I live in a country of absurd, right in the middle of Europe, in an old post-industrial city called Lodz (which happens to be right in the middle of Poland). I keep reading various comments and articles concerning piracy, how it is such a big problem and a plague of software industry, how game developer abandon PC as a gaming platform mostly due to high piracy rate. And somehow it seems to me that, at least in Poland, this is mostly bullshit.
Let me explain. From what I learned from my travels to more developed countries in the EU, Polish people still have the stereotypical opinion of being thieving little cunts. Unfortunately, to some extent this is true. A typical Polish person does not have much respect for the law. This is probably because throughout most of the 20th century, first the law was made by those damn Nazis, and then by those damn commies and acting against it was something like an act of resistance. With piracy the problem is slightly more complicated. I'm not old enough to remember all of it, but from various computer press sources you can get a brief image of what it was like. Firstly the socialist idea that everything is common, so copyright was something of an evil imperialist concept to limit the access of working class to information and entertainment. Then there was the issue of cold war. One great idea the Americans had in the '80s was to direct the arms race towards advanced technologies such as the star wars program and force a technological embargo on the countries of the block. Thank you, Ronald Reagan--you have just made the governments of whole of Eastern Europe officially support piracy.
Back then software was simply unobtainable in legal ways (and by legal I mean the evil capitalistic concept of legal, because in Poland everything was according to the law). There were various initiatives to support young people interested in computers and give them an opportunity to obtain software such as many exchange events organized and hosted by schools. Another way of getting games and programs were friends. Clubs for computer geeks popped out. Long evenings spent over at the friends' houses copying games to tapes and later diskettes. It is even said that there were radio programs, which broadcasted software so that you could simply record it to a tape (many Polish gaming magazines mentioned this, however, I was unable to find anyone who can actually confirm this to be true from personal experience). Then in 1989 the glorious era of socialism ended and... everything remained as it was. Many people still consider this a golden age--more and more citizens would get computers and there was no anti-pirate law (or ways to get legal copies for a price smaller than outrageous). The market was now free, anyone could open up a business of their own and that was a brilliant opportunity for high school kids to earn some serious cash. Boys would open up small shops in which for a cheap price you could copy all the software you wanted (recording a diskette at such a place was actually cheaper than a loaf of bread and bread was really cheap back then). There was one such shop in my area--I sometimes pass it by and see it change into a grocery store, butcher shop and lately a pet shop--some nostalgia still lingers.
It all changed in 1993--the parliament voted an anti-piracy act. Some people rejoiced, most people cursed the day. The press said that there is no need to panic, as legal software will be more common now and more reasonably priced. Yeah right! The only change that the law made was to push piracy into the underground (although you could hardly call it that way). The small shops run by high school kids disappeared, but the bigger ones run by grown up 'businessmen' stayed. The software exchange events organized by schools shifted from Saturdays to Sundays. Apart from that everything was the same. On the exchange Sundays the pirates didn't even bother to hide their merchandise--the police station was 200 meters away but the cops didn't bother to move their buttocks--it was Sunday! The raids started somewhere in 1997, but all they did was make the pirates hide their merchandise (rumors said that they actually paid regular bribes to the police to leave them be). What really put them out of saddle were the Internet and p2p networks, but if you're persistant enough you can still buy illegal copies at schools on Sundays. Now at this point you probably have noticed that computer piracy has a long and proud tradition in Poland. So how come I insist that nowadays things are a lot different?
Well, the publishing companies saw the problem and responded: so-called cheap series were introduced, and you can actually buy some of the best PC games real cheap a year after their release date. There are more and more computer stores with a wide selection of games, publishers introduce summer holiday discounts (bought World in Conflict two weeks ago with a 30% rebate, yay!) and parents prefer to buy their children games rather than see the police knocking at their door because the kid is a p2p addict (not to mention that they've noticed this gives them more control over what the kid is playing).
Now I'm not trying to say that piracy in Poland is gone for good. Many issues still remain, but they also slowly start to fade away. A few years ago everyone was sharing through DC++ (an ingenious application that proved to be a precedent for the police entering university dorms), but that died when torrent came. Now torrent is also dying in Poland, because most people use asymmetrical ADSL connections (cheap and easily obtainable), which are quite slow, not to mention the huge disproportion between the number of seeders and leechers. And with computers being faster but more power consuming, more people think twice before downloading an 8Gb DVD at 16kb/s if they appreciate low bills. At this point many people consider it cheaper just to buy the original.
