Most of the time, I buy my PC games, then download the no-cd crack for it. In general, pirates do simply because they can. I cannot take a high horse in this argument because in the past I've been a part of the problem, though since discovering steam about 2 years ago, I find myself re-buying games I already own or downloaded elsewhere and have a library approaching 250 games now.
Downloading a pirated copy has several benefits...no waiting for release dates (which may vary around the globe), cracks bypass intrusive DRM, often no need for a disc to install/play and above all, convenience. It is possible to get a game swiftly without waiting on release dates, mail order turnaroundl all at any time of day, etc. This is the reason iTunes and Steam are successful...they offer this same convenience but through a legal avenue.
Piracy is also prevalent in poor countries for that very reason. In a country where workers earn an average of ~$300 p/m (which must support feeding a family and other priorities), buying Windows 7, for example, for ~£75 or a newly released console game for ~£35 is quite simply not possible. Spending 15% of one's monthly salary on a single video game when trying to feed and clothe children makes it completely out of reach. The result is that copies are produced and sold en masse for a fraction of their price here (putting it more in line with what it costs us in the richer countries proportional to our incomes).
However on the whole, it can only hurt the industry, though "lost revenue" figures are almost wholly inaccurate. It is simply not correct to assume that each illegal copy would've equated to a sale. But what is almost certainly true is that if it were absolutely impossible to obtain the game/album/film any way other than the legal way I would think it quite reasonable to say there would be higher sales. Before it became commonplace, people would have to save up and work hard to get what they want, they would look forward to release dates with anticipation and be forced to choose between one game, or another, but not both.
The way to look at it is this...if you have an original idea for something, be it an invention, a novel, film, painting, song or game and spend time, money and energy to create it in the hope of selling it for profit, how would you feel if someone distributed it for free online? Or worse, sold knock-offs of your original to line their own pockets? Would you not be upset? Would you not wish for them to stop? Would you not consider taking precuations to try and protect your IP? Would you be motivated to create another product after seeing what happened to the first?
And to clarify one point...at least in the UK, piracy is technically NOT theft. Stealing, or theft is a criminal offence and by definition involves physical property. Piracy is copyright infringement which is a civil offence, not a criminal one. At no point is anything being stolen. The offence is that the pirate is in breach of copyright law, which grants creators/rights-holders the legal rights to decide how their work may be used. Both are illegal, but there is a difference between the two.
Downloading a pirated copy has several benefits...no waiting for release dates (which may vary around the globe), cracks bypass intrusive DRM, often no need for a disc to install/play and above all, convenience. It is possible to get a game swiftly without waiting on release dates, mail order turnaroundl all at any time of day, etc. This is the reason iTunes and Steam are successful...they offer this same convenience but through a legal avenue.
Piracy is also prevalent in poor countries for that very reason. In a country where workers earn an average of ~$300 p/m (which must support feeding a family and other priorities), buying Windows 7, for example, for ~£75 or a newly released console game for ~£35 is quite simply not possible. Spending 15% of one's monthly salary on a single video game when trying to feed and clothe children makes it completely out of reach. The result is that copies are produced and sold en masse for a fraction of their price here (putting it more in line with what it costs us in the richer countries proportional to our incomes).
However on the whole, it can only hurt the industry, though "lost revenue" figures are almost wholly inaccurate. It is simply not correct to assume that each illegal copy would've equated to a sale. But what is almost certainly true is that if it were absolutely impossible to obtain the game/album/film any way other than the legal way I would think it quite reasonable to say there would be higher sales. Before it became commonplace, people would have to save up and work hard to get what they want, they would look forward to release dates with anticipation and be forced to choose between one game, or another, but not both.
The way to look at it is this...if you have an original idea for something, be it an invention, a novel, film, painting, song or game and spend time, money and energy to create it in the hope of selling it for profit, how would you feel if someone distributed it for free online? Or worse, sold knock-offs of your original to line their own pockets? Would you not be upset? Would you not wish for them to stop? Would you not consider taking precuations to try and protect your IP? Would you be motivated to create another product after seeing what happened to the first?
And to clarify one point...at least in the UK, piracy is technically NOT theft. Stealing, or theft is a criminal offence and by definition involves physical property. Piracy is copyright infringement which is a civil offence, not a criminal one. At no point is anything being stolen. The offence is that the pirate is in breach of copyright law, which grants creators/rights-holders the legal rights to decide how their work may be used. Both are illegal, but there is a difference between the two.
