Shareware the Pirates?

[johnsemlak]

I certainly agree with the general premise that it couldn't hurt, and might bring in a few dollars, and I wouldn't blame any publisher for trying.

I guess the main issue is that it might be interpreted as condoning to an extent an illegal activity, and perhaps that's unwise for a publisher to do.

 

[Sledge]

Take out the bit that even mentions legal actions and try it. IE if you haven't paid for this I would appreciate it if you sent a little money my way so I can continue producing these pdfs.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Just posting to support this idea, as I'd be interested to see how it works out, from a point of pure curiosity. It has the potential to give the whole piracy problem a different slant.

 

[MonsterMash]

Take out the bit that even mentions legal actions and try it. IE if you haven't paid for this I would appreciate it if you sent a little money my way so I can continue producing these pdfs.

Agree with this - I think that you have nothing to lose by this, and to get some payment from a proportion of these pirates would help.

 

[philreed]

I think it's worth a try but I doubt it will work. I attempted a bit of "donation" testing in a free PDF and after 3,000 downloads not a single donation came in.

 

[thalmin]

Are you sure it wouldn't hurt? Might people start feeling justified in pirating your PDFs, then making a small payment instead of paying your asking price? It seems you do have something to lose, but also something to gain. Interesting experiment. Good luck.

 

[Thanee]

That seems a bit unfair for the regular buyers, no?

Why have I paid full price, and that *** could download it for free and then pay 1 cent and have the same legal copy!?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Zappo]

I'm with Thalmin. It's a good idea in theory, but wouldn't it effectively tell people that they can buy your stuff for a penny?

 

[Felon]

**If** they bothered to read it, most pirates would roll their eyes, and ignore it.

I think many a pirate would download the file and never actually read it, just as most softwarre pirates never actually use many of the programs they acquire.

 

[Jacen]

I think it's worth a try but I doubt it will work. I attempted a bit of "donation" testing in a free PDF and after 3,000 downloads not a single donation came in.

Give me a paypal donation button and I won't donate anything. In my mind paypal sucks and won't ever use it. First EW donation round was passed by me because only checks and paypal was accepted. For the last one I luckily understood that I can buy many communitysupporter accouns for the same effect.