How do you feel about Windows piracy?

[Leo Mauler]

--- feba thatl <febaen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Do you think it's alright if it replaces the 
> purchase of a legit copy, as it hurt's MS's
> profit margin?

This argument appears regularly in news about the
MPAA/RIAA's strongarm techniques to try and reduce and
eliminate music and video piracy: the "stick it to the
man" argument.  The problem with this reasoning, as
FOSS creators, indie bands, and indie film producers
will be only so happy to point out, is that the music,
movie, and software corporations are overstating their
profit losses due to piracy, and your "act of
rebellion" is like jumping up and down really hard on
the Earth and expecting some dramatic change.

The other point those independent, low-budget
producers make is that every time you download a new
illegal MP3 copy, illegal movie copy, or illegal
software copy, you have extended the market share of
the corporation and reduced the already tiny market
share of the free music/video/software group.  You may
not have paid for that MP3, but your friends will hear
it and some of them will buy the CD to have the music
for themselves, negating the entire "hurts their
profit margin" argument.  

The same is true for the software industry: if your
friends are never exposed to anything other than
Windows, and never accidentally discover it on your
home PC, then they will shell out money to Microsoft
for more legal copies of Windows.  Monopolies benefit
from piracy in ways where smaller companies do not,
because monopolies are dependent on brand loyalty to
reinforce their monopolies.

Frankly, "Genuine Windows Advantage" is Microsoft
shooting itself in the foot, because not only does it
discourage Microsoft piracy, it encourages those who
do engage in piracy to create unprotected Windows
machines which reduce the security of legal Windows
machines.  Don't get me wrong, piracy is not a good
thing, but if Microsoft was only thinking about its
bottom line then "Genuine Advantage" was thought up by
someone who was neither an accountant nor an engineer,
though certainly by someone who thinks that Microsoft
is not a monopoly.


       
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