I think it can be a good thing... at times. The entertainment giants are complaining that piracy is hurting them very much, but they are actually making more money than ever (from what ive heard admittedly. feel free to fact check). Lemme put it this way, before we had the internet, or at least the net in its current form, I might go to see a movie maybe three times a year. When I did it was a calculated decision and it was probably something I really wanted to see. Now, with piracy, I see many MANY movies a year, and very few of them are something I 'really want to see'. If I am bored and I open up Icefilms on my browser, I might see... lets say... the hangover 2. The hangover 2 is not a movie I would intentionally go and see. But if it is right there, I might give it a try. Maybe I will like it more than I thought. Maybe I will even purchase it so I can watch deleted scenes and commentary. The ease with which piracy allows us to sample so many things in turn exposes us to more things, and not only encourages us to spend money, but encourages us to spend money ONLY on things that are worth the money. This in turn should make pop culture better for all of us (although the safer and safer bets on our part inspire safer and safer bets on the producers part, which is why we keep getting shitty sequels). But overall, I am more likely to see things I normally wouldn't due to piracy, (like the hangover 2) simply because it is so easy.
Another thing I really like about piracy is the ease with which I can find old or obscure movies and television. It can be tough to find some of these things in a legit manner. Have you ever seen Fireball XL5 on DVD? Can Groucho's appearances on **** Cavett be found at your local Wal*Mart? So many distribution companies have died along with their copyrights. Where am I to find these types of things if not the internet? Sure someone still owns that copyright somewhere, but they are not going to start pressing discs until they can forecast a profit. I've accepted the fact that I may never see Kevin Spencer or That 80s show in stores, but with the power of piracy, I can still enjoy them.
the way to fight piracy is to offer a better product than the pirates offer. People WILL pay for your DVD if you can give them quality content. The cry that piracy is wrong is just the cry of an inferior producer, and the cry of those they have brainwashed. Artists are going to keep making art whether they get paid or not, and as much as big entertainment hates to admit it, they ARE going to keep getting paid, in some cases even better than before...
So I will agree with you that it can be dangerous to start espousing the virtues of piracy just because 'Hey! free stuff!', but there ARE advantages, and while it may not be 'right' or 'wrong' I think there ARE some good things to come out of it.
I have a friend that plays cracked minecraft due to not having the funds to pay for it. In a circumstance like this, especially because I used to be in the same one, using a cracked version is fine in my books. But if you have the money and can spare said money, you should buy the game.
As they say with SOPA
DOWN with it...
I truley do think its unfair
Indeed.
But I think it's important we differentiate SOPA and piracy as a whole. Even if you are against piracy, you should still be against SOPA, because of the enormous power it gives corporations to shut down websites. As it is written, ANY website that is suspected of not even hosting, but simply supporting copyright infringement can be shut down without due process. (or at least before, as I imagine there would be an appeal process)
As universal has already proved by unlawfully filing a claim with Youtube over the 'mega song', These companies cannot be trusted to accurately, and honestly deal with the threat, and hosts of innocent domains are sure to be wrongfully indicted.
In short, anything short of net neutrality is unconstitutional, and should not be tolerated.
I think it is completely unfair to crack the game especially because people actually put a long time into make this happen and you should show some respect by buying it. I am surprised that they sell the game for such a low cost given that it is such a success. If 4+ million were able to buy the game then others should be able to as well. If you can't afford the game, what gives you the right to steal it? That is not moral and unethical. I understand that we do not wear clothes made of gold, and I am just a teenager, but I save money to get what I want. I don't try and find the easy way out of things. If I have to buy it, then I have to buy it, not buts. It is the same as going to a store, and taking something and telling the workers that you have the right to take it free of charge because you can't afford it.
Go into Mojang's or any other game company's position. They take so much time to get things right for us to enjoy and we just steal their work from them? For example, Skyrim took years to make and has a really high pirate rate for PC. That is the reason why not many games are made and ported well for the PC, because since we have the ability to get something for free, many people take advantage of it...