And then there is the issue of 'overgaming.' Some time ago when Playstation 2 became popular, the lucky bastards that bought it would mod the console to allow them to run 'backup copies' (unfortunately console games are still very expensive). Now with the Xbox360 hardly anyone does that anymore, firstly because they like the online aspect, secondly (at least that is what my friends who have the X360 say) because they found that buying one good game a month and playing it to the end makes them more content than downloading tons of titles and not really playing any of them. And after you have finished, you can easily sell or exchange them for something new. Another interesting thing is 'the Witcher' issue: everyone I know has bought the original. Mostly because everyone has read Spakowski's books about the Witcher (I hardly doubt that the English translation can render the real deal), and the game is a Polish product. A few of our countrymen have actually managed to make a worldwide hit and you have to respect that here and pay them the money they deserve. Simply everyone here thinks similarly. When 'the Witcher' came out, miracles would happen. A friend's girlfriend, who despises games, but liked the book, bought the guy a copy for Christmas, so that he wouldn't download it. Another guy I know who probably has never bought an original game in his life, came to classes one day with an original box and said that everyone should buy the game, and he is going to beat the crap out of those who gets an illegal copy (all in favor of supporting our own Polish game-makers). As far as I know, he started to buy original games, because he began to like the idea of a neat box and a quality editions with add-ons.
With non-game software the situation also seems to change for the better. More and more people get a legal copy of Windows (after an information campaign done by the police, which brought light to those unaware of the fact that using an illegal copy of Windows is wrong and you should buy it, while completely neglecting the fact that there are free alternatives). There are also those who install Linux, especially small companies, where the boss is more than happy to see that not only this is free software, but also his employees actually work instead of slacking around playing Quake when he's not looking. Another surprising phenomenon is the office programs. Some people claim that the most pirated software is MS Word, as everyone uses it, and not everyone can afford it. Well, in Poland Microsoft's new edition, with better looks actually turns out to be a failure because of those new better looks. Most of the non-computer-proficient ladies behind desks find it hard to get used to the new Office packet and thus companies install the free OpenOffice (older versions of MS programs are no longer available) to provide their employees with more familiar looking software.
All this may seem a bit incoherent, and probably there is just as much proof that piracy in Poland is holding firm (movies and music is a different story, teenagers with small pocket money probably too). I'm writing this from the point of view of a last-year student, and mostly based on personal experience. Me and my friends all have some income at this point so spending part of the hard earned money on some pleasures (like gaming) is a sort of a rule, and for the past two years everyone started to appreciate original quality content, turning away from download-o-mania. The general point I'm trying to make is that, while it's not perfect and probably will never be, if, even in a country such as Poland, with such deeply rooted piracy tradition, things are beginning to look up, at least in some parts of the society, than all this bragging about piracy killing PC gaming and that it doesn't pay to release games on the old tin can, smell a little like bollocks to me. A while ago I've read an interview with some game-making guy who said that they have a hard nut to crack with releasing titles on the PC, as the numbers don't lie and they lose too much money because of pirates. The numbers maybe don't lie, but they sure are prone to selective interpretation--just look at Call of Duty 4, according to the numbers it sold better on the PC than on consoles.
Let me explain. From what I learned from my travels to more developed countries in the EU, Polish people still have the stereotypical opinion of being thieving little cunts. Unfortunately, to some extent this is true. A typical Polish person does not have much respect for the law. This is probably because throughout most of the 20th century, first the law was made by those damn Nazis, and then by those damn commies and acting against it was something like an act of resistance. With piracy the problem is slightly more complicated. I'm not old enough to remember all of it, but from various computer press sources you can get a brief image of what it was like. Firstly the socialist idea that everything is common, so copyright was something of an evil imperialist concept to limit the access of working class to information and entertainment. Then there was the issue of cold war. One great idea the Americans had in the '80s was to direct the arms race towards advanced technologies such as the star wars program and force a technological embargo on the countries of the block. Thank you, Ronald Reagan--you have just made the governments of whole of Eastern Europe officially support piracy.
Back then software was simply unobtainable in legal ways (and by legal I mean the evil capitalistic concept of legal, because in Poland everything was according to the law). There were various initiatives to support young people interested in computers and give them an opportunity to obtain software such as many exchange events organized and hosted by schools. Another way of getting games and programs were friends. Clubs for computer geeks popped out. Long evenings spent over at the friends' houses copying games to tapes and later diskettes. It is even said that there were radio programs, which broadcasted software so that you could simply record it to a tape (many Polish gaming magazines mentioned this, however, I was unable to find anyone who can actually confirm this to be true from personal experience). Then in 1989 the glorious era of socialism ended and... everything remained as it was. Many people still consider this a golden age--more and more citizens would get computers and there was no anti-pirate law (or ways to get legal copies for a price smaller than outrageous). The market was now free, anyone could open up a business of their own and that was a brilliant opportunity for high school kids to earn some serious cash. Boys would open up small shops in which for a cheap price you could copy all the software you wanted (recording a diskette at such a place was actually cheaper than a loaf of bread and bread was really cheap back then). There was one such shop in my area--I sometimes pass it by and see it change into a grocery store, butcher shop and lately a pet shop--some nostalgia still lingers.
