Is piracy a serious issue for game developers?

[med stud]

Why is Chinese copyright more political than US copyright? :\

Well the situation turned out peaceful so I guess there was nothing to worry about. I guess I'm too used to rpg.net I guess ^^

 

[jasper]

Carl Zog….Mind you, when I say "craploads", everything I've collected is still fitting in less than 30 gigs, …
The biggest thing that prevents people from becoming packrats is the cost of acquiring crap and space required to store it. When stuff is free, and occupies no physical space, it's a lot easier to choose to take it instead of leave it….

30 gigs hmm best buy has an 80 gig hard drive for 79.99 so call it $80. That free information costs you $30. It occupies 38% of your hard drive are you tell me your hard drive is not an object?

Korimyr the Rat … I know that you can't own information and that there is nothing wrong with copying it for others…..can I have your real name, address, and mom’s maiden name. After it just some information I will copy and share with my friends. Now legally I could do a lot illegal things with this information. But since this time I agree with your morals I have no problem using this information to my advantage after all it is just another copy of information.
Rat again… You don't have to know how to fix something to know that it's broken--
I said that to my mom years ago when I went to fix my dad’s clock. I remember getting a beating and nothing much about that day.

Sorry Psionicist while I know this is international site, I also know most international posters know that if their laws make them immune to charge the word (thief or illegal) does not apply to them. In words of my grandma, if you know they not talking about you don’t worry about what they saying. So Jacen while us peasants are shouting thief! And raising our pitchforks, torches, tar and feathers we will bypass your house because you are an exception.

 

[S'mon]

The point of such things isn't to grant rights, but to protect them. Such documents assume that the rights incorporated into them are natural rights.

Essentially, they codify what society as a whole agrees are natural rights.

Except for us Benthamite Utilitarians who know Natural Rights are "nonsense on stilts".

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If the system is designed in such a fashion that it's that easy to violate the rules, and that difficult to catch the people who violate the rules-- so that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people are violating those rules on a continual basis-- then the system is broken.

Good boats are designed to stop and contain leaks, and to be able to withstand minor punctures. If the boat's sinking that badly, it either wasn't seaworthy in the first place or you're sailing in the wrong ocean

The system was not designed in such a fashion. Subsequent technology made it easy to circumvent the rules.

When the first massive earth and stone pallisade was invented, it was pretty effective at stopping attacking forces. However, subsequent military technology has reduced the pallisade to being pretty landscaping. This fact does not make using an ICBM to attack someone on the other side of a pallisade to be a good thing.

Or, to return to my boat analogy, placing a torpedo into the keel of a ship does NOT prove the original design unseaworthy.

Those who click away at their keyboards downloading IP willy-nilly while not compensating the IP's creators are firing ICBMS over pallisades; torpedoing a seaworthy ship.

You don't have to know how to fix something to know that it's broken...

I agree with this 100%. I know jack-all about cars, but when mine is smoking from under the hood, I'm pretty sure I'm not driving anywhere.

Falkus: Open source software and fan fiction is not a replacement.

Korimir: Why not? Everything I need to do on a computer, I can do with open source software-- I even have a handful of entertaining games. And not all fan fiction is creepy erotica.

In economic terms, they are near substitutes, competitors in the market, but they are NOT a replacement.

Example: A soft-drink, hamburger and fries is a type of meal that some would consider tasty...but it isn't a substitute for a slice of prime rib and potatoes au gratin served with a fine red wine.

Don't get me wrong- I love burgers! But if I'm looking for prime rib, a hamburger won't cut it. (I REALLY need to go eat lunch!)

You may be able to play an open-source software 1st person shooter...but you can't (legally) play Unreal Online with your buddies without paying. You may know of a freeware online RPG, but you won't be competing directly against the guys on Neverwinter Nights or City of Heroes.

However, I do think you overestimate the uniqueness of artists and writers as well.

No, I really don't think so.