If someone was to go to my blog and copy and paste my posts and post them to their website I would flip out. All my hard work would just be taken from me without any reward.
I think it is acceptable if you just want to try the game, I mean i was hesitant to pay $15 for a game that was made of cubes. If you like the game you should certainly purchase it however. I think mojang should offer a trial version of survival to download from the minecraft website. I think lots of people pirate minecraft to try it, and then just keep the pirated version because it is easier. A trial version of survival on the website would remove both of those problems.
I think it is completely unfair to crack the game especially because people actually put a long time into make this happen and you should show some respect by buying it.
You assume that we cannot do both. Almost every person on here who has admitted to cracking has followed it with an addendum along the lines of "I eventually bought it".
Go into Mojang's or any other game company's position. They take so much time to get things right for us to enjoy and we just steal their work from them?
In order to steal something, it has to be something capable of being 'taken'. While you can take a candy bar, and you can even take virginity, you CANNOT take data. You copy it.
Why dont YOU look at it from the companies position? many MANY artists have found a way to profit by using the internet, and just because some market influences are still stuck in their luddite ways, it doesn't mean we should give any credence to their complaints. The boys behind self helpless as well as Louie CK have all explored digital distribution and actually *GASP* turned a profit. Saying you are looking out for notch is a really shortsighted thing to say when you have no idea how he feels. Maybe if you read that link up there, you might see things from his perspective.
You assume that we cannot do both. Almost every person on here who has admitted to cracking has followed it with an addendum along the lines of "I eventually bought it".
In order to steal something, it has to be something capable of being 'taken'. While you can take a candy bar, and you can even take virginity, you CANNOT take data. You copy it.
Why dont YOU look at it from the companies position? many MANY artists have found a way to profit by using the internet, and just because some market influences are still stuck in their luddite ways, it doesn't mean we should give any credence to their complaints. The boys behind self helpless as well as Louie CK have all explored digital distribution and actually *GASP* turned a profit. Saying you are looking out for notch is a really shortsighted thing to say when you have no idea how he feels. Maybe if you read that link up there, you might see things from his perspective.
I hope you realize that companies that makes games lose millions of dollars in profit when their games are pirated. And I don't care what type of form of taking it it, taking chocolate, a girls virginity, or something online, if it has copyright it cannot be taken. Notch may allow it but don't try to convince me that many others do too. Each game pirated is money lost that should have went to were it was supposed to. You said you cannot take data, instead you can only copy it. Now explain to me the difference... You "copy" someone's work is the same thing as stealing. That is why you are not allowed to "copy" on tests, essays, SAT's etc. http://www.insidegamingdaily.com/2011/12/31/top-pirated-games-of-2011/
"Top PC Game Downloads on BitTorrent in 2011
Crysis 2 (3,920,000)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (3,650,000)
Battlefield 3 (3,510,000)
FIFA 12 (3,390,000)
Portal 2 (3,240,000)"
For example, Modern Warfare 3 had around 3.6 million pirated versions. If each copy sells for around $60, the total income that the game producers lost due to pirated games was $216,000,000. If you think $216,000,000 is nothing to worry about, you are obviously insane...
So your telling me people "copied" $216,000,000 worth of data.. When I look at it in your perspective it does not make me feel guilty at all. Thanks!... :dry.gif:
i guess i can add my name to the list of minecraft crackers who bought the game down the road. i was sceptical about minecraft because at first glance looks primitive.
a few months later i had my own share of structures and art to add to the many other structures that have been built. i also bought the game and have been an addict from day 1.
You assume that we cannot do both. Almost every person on here who has admitted to cracking has followed it with an addendum along the lines of "I eventually bought it".
In order to steal something, it has to be something capable of being 'taken'. While you can take a candy bar, and you can even take virginity, you CANNOT take data. You copy it.