It all changed in 1993--the parliament voted an anti-piracy act. Some people rejoiced, most people cursed the day. The press said that there is no need to panic, as legal software will be more common now and more reasonably priced. Yeah right! The only change that the law made was to push piracy into the underground (although you could hardly call it that way). The small shops run by high school kids disappeared, but the bigger ones run by grown up 'businessmen' stayed. The software exchange events organized by schools shifted from Saturdays to Sundays. Apart from that everything was the same. On the exchange Sundays the pirates didn't even bother to hide their merchandise--the police station was 200 meters away but the cops didn't bother to move their buttocks--it was Sunday! The raids started somewhere in 1997, but all they did was make the pirates hide their merchandise (rumors said that they actually paid regular bribes to the police to leave them be). What really put them out of saddle were the Internet and p2p networks, but if you're persistant enough you can still buy illegal copies at schools on Sundays. Now at this point you probably have noticed that computer piracy has a long and proud tradition in Poland. So how come I insist that nowadays things are a lot different?
Well, the publishing companies saw the problem and responded: so-called cheap series were introduced, and you can actually buy some of the best PC games real cheap a year after their release date. There are more and more computer stores with a wide selection of games, publishers introduce summer holiday discounts (bought World in Conflict two weeks ago with a 30% rebate, yay!) and parents prefer to buy their children games rather than see the police knocking at their door because the kid is a p2p addict (not to mention that they've noticed this gives them more control over what the kid is playing).
Now I'm not trying to say that piracy in Poland is gone for good. Many issues still remain, but they also slowly start to fade away. A few years ago everyone was sharing through DC++ (an ingenious application that proved to be a precedent for the police entering university dorms), but that died when torrent came. Now torrent is also dying in Poland, because most people use asymmetrical ADSL connections (cheap and easily obtainable), which are quite slow, not to mention the huge disproportion between the number of seeders and leechers. And with computers being faster but more power consuming, more people think twice before downloading an 8Gb DVD at 16kb/s if they appreciate low bills. At this point many people consider it cheaper just to buy the original.
And then there is the issue of 'overgaming.' Some time ago when Playstation 2 became popular, the lucky bastards that bought it would mod the console to allow them to run 'backup copies' (unfortunately console games are still very expensive). Now with the Xbox360 hardly anyone does that anymore, firstly because they like the online aspect, secondly (at least that is what my friends who have the X360 say) because they found that buying one good game a month and playing it to the end makes them more content than downloading tons of titles and not really playing any of them. And after you have finished, you can easily sell or exchange them for something new. Another interesting thing is 'the Witcher' issue: everyone I know has bought the original. Mostly because everyone has read Spakowski's books about the Witcher (I hardly doubt that the English translation can render the real deal), and the game is a Polish product. A few of our countrymen have actually managed to make a worldwide hit and you have to respect that here and pay them the money they deserve. Simply everyone here thinks similarly. When 'the Witcher' came out, miracles would happen. A friend's girlfriend, who despises games, but liked the book, bought the guy a copy for Christmas, so that he wouldn't download it. Another guy I know who probably has never bought an original game in his life, came to classes one day with an original box and said that everyone should buy the game, and he is going to beat the crap out of those who gets an illegal copy (all in favor of supporting our own Polish game-makers). As far as I know, he started to buy original games, because he began to like the idea of a neat box and a quality editions with add-ons.
With non-game software the situation also seems to change for the better. More and more people get a legal copy of Windows (after an information campaign done by the police, which brought light to those unaware of the fact that using an illegal copy of Windows is wrong and you should buy it, while completely neglecting the fact that there are free alternatives). There are also those who install Linux, especially small companies, where the boss is more than happy to see that not only this is free software, but also his employees actually work instead of slacking around playing Quake when he's not looking. Another surprising phenomenon is the office programs. Some people claim that the most pirated software is MS Word, as everyone uses it, and not everyone can afford it. Well, in Poland Microsoft's new edition, with better looks actually turns out to be a failure because of those new better looks. Most of the non-computer-proficient ladies behind desks find it hard to get used to the new Office packet and thus companies install the free OpenOffice (older versions of MS programs are no longer available) to provide their employees with more familiar looking software.
All this may seem a bit incoherent, and probably there is just as much proof that piracy in Poland is holding firm (movies and music is a different story, teenagers with small pocket money probably too). I'm writing this from the point of view of a last-year student, and mostly based on personal experience. Me and my friends all have some income at this point so spending part of the hard earned money on some pleasures (like gaming) is a sort of a rule, and for the past two years everyone started to appreciate original quality content, turning away from download-o-mania. The general point I'm trying to make is that, while it's not perfect and probably will never be, if, even in a country such as Poland, with such deeply rooted piracy tradition, things are beginning to look up, at least in some parts of the society, than all this bragging about piracy killing PC gaming and that it doesn't pay to release games on the old tin can, smell a little like bollocks to me. A while ago I've read an interview with some game-making guy who said that they have a hard nut to crack with releasing titles on the PC, as the numbers don't lie and they lose too much money because of pirates. The numbers maybe don't lie, but they sure are prone to selective interpretation--just look at Call of Duty 4, according to the numbers it sold better on the PC than on consoles.