There are a LOT of people creating IP out there...there always have been and always will be. However, if you compare the amount of IP created to the amount with actual monetary or cultural value- real, measurable quality, you'll find the amount of the latter to be an exceedingly small sample of the former. Mozart had many contemporaries, but only Salieri's work even holds a candle to his flame.

Or in more modern terms, the guitar is the most popular instrument in the world- hundreds of thousands are sold annually by thousands of companies. And yet, when discussion of GREAT guitarists start, they don't start with "Ralph, the guy who plays lead in my garage band."

Exceptional performers in any field (art, sports, math, military tactics) are less than 0.001% of the general population, and those are the ones whose contributions advance culture the farthest.

Lastly, for today...the argument that "Information wants to be free."

Before the laws of IP protection were created, the only way to protect new ideas was DIY. The farther the IP spread, the harder DIY became. Why does this matter?

A Story:
Blacksmith A comes up with a new forging process after 20 years in the craft and 5 years of active trial-and-error research. The research process cost Blacksmith A 30% of his income over those 5 years. The resultant metals are stronger and less brittle than anything else in the region, but they also cost a little more than others, and take a little more time. Still, the virutues of the new process should pay off to him in a couple of years, and his son (his apprentice) will definitely reap the rewards even if he, himself, does not, barring the unforseen...

His colleague, Blacksmith B lives in a neighboring town and visits Blacksmith A's shop regularly to conduct trade. He has been watching Blacksmith A's shop with great interest, and has picked up enough information (combined with his own knowledge) to duplicate Blacksmith A's new forging process. His investment is nil- he gathered the information in the course of regular trade visits. He also starts using the new process. His resultant production is indistinguishable from Blacksmith A's in quality.

Prince C becomes aware of the new metals & he wants it for his military. He knows that only 2 smiths make it, and heads out to talk to one of them. One will get a lucrative contract and the exclusive right to produce the new metal under the Prince's seal, the other will have to agree be that smith's subordinate or cease using the new method. When his entourage reaches the fork in the road, he goes...

Clearly, the one who has earned the contract is Blacksmith A- he did the research. He made the investment. Yet, in this age of free information, his competitor may in fact be the one who is rewarded.

The lesson is the same for ANY IP. Sergio Aragones was once chided for the price he charged for a quick sketch done at a convention. He responded that the price wasn't for the few minutes it took him to do the sketch, but for the 40 years of learning it took him to be able to do that sketch in those few minutes.

IP is like any other personal property- creating it requires an investment in intellect, time, money, effort, or just simple brute force trial and error, and its creators deserve the fruits of their labor as surely as the guy working on an assembly line.

If the IP's creator decides to share his creation with the world, so be it. But it is NOT up to Joe Pirate to make that decision for him.

 

[Ace]

In fact a lot of information made just for the fun of sharing or to satify a personal itch or whatever reason.
The web is full of bad to great fiction, art, music, reviews, computer software and gaming stuff all free and legal for the taking. In some cases they are promos or adds for a sale product, others are released just because computers make it very easy.

The difference is that people who decide to release their stuff for free made that decision themselves...copyright infringers are acting contra to the will of the owner/creators of the IP.

I don't disagree. My feeling about copyright is that public good trumps individual rights.

Stealing entertainment is not forthe most part in the public good. Stealing some persons (not corporations) livelyhood is wrong.
OTOH if Brazil decides not to honor big pharmas copyright on a drug the people of Brazil need and can't afford
-- I can't really get upset. I think the best way to research medicine is with openess and government funding so that the most humans can benefit. Take 100 Billion USD and X Nillion USD and set the scientists loose without copyright or anything else and you will probably get just as good ro better results than Pharam Corp can manage. As an added advantage the knowledge can better more people and the drugs will be cheaper too

In not that many years (IMO) most forms of information will have a low cost of entry. Since Information (as versus hard goods) will have a pretty low cost of entry this means a lot of people contributing and even if they contribute just a spot there will soon be more than anyone can even use.