Why dont YOU look at it from the companies position? many MANY artists have found a way to profit by using the internet, and just because some market influences are still stuck in their luddite ways, it doesn't mean we should give any credence to their complaints. The boys behind self helpless as well as Louie CK have all explored digital distribution and actually *GASP* turned a profit. Saying you are looking out for notch is a really shortsighted thing to say when you have no idea how he feels. Maybe if you read that link up there, you might see things from his perspective.
Oh and one more thing... just because Notch said that it is not theft, that does not change my perspective on things. I respect him and always will, but he is not some idol that I have to agree with on whatever he says. I sir, have my own opinion and I stand by it, no matter what others believe.
First of all you confuse 'copy' with 'plagiarism'. Calling someone elses work your own is entirely different from piracy.
As far as the money, Im sure some companies are losing money, but that's because they are trying to do business the 'old way'. Believe me, I am a staunch capitalist. I love making money. sometimes I think I'm the only capitalist who believes in piracy, but I see sound economic theory in piracy. You can dig up links? so can I... http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/01/12/artists_are_doing_better_than_ever_according_to_the_us_labor_department
That page in turn has a link to the US Labor Dept, and all the information you need to understand the data.
But let's not dwell on the fact that the entertainment industry is one of the only industries making such a huge profit (and they ARE making a HUGE profit. more huge than ever). Lets talk about economic theory. Let me tell you a story.
Years ago, during the advent of radio, certain music producers fought tooth and nail against the proliferation of their works for broadcast. They thought it spelled the end of the music industry. After all, who, in their right mind, would purchase a cut when they could just hear it on the radio?
With the power of hindsight, do I need to tell you what is wrong with that assumption? By piping out the latest hits directly into peoples homes it increased the chance of people actually hearing the music tenfold. While before, one had to be introduced to new music via friends and jukeboxes, suddenly people everywhere could hear the newest songs via that magic talking box in the den. People flocked to record stores in droves and sales skyrocketed. Musicians everywhere had a new platform to show off their wares.
Just like the Hangover 2 that I mentioned earlier, these new songs were not songs that most people would feel compelled to seek out on their own, but grew to love when they were made so easily available. When every movie or television show is only a click away, we can check them out, and see what they are like without having to make a huge investment. Then, IF and only IF we like them, MAYBE we will buy them. Sure some wont, perhaps even most wont, but a few will.
Its hard to put this into words, but lets say 10% of pirates buy something as opposed to the 100% that would have, if piracy did not exist. Just as the early music producers found out, 10% of MILLIONS of people is much more than 100% of mere thousands. The more people you expose to your product, the greater the return. So even if 90% of your 'customers' are ripping you off, that 10% of the many is still larger than the 100% of the few. When you make media easy to get, more people are going to get it, and there is more money to be made. I wholeheartedly believe that if SONY/BMG/Universal/VIACOM had its own website, and hosted all its media for free, and made us all watch some advertisments, they would make far more money than they make now. Do you know what hulu's bottom line is? I dont, but I can guarantee they aren't going bankrupt...
The problem is most of these entertainment execs are used to the old ways. The internet is rocking their boat and they don't like it. All of the skills they have learned in their careers are slowly becoming useless and it is scaring the living **** out of them. You can't put up posters and go on Johnny Carson and expect to print free money. What you make has to be GOOD and you have to find new ways to distribute it, and here is the real kicker, make it more appealing than the pirated goods. As notch put it, “If you just make your game and keep adding to it, the people who copyright infringed would buy it the next week,”. It is a new way of doing business and it is changing entertainment, and that is downright scary. But there IS money to be made doing things the new way, and as their predecessors learned when fighting radio, they too will learn that you cannot make money by hurting peoples rights.
But the industry IS doing well, and it will continue to, in lieu of the horrible immoral monsters like me.
First of all you confuse 'copy' with 'plagiarism'. Calling someone elses work your own is entirely different from piracy.
As far as the money, Im sure some companies are losing money, but that's because they are trying to do business the 'old way'. Believe me, I am a staunch capitalist. I love making money. sometimes I think I'm the only capitalist who believes in piracy, but I see sound economic theory in piracy. You can dig up links? so can I... http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/01/12/artists_are_doing_better_than_ever_according_to_the_us_labor_department
That page in turn has a link to the US Labor Dept, and all the information you need to understand the data.
