Is piracy a serious issue for game developers?

[Sammael]

Bloodstone Press, I have a question for you. Is it wrong for the Waynesboro TN PD to run a speed trap where they put a 30 mile limit on a clear four lane highway, and rake in thousands of dollars from people who don't slow down in time? Or is this ok because it's done legally?

I was about to ask this as well, having experienced this both in TN (where I lived for 3 years) and in my home country of Serbia (where cops set up speed traps all the time, everywhere; a favorite is leaving the "construction ahead, speed limit 30 km/h" signs for YEARS after the construction was finished).

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I tend to think it's morally wrong to harm Bloodstone Press (eg) by downloading his work in .pdf without paying for it. I am a bit agnostic as to whether downloading the latest Shania Twain single without paying for it is morally wrong - before they started offering reasonably priced music downloads I'd have said not, on balance, now I think it may be a teensy-weensy bit wrong, maybe 50 cents wrong. Much less wrong than downloading Dungeon Master's Guide II or Van Helsing (the movie), though. I am certain that downloading a 30 year old song that's not even 'legally' available is not morally wrong. In fact the copyright law which forbids this is what's wrong

See, these are justification strategies. You seem to be taking the profit margin and the wealth of the producer into account before you decide if its wrong or not. (though the Van Helsing movie doesn't seem to fit... I'd be curious to know why you think it would be more wrong to download a free copy of Van Helsing than a Shania Twain song).

On the one hand, it shows that you reason at a high level of morality (see Kholbergs theory of moral reasoning). But on the other, it shows that you have figured out a way to engage in behavior that you know is wrong while maintaining your highly ethical self-concept.

Although I like Kholberg's theory, and I would emphasize it if this were a political discussion, I have to take the other side of the argument here. Either downloading copyrighted material for free is wrong or its not. There can't be a middle ground, ethically speaking.

The only point that I would concede to you is your last one:

I am certain that downloading a 30 year old song that's not even 'legally' available is not morally wrong. In fact the copyright law which forbids this is what's wrong

Although it is still wrong to download such a song, I would agree with you that a lot of people find that to be an easy justification and in fact it is the fault of the copyright holders if they find their material being pirated.

Personally, there are songs that are only available in Europe that I would love to hear. In the past, I have been very tempted to download them from some P2P site, using the justification that "If it was available for me to buy in the US, I would. I'm only stealing because I have no other choice. “

But then I realize that I DO have other choices:
1. I could visit Europe and buy a bunch of music not available in the US.
2. I could just live without it.

Ultimately, I chose choice #2. Thereby maintaining consistency between my behavior and my self-concept without relying on a psychological trick to fool myself.

However, I can fully understand how someone would find that line of reasoning acceptable, and as I said above, I agree with you that it is ultimately the fault of the copyright holder when people pirate material that is not available in any other avenue.

 

[The Persian]

Ah, but perhaps that is a psychological trick in and of itself.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

Bloodstone Press, I have a question for you. Is it wrong for the Waynesboro TN PD to run a speed trap where they put a 30 mile limit on a clear four lane highway, and rake in thousands of dollars from people who don't slow down in time? Or is this ok because it's done legally?

Yes, I would find that VERY wrong (and I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happened, since I live here in TN).

However. that question is treading dangerously close to politics and kholbergs theory, so I'll stop here.

I'm not saying that you should obey copyright laws because that's the law. I'm saying you should not download copyright material because it is morally wrong. Unfortunatlly, as i mentioned before, people don't do a good job policing themselves. So we need to enforce the law, since research shows that nothing causes people to obey like the clear threat of getting caught and punished.

I wish we could live in a world where people always did the right thing without looking over their shoulder, but we don't.

 

[Psionicist]

Speaking of the RIAA.

- I don't know what's wrong. We sued them, and they still won't buy our products!

 

[FraserRonald]

My Pirate Story

I’d love to do a search of the various p2p networks to see if any SEP’s stuff is up there. I believe it must be, as I received a letter from a suspected pirate. Got this fan letter, corresponded with the individual over a few letters, and got curious as his address was not in the customer list at RPG Now. So I asked him where he got our stuff. He indicated a “friend” got it for him, as he didn’t have a credit card. I then offered to send coupons to his friend. Mr Fan wrote me back indicated he would let his friend know about his offer. I told him he didn’t need to as I had a list of customers from RPG Now and all I needed was a name.

Silence.

Just to verify my suspicions, I dropped him a line again, asking if his friend had received certain files that were being released due to one of our releases. His answer would have told me what I needed to know.

Silence.

I have no proof, but I have strong circumstantial evidence that this guys is a very, very bad man. I would like to drop by his house and take his DVDs, then drop him a line telling him how much I enjoyed them.

You know, if you are going to steal from me, don’t drop me a line, even if you are gushing.

Sigh.

I don’t know if we lost any sales, but I certainly am a tad p’oed regarding this.

Oh, and: Arrr, we should keel-haul the lubber. Send 'im to Davy Jones locker after he's walked the plank. Arrrr.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

Ah, but perhaps that is a psychological trick in and of itself.

Could be, but if you spend too much time thinking about stuff like that, you'll go crazy

 

[The Persian]

While your passion towards these matters is certainly intense and perhaps personal to an extreme, violence is not the solution.

 

[Psionicist]

I’d love to do a search of the various p2p networks to see if any SEP’s stuff is up there. I believe it must be, as I received a letter from a suspected pirate. Got this fan letter, corresponded with the individual over a few letters, and got curious as his address was not in the customer list at RPG Now. So I asked him where he got our stuff. He indicated a “friend” got it for him, as he didn’t have a credit card. I then offered to send coupons to his friend. Mr Fan wrote me back indicated he would let his friend know about his offer. I told him he didn’t need to as I had a list of customers from RPG Now and all I needed was a name.

Silence.

Just to verify my suspicions, I dropped him a line again, asking if his friend had received certain files that were being released due to one of our releases. His answer would have told me what I needed to know.

Silence.

I have no proof, but I have strong circumstantial evidence that this guys is a very, very bad man. I would like to drop by his house and take his DVDs, then drop him a line telling him how much I enjoyed them.

You know, if you are going to steal from me, don’t drop me a line, even if you are gushing.

Sigh.

I don’t know if we lost any sales, but I certainly am a tad p’oed regarding this.

Oh, and: Arrr, we should keel-haul the lubber. Send 'im to Davy Jones locker after he's walked the plank. Arrrr.

Do all publishers have access to the RPGNow database? Including credit card info?

 

[Morrus]

Do all publishers have access to the RPGNow database? Including credit card info?

Hardly. They get a list of email addresses and names of those who purchased their product IF the person opted to allow their email address to be shown to the publisher. That's all.