That depends on how you define "low cost of entry." A pharmaceutical formula may take billions to perfect. An artist may spend thousands of dollars and decades of his life honing his craft; a writer may sacrifice his marriage while creating his magnum opus. Some inventors (like Nicola Tesla) were so focused on their creations that they alienated themselves from society.

Sure, anyone can create a little IP...but the stuff that matters...that takes talent, drive, and luck- which deserves to be rewarded.

.

Cost of entry is cash and set up time only in my book . The labor you put in is your choice. If you are unhappy with your art than don't work so d--- hard. We do not need to reward people who do not keep their art life in balance with the rest of thier life. Thats a bad choice and while IMO people do have the right to make poor choices we do not need to reward them for it. .

As for other things -- new power sources, drugs and the like -- these things are hard goods
hard goods with a very high cost of entry. As I mentioned above they really should be done by governments and in many cases open source.

With apologies for the politcal bit --
There are more models than US Capitalism, Communism,and and Tyranny -- Do a bit of research and you will find that Social Democracy works quite well. There are other models than can be tried too . Granted Tyranny and Communism suck, True Communism fails the human nature test Facism is bad. Anarcho Syndalism fails the human nature test but there are others options

The trick is too make laws that work best for the most people not Corporations

I will say no more about this (I am over the line already) and close up with

Please don't swap PDF's from our friends here. You hurt people and the hobby. These are small one man shops trying to make a living in a tough hobby. While I know that no more than 10% of downloaders are likely buyers this still can mean $300 or more out of someones pocket (calculated at $3 take home, 100 units, 10% would be sales) -- that can hurt

Taking crud from WOTC hurts less but it is still a bad thing to do. So don't OK

 

[S'mon]

Those who click away at their keyboards downloading IP willy-nilly while not compensating the IP's creators are firing ICBMS over pallisades; torpedoing a seaworthy ship.

OMG I'm not sure whether to laugh, cry, get angry or just shrug. I guess I'll just shrug.

 

[Falkus]

As for other things -- new power sources, drugs and the like -- these things are hard goods

No they're not. The end product might be, but all the things you mentioned all boil down to being a blueprint or a chemical foruma. Information, intellectual property.

As I mentioned above they really should be done by governments

Oh please. Governments can't advance technology a tenth as fast as the private sector can.

n many cases open source.

So basically, take away the incentive for people to invent things?

 

[Warbringer]

rant on

When I was about five, may grandmother and I were walking down the isle of a local grocers when she saw a 5 pound note on the floor. She picked up and gave it to the grocer.

The guy looks at her and says "It ain't mine Mrs Toner."

She answers, "I know, but it's not mine either."

It's that's simple.

Just because you didn't keep a download, or it was more convenient that having to drive 50 miles, or a friend gave it to me, or I think the company was charging too much, or it wouldn't hurt the company, YOU are attempting to obtain access to something, either temporarily or permantently, that you have no right to own, or observe.

Most of the pdf's I've bought are unfrotunately either weak, or crap.

"Let the buyer beware... not let the buyer jack soemone to make sure he wants it..."

Sheesh

rant off

 

[Warbringer]

Edited because gasoline is way too expensive to waste on flame...

 

[Psionicist]

When I was about five, may grandmother and I were walking down the isle of a local grocers when she saw a 5 pound note on the floor. She picked up and gave it to the grocer.

The guy looks at her and says "It ain't mine Mrs Toner."

She answers, "I know, but it's not mine either."

And your point is? It's not exactly you are either completely good or completely evil, and everyone who download things from the internet are evil un-american commrrorists (I made that up).

I have a similiar story to share:

I found a wallet once - complete with credit cards, a driving license, a house key (!) and about 1500 SEK ($200 USD). I spent a good hour or so to track the owner down and give it back to her.

Yet, I download movies now and then.

Am I ruthless? No. How about the purest of good? No, not that either. Can I live with myself? Yes. Can the society _I_ live in live with me? Yes. Heck, the local newspaper is pro "piracy"!

We are all different shades of grey. If you want to keep your very old monochrome TV fine, but I enjoy a million colors, and it rocks.