But let's not dwell on the fact that the entertainment industry is one of the only industries making such a huge profit (and they ARE making a HUGE profit. more huge than ever). Lets talk about economic theory. Let me tell you a story.
Years ago, during the advent of radio, certain music producers fought tooth and nail against the proliferation of their works for broadcast. They thought it spelled the end of the music industry. After all, who, in their right mind, would purchase a cut when they could just hear it on the radio?
With the power of hindsight, do I need to tell you what is wrong with that assumption? By piping out the latest hits directly into peoples homes it increased the chance of people actually hearing the music tenfold. While before, one had to be introduced to new music via friends and jukeboxes, suddenly people everywhere could hear the newest songs via that magic talking box in the den. People flocked to record stores in droves and sales skyrocketed. Musicians everywhere had a new platform to show off their wares.
Just like the Hangover 2 that I mentioned earlier, these new songs were not songs that most people would feel compelled to seek out on their own, but grew to love when they were made so easily available. When every movie or television show is only a click away, we can check them out, and see what they are like without having to make a huge investment. Then, IF and only IF we like them, MAYBE we will buy them. Sure some wont, perhaps even most wont, but a few will.
Its hard to put this into words, but lets say 10% of pirates buy something as opposed to the 100% that would have, if piracy did not exist. Just as the early music producers found out, 10% of MILLIONS of people is much more than 100% of mere thousands. The more people you expose to your product, the greater the return. So even if 90% of your 'customers' are ripping you off, that 10% of the many is still larger than the 100% of the few. When you make media easy to get, more people are going to get it, and there is more money to be made. I wholeheartedly believe that if SONY/BMG/Universal/VIACOM had its own website, and hosted all its media for free, and made us all watch some advertisments, they would make far more money than they make now. Do you know what hulu's bottom line is? I dont, but I can guarantee they aren't going bankrupt...
The problem is most of these entertainment execs are used to the old ways. The internet is rocking their boat and they don't like it. All of the skills they have learned in their careers are slowly becoming useless and it is scaring the living **** out of them. You can't put up posters and go on Johnny Carson and expect to print free money. What you make has to be GOOD and you have to find new ways to distribute it, and here is the real kicker, make it more appealing than the pirated goods. As notch put it, “If you just make your game and keep adding to it, the people who copyright infringed would buy it the next week,”. It is a new way of doing business and it is changing entertainment, and that is downright scary. But there IS money to be made doing things the new way, and as their predecessors learned when fighting radio, they too will learn that you cannot make money by hurting peoples rights.
But the industry IS doing well, and it will continue to, in lieu of the horrible immoral monsters like me.
Yes your right - exposure sells; and that is what piracy does.
I like to think of paying for data as morally equivalent as tipping street performers. If you don't like the act and keep on walking then so be it but, if you like the act then give some tips otherwise you're a total douchebag. If you steal a car from Ford then they loose a couple thousand dollars which is wrong but, Notch doesn't loose anything (other than potential profit) if someone "steals" a Minecraft. Don't get me wrong though anyone who does "steals" a Minecraft, plays it regularly, and thoroughly enjoys it is a terrible person.
some people are cheap and lazy and when they can get what they want for free, they will do it. they'll just have to settle without protected multiplayer servers. as for supporting mojang, i'd agree with you a year or two ago, but notch is okay with pirating so what is there to support?
some people are cheap and lazy and when they can get what they want for free, they will do it. they'll just have to settle without protected multiplayer servers. as for supporting mojang, i'd agree with you a year or two ago, but notch is okay with pirating so what is there to support?
i wouldn't say lazy, as someone who has been there done that many times, i find it is a hell of alot easier to buy a program, game etc...
when you pirate you can get viruses on your computer and not know it till it's to late. i got alot that way, computer even got nuked once as well. honestly i find buying a game on steam to be far easier and less of a damn headache then trying to get it free.
there have been things i have downloaded many times to find it defective or what not far more then the ones that worked. my skyrim game is like that, but i was paying for it twice, bought the ps3 version and got more stress then i asked for. if i would have got it on steam i could have avoided the headache, now i can patch the game through only one source. the site that made the torrent to begin with. but i did pay for it once.
but getting stuff for free is not easy, and for the more obscure programs, songs, etc you have to go to the ends of the net itself and half the time come up empty handed. there are many things you can't find or get.
