder why that would be, Caylo?
Am I close?
Anyhow, Ill assume I am and answer.
Coase theorem and the free trade agreement.
Dont mistake Coase for Chaos...
#68
Are you trying to imply that the intent of the act of infringement determines the threshold at which the government will intervene? I'm uncertain how the FTA applies in copyright infringement.
08/05/2010 (2:12 am)
@CayloAre you trying to imply that the intent of the act of infringement determines the threshold at which the government will intervene? I'm uncertain how the FTA applies in copyright infringement.
#69
Free Trade Agreement, is several encyclopedia set amount of boring documentation, so I do not wish anyone to misunderstand me to have any profound depth of knowledge about it.
But what I do know; Copyright, Trademark, Corporate Identity, and other laws are established and maintained specifically to the sake of continuity between nations that accord to the Free Trade Agreement.
Piracy was not as big a hot topic before the widespread adaptation of the Free Trade Agreement. Many will cite the accelerated acceptance of digital devices to be the fuel behind piracy. That would be the same as missing the forest because of the trees.
Something to consider as evidence is the early FBI warning on VHS movies and the comparison of what we now have on different region coded DVDs. If you have no experience with VHS and region coded DVDs; the difference is FBI changed out for Interpol. The relation to the discussion is the fact that without the Free Trade Agreement different country's would be keeping their copyrightable materials to themselves.
Let us not forget, government people are not exactly fighting the pirates for the benefit of small companies.
08/05/2010 (3:17 am)
Im not implying anything, read the question i am answering. The Coase Theorem is often viewed as the most simplified method of computing value versus cost. Free Trade Agreement, is several encyclopedia set amount of boring documentation, so I do not wish anyone to misunderstand me to have any profound depth of knowledge about it.
But what I do know; Copyright, Trademark, Corporate Identity, and other laws are established and maintained specifically to the sake of continuity between nations that accord to the Free Trade Agreement.
Piracy was not as big a hot topic before the widespread adaptation of the Free Trade Agreement. Many will cite the accelerated acceptance of digital devices to be the fuel behind piracy. That would be the same as missing the forest because of the trees.
Something to consider as evidence is the early FBI warning on VHS movies and the comparison of what we now have on different region coded DVDs. If you have no experience with VHS and region coded DVDs; the difference is FBI changed out for Interpol. The relation to the discussion is the fact that without the Free Trade Agreement different country's would be keeping their copyrightable materials to themselves.
Let us not forget, government people are not exactly fighting the pirates for the benefit of small companies.
#70
I never stated that, since it is both loss of (possible)income and theft of propperty.
It seems to me you want everything to black or white.
I'm sorry if you have to rearrange my words, -I'm just a bloody forigner trying to communicate in english. ;-)
08/05/2010 (12:38 pm)
@#66I never stated that, since it is both loss of (possible)income and theft of propperty.
It seems to me you want everything to black or white.
I'm sorry if you have to rearrange my words, -I'm just a bloody forigner trying to communicate in english. ;-)
#71
You're right there and yes I was being sarcastic about the small companies.
I'm sorry but I live in a country where you pay a lot of high taxes (including on what you sell), and therefore the state want to secure your goods and your means of distribution.
Any black market is a loss of income to the state, fighting that has a side effect - which is helping small companies.
We are only at the mercy of the risks we take in our digital shops...
08/05/2010 (12:57 pm)
#69You're right there and yes I was being sarcastic about the small companies.
I'm sorry but I live in a country where you pay a lot of high taxes (including on what you sell), and therefore the state want to secure your goods and your means of distribution.
Any black market is a loss of income to the state, fighting that has a side effect - which is helping small companies.
We are only at the mercy of the risks we take in our digital shops...
#72
I am still going to reiterate the fact that counting digital pirated products as loss of income is a logistics problem. Logic and science is very black and white. Logically, a thief is taking something that the thief would not consider paying for, stealing is the same as taking without paying. Because digital products only have a countable (accounting) value after they are 'payed for', a digital products value is exactly what was invested to acquire that product. You can not count the digital pirate as a lost customer, because they would never pay for something they can steal. Customers do not steal your product.
