Do people in your country use pirated software?

In France a lot of people often use pirated software; but I think that it depends on whether we are talking about teenagers, students, adults or elderly. For example I think that students are more influenced by the economical factor to use pirated software whereas elderly are more influenced by the ethical one not to use pirated software. In fact, I think that piracy is more likely to be perceived as morally unappealing by them.

I think that in France, most of the people use a not pirated version of their OS, principaly because most of the computers are sold with a genuine version of Windows.
But as Chloe said, people, and particularly students, used pirated version of very expensive software, like Photshop, even if they are OSS software with the same fonctions, for example The Gimp, a really good one.

Still for France, I think that it's not only a question of price and willingness to pay , but also the knowledge a person has about software and IT technology in general.
"Older" people tend to be less inclined to use pirated software because they either don't know alternatives or don't feel at ease pirating products.

jeremie_francois wrote:Still for France, I think that it's not only a question of price and willingness to pay , but also the knowledge a person has about software and IT technology in general.
"Older" people tend to be less inclined to use pirated software because they either don't know alternatives or don't feel at ease pirating products.

Hi I'like to clarity whether it is "elder" people or "business man"? Do business man in France use pirated software? why? will they infringe IP law if appropriate a priated software in a firm?

To answer to Chloé's post, i would add that the elderly or families using their PCs just "for fun" might not be even aware they could get a free OSS. They just go to the store and buy the complete pack for everything to be easy to use when they come back home, right? On the contrary, students and adults who know a bit of computers know more about it and often know at least one people in their family or friends who can help them using a free OSS or, as it is the point, pirating a software for them...

In Poland, and probably in most of Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Russia most of all), use of pirated products is a common thing. Many people have illegal versions of Windows or/and Office on their computers. The same thing may be said about Photoshop, other graphic programs or music ones.

I guess there are a few reasons for this:
first of all, these products are expensive for Polish buyers. Bearing in mind that average salary is couple times lower from this in France, Germany or US, and the original program costs the same price as in these countries, it is quite an expense. However, all company computers have to be kept on original software - and they are.
another thing is that people are somehow used to "fight with the system" and when someone forbids them to copy programs, they will start doing it on purpose.
Finally, there is little awareness among the society about the law protecting producers, costs of making the product etc. If something can be found for free, why not take it?

However, I believe that price is the biggest issue (especially among the poorest part of the society).

Still, I have to say that in last 2-3 years situation has changed. When people are buying new computers, they care about what they put inside and buy mostly original stuff. This is thanks to sellers who underline the pros of original software. Plus the price got lower by around 40%.

If Ukraine or Russia are concerned - pirate industry is still going to flourish there. This is mainly due to bad economic situation of the countries. Moreover, governments have more important things to do than to take care of piracy.

shirleyo wrote:

jeremie_francois wrote:Still for France, I think that it's not only a question of price and willingness to pay , but also the knowledge a person has about software and IT technology in general.
"Older" people tend to be less inclined to use pirated software because they either don't know alternatives or don't feel at ease pirating products.

Hi I'like to clarity whether it is "elder" people or "business man"? Do business man in France use pirated software? why? will they infringe IP law if appropriate a priated software in a firm?

I don't think that many businesses use pirated softwares, in my opinion, businessmen doesn't infringe the law this way...they find many others to do so
If think all the above posts, while talking about "older" people, just as Jeremie said, are designating the elderly...right?

In my country there is a famous saying "St. Lucians like freeness", and that saying is well known across the country. Hence when it comes to software, music, movies etc, once we can get it free we will take it. Most persons dont feel ashame to say that they use pirated software etc. Therefore if social deterrence approach is used ie. (good boy/nice girl) it wont change most persons behaviour. Also economic factors influence the use of pirated software. My country is a developing country and not many people are wealthy, so this explains why use of pirated material is prevalent. Plus we can get away with it, because piracy law is not really enforced in St.Lucia. Like Bartek mentioned our government has more inportant things to do, than to deal with piracy issues.

I have some arguements for the production of pirated goods.

1. Some said, even LV, GUCCI knew exactly the products were pirated in the developing countries, for example, China. But they just choose to turn a blind eye on them, becasue they believe the pirated goods could play a role for customer training for them. They could increase their brand populairty in these potential customers. They believe once they have earned enough money, these custoemrs will sooner or later turn to buy the proprietary products. Do you agree with this arguement? Do you think this arguement could be applied to the information goods?

In Germany pirated software is also widespread. File sharing networks enable a rapid distribution so especially young people are not willing to pay for software products.