Piracy brings some of the best advertising in the world you all have to stop looking at it as this big bad entity and understand that it can actuly bring good bisnuess me personaly like to try things b4 I buy them being very limited to what I am able to buy I injoy being able to test things throughly. With saying this I pirated minecraft and played it for several months before I ended up buying it along with 2 gift codes.
Now here is my lecture part on Piracy.
piracy can bring free good advertising but can also hurt a company however most time it will end up as free advertising and chain buying/ chain advertising. This style of buying and advertising can be acompanied by "generalized exchange" as seen in the movie "paying it forward" for the one person he helps that person has to help three others and thos three others have to help another three and so on. In the case of pirating if the pirate(Arrgh)
injoys the product he will most likly share the word to his or her fellow friends and priate were they will ither enjoy the game or dislike the game this will lead to some of them buying it and causing others to want it. they will all then tell there friends and the concept of "generalized exchange" is shown.
tl;dr
It can hurt a company expeccialy a starting company such as a indie game company however most of the time its free advertising and will only florish into baught copies.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If I have helped you or made you laugh return a token of your gratitude and +rep me. --->
Another thing I really like about piracy is the ease with which I can find old or obscure movies and television. It can be tough to find some of these things in a legit manner. Have you ever seen Fireball XL5 on DVD? Can Groucho's appearances on **** Cavett be found at your local Wal*Mart? So many distribution companies have died along with their copyrights. Where am I to find these types of things if not the internet? Sure someone still owns that copyright somewhere, but they are not going to start pressing discs until they can forecast a profit. I've accepted the fact that I may never see Kevin Spencer or That 80s show in stores, but with the power of piracy, I can still enjoy them.
the way to fight piracy is to offer a better product than the pirates offer. People WILL pay for your DVD if you can give them quality content. The cry that piracy is wrong is just the cry of an inferior producer, and the cry of those they have brainwashed. Artists are going to keep making art whether they get paid or not, and as much as big entertainment hates to admit it, they ARE going to keep getting paid, in some cases even better than before...
So I will agree with you that it can be dangerous to start espousing the virtues of piracy just because 'Hey! free stuff!', but there ARE advantages, and while it may not be 'right' or 'wrong' I think there ARE some good things to come out of it.
DOWN with it...
I truley do think its unfair
Indeed.
But I think it's important we differentiate SOPA and piracy as a whole. Even if you are against piracy, you should still be against SOPA, because of the enormous power it gives corporations to shut down websites. As it is written, ANY website that is suspected of not even hosting, but simply supporting copyright infringement can be shut down without due process. (or at least before, as I imagine there would be an appeal process)
As universal has already proved by unlawfully filing a claim with Youtube over the 'mega song', These companies cannot be trusted to accurately, and honestly deal with the threat, and hosts of innocent domains are sure to be wrongfully indicted.
In short, anything short of net neutrality is unconstitutional, and should not be tolerated.
Go into Mojang's or any other game company's position. They take so much time to get things right for us to enjoy and we just steal their work from them? For example, Skyrim took years to make and has a really high pirate rate for PC. That is the reason why not many games are made and ported well for the PC, because since we have the ability to get something for free, many people take advantage of it...
If someone was to go to my blog and copy and paste my posts and post them to their website I would flip out. All my hard work would just be taken from me without any reward.
You assume that we cannot do both. Almost every person on here who has admitted to cracking has followed it with an addendum along the lines of "I eventually bought it".
