Is bootlegging really so bad?

[Gary Huff]

[Andy Field] “Gary, know enough about debate not to get involved with someone who insults and belittles.”

Think of it this way…how would you respond to someone making the claim that the moon landings were faked, and their constant response to you was with poor analogy, illogical “if A therefore B”, and strawmen?

You’d probably react the same way.

[Gary Huff]

[Andrew Kimery] “No need to download a torrent copy though”

I was referring to a specific situation with currently boxed software, not to CC.

With the Creative Cloud, the obvious “hack” won’t even touch the software. It will be a re-route of the IP address for the activation server that will point to a localized software that mimics the server and sends the “all clear” every single time it’s polled. Which means you could install CC once, install the fake server, and never again connect to the Internet and the software would never expire.

[Andy Field]

Gary I’m clearly not smart enough to understand anything you are saying.

Andy Field
FieldVision Productions
N. Bethesda, Maryland 20852

[Gary Huff]

[Andy Field] “Gary I’m clearly not smart enough to understand anything you are saying.”

You don’t have to be a jerk about things…but you’re clearly not making very good analogies…I’m not the only one saying so.

So are you just sitting there with your arms crossed going, “It IS JUST LIKE stealing a car!” or will you actually step out of the b.s. cloud and see that your snide comments about depriving people of things doesn’t really match up with the reality of how copyright infringement actually works?

[Andrew Kimery]

[Gary Huff] “I was referring to a specific situation with currently boxed software, not to CC.”

Ah, I’m with you now. I was talking about CC, not the boxed software, lol.

Internet – 1

clear communication – 0

[Andy Field]

How on earth is using software you did not pay for, created by people who spent years creating, ethical or legal?

Andy Field
FieldVision Productions
N. Bethesda, Maryland 20852

[Dominic Deacon]

I do the occassional large editing job now and then. I’m not a day in day out editor with a constant stream of income like a lot of you.

I started off with a pirated copy of FCP 5 (I think) which allowed me to edit my first feautre. It was a hobby job with no money coming in and very little going out. Shortly after I got a big commercial job and thought I’d spend $1500 of it investing in FCS3. That was a significant outlay for me but I thought I was investing in tools that would see me through years of work with regular updates/bug fixes/etc. Imagine my joy when a few months later Apple discounted the very expensive software I had just invested in.

So, screw Apple I says, and jump over to PC. Adobe is a safe bet for software. Apple might be more interested in toys but Adobe 100% relies on the sales of their software and thus it’s a safe buy. Actually I edit in Edius now but the rest of the suite was what I was really interested in. Anyway, I invest in that and shortly after BOOM! CS is gone. There was no benefit to spending a couple grand on it at all. I’m in the same boat now as anyone coming on board a few months after I did.

Now as I say these were significant purchases for me. I expected the software to be updated and with me for the long haul. In my view I got screwed twice in quick succession by 2 mega companies. Software piracy is obviously not a good thing for the industry but I’ve got say I have zero sympathy for the likes of Apple and Adobe.

[Gary Huff]

[Andy Field] “How on earth is using software you did not pay for, created by people who spent years creating,”

And who got paid a salary for every one of those years.

Again, I’m trying to avoid the b.s. by people who haven’t seemed to think this issue through. You want to argue a completely different question then what was asked, which was “Is it really so bad?”

Adobe has been a profitable company throughout the period where their software was one of the most pirated in the world. The people who did the direct work of creating this software all got paid on salary, which was not directly tied to any amount of copies that were sold.

Exactly how bad is it? I don’t care if you have a problem with it. I’m not saying that it’s right or should be legal or whatever. But the fact remains that people pirate, have pirated, and will pirate, and our response to these thought-exercises should be to look at things as they are, and not just offer some knee-jerk robotic response of “Copyright infringement is stealing and stealing is bad and you should feel bad.”

[Gary Huff]

[Dominic Deacon] “I started off with a pirated copy of FCP 5 (I think) which allowed me to edit my first feautre. It was a hobby job with no money coming in and very little going out.”

Well, so you’re nothing more than a common thief. Might as well be taking money out of a cash register.

Why aren’t you in jail?

[Andy Field]

[Gary Huff] Adobe has been a profitable company throughout the period where their software was one of the most pirated in the world. The people who did the direct work of creating this software all got paid on salary, which was not directly tied to any amount of copies that were sold.”

Unbelievably wrong – their salary, the companies profits and it’s very existence was tied to the number of copies that were sold.

[Gary Huff] But the fact remains that people pirate, have pirated, and will pirate, and our response to these thought-exercises should be to look at things as they are, and not just offer some knee-jerk robotic response of “Copyright infringement is stealing and stealing is bad and you should feel bad.””

And people steal and shoplift and break all kinds of laws, so we should just acknowledge that they do it, shrug our shoulders and go on with our day – nothing to see here. Gary, you are a professional photographer…you’re OK with people pirating your work and not getting paid?

Andy Field
FieldVision Productions
N. Bethesda, Maryland 20852