In my opinion the most important factor why this criminal activity is accepted is the fact that hardly anyone sees a direct impact of using a pirated software and a company suffering losses. It is not considered as stealing. The first answer would be: "If I would not get a pirated version of the software I wouldn't use it at all." An argument what is quite hard to invalidate.

The other arguement for pirated goods that I've heard in Taiwan is it is a way how an industry in the developing country could learn. The developing countries sometimes do not have R & D resources just as the developed country, therefore, from immitating the product design from advanced countries, the industries in developing countries may increase their own ability. That is the reason many developing country do not have a tight exected IP law. It is also a strategic decision for their policy makers. Do you agree with this arguement? Why and why not?

edith_bonnefond wrote:

shirleyo wrote:

jeremie_francois wrote:Still for France, I think that it's not only a question of price and willingness to pay , but also the knowledge a person has about software and IT technology in general.
"Older" people tend to be less inclined to use pirated software because they either don't know alternatives or don't feel at ease pirating products.

Hi I'like to clarity whether it is "elder" people or "business man"? Do business man in France use pirated software? why? will they infringe IP law if appropriate a priated software in a firm?

I don't think that many businesses use pirated softwares, in my opinion, businessmen doesn't infringe the law this way...they find many others to do so
If think all the above posts, while talking about "older" people, just as Jeremie said, are designating the elderly...right?

Well, "Older" people obviously refers to people who haven't grown up with computers around them... so that's a category of people who might not have as much "IT knowledge and culture". But it also applies to people of all ages who would not know much about pirated products or OSS alternatives more generally (some people don't get o,n well with their computer I also agree that businessmen aren't concerned that much because they generally get their PS paid by the company...

BartekWu wrote:In Poland, and probably in most of Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Russia most of all), use of pirated products is a common thing. Many people have illegal versions of Windows or/and Office on their computers. The same thing may be said about Photoshop, other graphic programs or music ones.

I guess there are a few reasons for this:
first of all, these products are expensive for Polish buyers. Bearing in mind that average salary is couple times lower from this in France, Germany or US, and the original program costs the same price as in these countries, it is quite an expense. However, all company computers have to be kept on original software - and they are.
another thing is that people are somehow used to "fight with the system" and when someone forbids them to copy programs, they will start doing it on purpose.
Finally, there is little awareness among the society about the law protecting producers, costs of making the product etc. If something can be found for free, why not take it?

However, I believe that price is the biggest issue (especially among the poorest part of the society).

Still, I have to say that in last 2-3 years situation has changed. When people are buying new computers, they care about what they put inside and buy mostly original stuff. This is thanks to sellers who underline the pros of original software. Plus the price got lower by around 40%.

If Ukraine or Russia are concerned - pirate industry is still going to flourish there. This is mainly due to bad economic situation of the countries. Moreover, governments have more important things to do than to take care of piracy.

Hi Bartek, why there were some changes during the past 2-3 years? Did you thing the proprietary software produces start to modify their sales strategy? What actions did they do in saling?

In France, yeah, pirated softwares are commonly seen. As Jeremie wrote, I don't think pirated OS is widespread because you buy it when you buy your computer. Some softwares are so expensive that you don't want to pay for that. If you do not use it often, or just for fun, it is understandable that you don't want to spend $100 or more. Even if it is unethical... Perhaps developpers should offer two versions of the same product, pro and home ! (with a noticeable difference in price !)

Do you agree with the statement that the Internet facilitated piracy by free flow of information and lower costs. In a network society, do you think turn private infromation good public a more appropriate business model? Have you ever heard cloud computing? Do you think cloud computing will change the current business model of proprietary software producers? How would be the change?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

In Switzerland, using piracy products is kind of common. I don't say much people use it, but there are some. Especially younger people like high school students, university students etc use it, because it's really expensive to buy it in Switzerland
But I also think, it was more common a couple of years ago, when there were all those kinds of share networks or programs.

Even if it's still a little bit expensive, I prefer buying the real version and not a piracy one. Further, Microsoft and other software companies also sell student versions for much less money.

In Venezuela, other than people being ridiculously good looking, they are also very clever (or not so nice) and often use pirated software. A point was made earlier that also relates to Venezuela: pirated software is usually for home use only... businesses very rarely use pirated software.
Other than software, 90% of video games used are pirated. There are even stores that sell pirated video games.
This can be cause by the "socialist" mind set of many in that region, or the scarcity of funds of the people... I think is the latter.

shirleyo wrote:

BartekWu wrote:In Poland, and probably in most of Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Russia most of all), use of pirated products is a common thing. Many people have illegal versions of Windows or/and Office on their computers. The same thing may be said about Photoshop, other graphic programs or music ones.