This logic is not justification for stealing. I am explaining, if your digital product was stolen 3 times, and also made 3 real sales, you can not say "I 'could' have made 6 sales, but lost 3 to pirates."
Everyone knows the proverb about counting chickens before they hatch, stolen eggs are not countable as hatched chickens.
The American legal system concur(I am following the same train of logic A judge should), but the American legal system will punish the thief in accordance to the current market value of the stolen product(and other fines for disregarding the law). This is much different then saying "Software Pirates took my company and my wellbeing and destroy society.", what is the type of thing mediocre politicians use to fuel personal agendas.
08/05/2010 (4:34 pm)
Quote:I'm just a bloody forigner trying to communicate in english.This possibility is always foremost on my mind when trying to comprehend muddy English, also considered is possible age/education and handicap no one should make judgement of communication ability based on these factors. Your English skills are actually very good, I would venture to say better then most American grade school students I have worked with.
Quote:Any black market is a loss of income to the state, fighting that has a side effect - which is helping small companies.Excellent point, also a perfectly qualified statement, you started with a opinion, and end with supporting evidence that define that opinion as having scientific merit. Notice how that statement is much different from the statement in post#42? And that is why i thought you were being funny.
I am still going to reiterate the fact that counting digital pirated products as loss of income is a logistics problem. Logic and science is very black and white. Logically, a thief is taking something that the thief would not consider paying for, stealing is the same as taking without paying. Because digital products only have a countable (accounting) value after they are 'payed for', a digital products value is exactly what was invested to acquire that product. You can not count the digital pirate as a lost customer, because they would never pay for something they can steal. Customers do not steal your product.
This logic is not justification for stealing. I am explaining, if your digital product was stolen 3 times, and also made 3 real sales, you can not say "I 'could' have made 6 sales, but lost 3 to pirates."
Everyone knows the proverb about counting chickens before they hatch, stolen eggs are not countable as hatched chickens.
The American legal system concur(I am following the same train of logic A judge should), but the American legal system will punish the thief in accordance to the current market value of the stolen product(and other fines for disregarding the law). This is much different then saying "Software Pirates took my company and my wellbeing and destroy society.", what is the type of thing mediocre politicians use to fuel personal agendas.
#73
I actually made the statement first in post #29 which led to a shorter, may be, more blunt summary in #42
And rethinking it all I can only conclude that our difference in agreement is based on where we live.
If I sell software worth $100 I have to pay $25 in taxes (and then up to 40-60% of my income), I think that's a lot! (but it may very well be less in the US)
If you pirate something here you can be sent to prison for up to 5 years
you can be fined up to $250000, and if you distribute something illegally you can be fined up to $150 per violated product. -The court will estimate how many that is (based on web logs and what not)
http://www.adobe.com/dk/aboutadobe/antipiracy/penalties.html
I'm not exactly saying it destroys society, but I think our states could do more good if some of the "several hundreds of billions"(estimated 2005 in this report) went to their treasuries...
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/38/38704571.pdf
It's difficult to put a number to something virtual, and I don't agree on your chicken analogy, because you can't see the eggs are missing.
If they hatch they may even become a competing chicken farm ;-)
Yes it is difficult to count something which isn't there, and who may or may not buy something after they get a pirated copy, but the paradox should not make us lose sleep.
08/06/2010 (8:07 am)
Thank you CayloI actually made the statement first in post #29 which led to a shorter, may be, more blunt summary in #42
And rethinking it all I can only conclude that our difference in agreement is based on where we live.
If I sell software worth $100 I have to pay $25 in taxes (and then up to 40-60% of my income), I think that's a lot! (but it may very well be less in the US)
If you pirate something here you can be sent to prison for up to 5 years
you can be fined up to $250000, and if you distribute something illegally you can be fined up to $150 per violated product. -The court will estimate how many that is (based on web logs and what not)
http://www.adobe.com/dk/aboutadobe/antipiracy/penalties.html
I'm not exactly saying it destroys society, but I think our states could do more good if some of the "several hundreds of billions"(estimated 2005 in this report) went to their treasuries...
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/38/38704571.pdf
It's difficult to put a number to something virtual, and I don't agree on your chicken analogy, because you can't see the eggs are missing.