I guess there are a few reasons for this:
first of all, these products are expensive for Polish buyers. Bearing in mind that average salary is couple times lower from this in France, Germany or US, and the original program costs the same price as in these countries, it is quite an expense. However, all company computers have to be kept on original software - and they are.
another thing is that people are somehow used to "fight with the system" and when someone forbids them to copy programs, they will start doing it on purpose.
Finally, there is little awareness among the society about the law protecting producers, costs of making the product etc. If something can be found for free, why not take it?

However, I believe that price is the biggest issue (especially among the poorest part of the society).

Still, I have to say that in last 2-3 years situation has changed. When people are buying new computers, they care about what they put inside and buy mostly original stuff. This is thanks to sellers who underline the pros of original software. Plus the price got lower by around 40%.

If Ukraine or Russia are concerned - pirate industry is still going to flourish there. This is mainly due to bad economic situation of the countries. Moreover, governments have more important things to do than to take care of piracy.

Hi Bartek, why there were some changes during the past 2-3 years? Did you thing the proprietary software produces start to modify their sales strategy? What actions did they do in saling?

I'm not too acquainted with Russia and Ukraine, but I'm under the impression that the Chinese government turns a blind eye to proprietary software and IP rights because it is still mainly a manufacturing country. So when the country's companies will have more and more IP and patents, the government might become stricter towards piracy.
I think there are both aspects: the people's willingness to "defy" piracy laws, but also the motivation the government has (or has not) in defending these laws.

In France, a lot of people use pirated software. I think the cost of legal software is a factor and if people can have easily a pirated software. As said before, people like students who do not have a lot of money often use pirated software, people who often use computer did too.

I think that people pirate all over the world because they possess first the ability to do so, and because it's easy to copy and download copyrighted music and movies. Furthermore, once a person participates in piracy, he/ she is obviously inclined to repeat his/her illegal behaviour. However, some people can feel guilty but when it's approved by everybody in your countries, you are more tempetd to do it.

kathia Morano wrote:I think that people pirate all over the world because they possess first the ability to do so, and because it's easy to copy and download copyrighted music and movies. Furthermore, once a person participates in piracy, he/ she is obviously inclined to repeat his/her illegal behaviour. However, some people can feel guilty but when it's approved by everybody in your countries, you are more tempetd to do it.

I totally agree with Kathia. I do not think it is a question of country, but rather a question of our generation. People our age from (almost) all over the world grew up with pirate versions. "Doing" it the first time, you might feel guilty, but this feeling soon disappears since everybody around you does it. Nowadays, it is the norm rather then the exception and meeting a person that actually possess the original version is a rarity.

[quote="shirleyo"]

BartekWu wrote:

Hi Bartek, why there were some changes during the past 2-3 years? Did you thing the proprietary software produces start to modify their sales strategy? What actions did they do in saling?

As I said - peoples knowledge about what they are doing buying or selling illegal versions increased, they started to understand how this business works and that in fact they are committing fraud. Than the policy of computer shops changed - they wanted to increase profits so they started, in more professional way, convincing buyers to get original versions. Finally the prices of products fell considerably, making them more available for the consumers.

I would add maybe one more reason: the "old generations" of computers were thrown out, cos they were not useful any more, and people started buying "new generation" - and having new generation means having original software, right?

Bartek and Alexandra seem to propose an "age/generation" discourse that has echoed Jeremie's and Edith's points in the beginning of discussion. Do you really think age is the factor for people using a pirated software? Is there any other deeper reason? For example, the competence of computer literacy, the network externality of the ICT in our age? Are you talking about the people who grow up in the information age, like us, mediated by the sharing network, tend to embrace open source or priated software much easier than the people who grow up in the print age? Then, is it the tehcnology that shapes our sense of IP, or the IP has its own value for both authers/software designers and users?


[quote="BartekWu"]

shirleyo wrote:

BartekWu wrote:

Hi Bartek, why there were some changes during the past 2-3 years? Did you thing the proprietary software produces start to modify their sales strategy? What actions did they do in saling?

As I said - peoples knowledge about what they are doing buying or selling illegal versions increased, they started to understand how this business works and that in fact they are committing fraud. Than the policy of computer shops changed - they wanted to increase profits so they started, in more professional way, convincing buyers to get original versions. Finally the prices of products fell considerably, making them more available for the consumers.

I would add maybe one more reason: the "old generations" of computers were thrown out, cos they were not useful any more, and people started buying "new generation" - and having new generation means having original software, right?