If they hatch they may even become a competing chicken farm ;-)
Yes it is difficult to count something which isn't there, and who may or may not buy something after they get a pirated copy, but the paradox should not make us lose sleep.
#74
Unfortunately I will not have any time to continue this discussion for several weeks, at what time the debate will have grown cold. This will probably be my last post to the topic.
Now that you have provided sound details exhibiting the way that digital pirates have an detrimental economic impact, it would be neat to discuss possible methods a small scale developer could explore that may remove the motivation of their product being pirated in the first place.
08/06/2010 (3:25 pm)
I am totally impressed with the improvement to your debating style.Unfortunately I will not have any time to continue this discussion for several weeks, at what time the debate will have grown cold. This will probably be my last post to the topic.
Now that you have provided sound details exhibiting the way that digital pirates have an detrimental economic impact, it would be neat to discuss possible methods a small scale developer could explore that may remove the motivation of their product being pirated in the first place.
#75
Yes, getting back to Jacobs blog, I'm looking forward to discussing measures to take, because "pretty please I'm a poor indie" is not going to keep cheaters and copycats away...
Have a nice holliday.
08/06/2010 (9:41 pm)
Well thank you again, and I admit that (s)lack of time to put into a debate may bring "muddy" statments into play.Yes, getting back to Jacobs blog, I'm looking forward to discussing measures to take, because "pretty please I'm a poor indie" is not going to keep cheaters and copycats away...
Have a nice holliday.
#76
No, I'm not affiliated with IM or Zero Point Software. It is a community driven and funded project with the goal of making any game the community can dream up. I think including the fans/customers in the development process could make pirating a moot point, because it reduces piracy to nothing but free advertising. It's not the only model, but I like it.
08/06/2010 (9:56 pm)
Well, I'd like to point out a particular studio that's trying something a bit different. www.interstellarmarines.com/articles/aaa-indie/why-aaa-indie/ No, I'm not affiliated with IM or Zero Point Software. It is a community driven and funded project with the goal of making any game the community can dream up. I think including the fans/customers in the development process could make pirating a moot point, because it reduces piracy to nothing but free advertising. It's not the only model, but I like it.
Torque Owner Alan James
Really Really Good Things Studio
How that actually trends will be determined by how the culture trends, and then based on the collective mores, the laws will follow in suite. (We pretty much have to remember that laws themselves in general are not based upon facts, but what the majority of the populace consider "right" and "wrong" or "lawful" or "unlawful" that's just kind of the way it is. Society as a whole doesn't really want to be confused with the facts.)
William Trowbridge, 50, of Johnson City, N.Y., and Michael Chicoine, 47, of San Antonio each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit felony criminal copyright infringement:
www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2005/01/19/first_p2p_piracy_convictions_for_j...
"The maximum penalty for a first-time offender convicted of conspiracy to commit felony criminal copyright infringement is five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, restitution to the victims and the forfeiture and destruction of infringing copies and all equipment used to manufacture infringing copies."
Pioneering Music Piracy Group Suffers Another Conviction:
torrentfreak.com/pioneering-music-piracy-group-suffers-080523/
DOJ Gets Fifth Conviction In P2P Piracy Crackdown
www.informationweek.com/news/internet/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199100239
MPAA helps land criminal conviction in P2P piracy case:
news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9980256-7.html
Frisco Man Sentenced to 30 months for criminal copyright infringement
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/gipsonSent.pdf
"ALVIN RAY GIPSON, JR. was sentenced to thirty months in prison and ordered to pay $46,592.34 in restitution to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and $43,491.00 to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), after previously admitting that he willfully infringed on the copyrights of movies and music held by the RIAA and the MPAA by reproducing or distributing copies of the copyrighted works."
San Diego County Man Pleads guilty in movie piracy case
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/moodyPlea.pdf
"Moody pleaded guilty to the charge before United States District Judge Gary A. Feess in Los Angeles. Judge Feess is scheduled to sentence Moody on October 5. The charge of uploading a copyrighted work carries a statutory maximum penalty of three years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or gross loss attributable to the offense, whichever is greater."
Software Pirate Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison
www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/elSent.htm
"El pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement for his participation in the distribution of approximately 20,000 copyright works over the Internet through the warez scene"
@Dustin & Caylo
No offense intended. My apologies for my fervor.