You still have yet to convince me that it is 'stealing'. As far as notch is concerned it is not. You have no problem with pimping your blog posts, so why not read this one by the minecraft god himself;
http://torrentfreak.com/piracy-is-theft-ridiculous-lost-sales-they-dont-exist-says-minecraft-creator-110303/
In order to steal something, it has to be something capable of being 'taken'. While you can take a candy bar, and you can even take virginity, you CANNOT take data. You copy it.
Why dont YOU look at it from the companies position? many MANY artists have found a way to profit by using the internet, and just because some market influences are still stuck in their luddite ways, it doesn't mean we should give any credence to their complaints. The boys behind self helpless as well as Louie CK have all explored digital distribution and actually *GASP* turned a profit. Saying you are looking out for notch is a really shortsighted thing to say when you have no idea how he feels. Maybe if you read that link up there, you might see things from his perspective.
I hope you realize that companies that makes games lose millions of dollars in profit when their games are pirated. And I don't care what type of form of taking it it, taking chocolate, a girls virginity, or something online, if it has copyright it cannot be taken. Notch may allow it but don't try to convince me that many others do too. Each game pirated is money lost that should have went to were it was supposed to. You said you cannot take data, instead you can only copy it. Now explain to me the difference... You "copy" someone's work is the same thing as stealing. That is why you are not allowed to "copy" on tests, essays, SAT's etc.
http://www.insidegamingdaily.com/2011/12/31/top-pirated-games-of-2011/
"Top PC Game Downloads on BitTorrent in 2011
Crysis 2 (3,920,000)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (3,650,000)
Battlefield 3 (3,510,000)
FIFA 12 (3,390,000)
Portal 2 (3,240,000)"
For example, Modern Warfare 3 had around 3.6 million pirated versions. If each copy sells for around $60, the total income that the game producers lost due to pirated games was $216,000,000. If you think $216,000,000 is nothing to worry about, you are obviously insane...
So your telling me people "copied" $216,000,000 worth of data.. When I look at it in your perspective it does not make me feel guilty at all. Thanks!... :dry.gif:
a few months later i had my own share of structures and art to add to the many other structures that have been built. i also bought the game and have been an addict from day 1.
Oh and one more thing... just because Notch said that it is not theft, that does not change my perspective on things. I respect him and always will, but he is not some idol that I have to agree with on whatever he says. I sir, have my own opinion and I stand by it, no matter what others believe.
As far as the money, Im sure some companies are losing money, but that's because they are trying to do business the 'old way'. Believe me, I am a staunch capitalist. I love making money. sometimes I think I'm the only capitalist who believes in piracy, but I see sound economic theory in piracy. You can dig up links? so can I...
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/01/12/artists_are_doing_better_than_ever_according_to_the_us_labor_department
That page in turn has a link to the US Labor Dept, and all the information you need to understand the data.
But let's not dwell on the fact that the entertainment industry is one of the only industries making such a huge profit (and they ARE making a HUGE profit. more huge than ever). Lets talk about economic theory. Let me tell you a story.
Years ago, during the advent of radio, certain music producers fought tooth and nail against the proliferation of their works for broadcast. They thought it spelled the end of the music industry. After all, who, in their right mind, would purchase a cut when they could just hear it on the radio?
With the power of hindsight, do I need to tell you what is wrong with that assumption? By piping out the latest hits directly into peoples homes it increased the chance of people actually hearing the music tenfold. While before, one had to be introduced to new music via friends and jukeboxes, suddenly people everywhere could hear the newest songs via that magic talking box in the den. People flocked to record stores in droves and sales skyrocketed. Musicians everywhere had a new platform to show off their wares.
Just like the Hangover 2 that I mentioned earlier, these new songs were not songs that most people would feel compelled to seek out on their own, but grew to love when they were made so easily available. When every movie or television show is only a click away, we can check them out, and see what they are like without having to make a huge investment. Then, IF and only IF we like them, MAYBE we will buy them. Sure some wont, perhaps even most wont, but a few will.
Its hard to put this into words, but lets say 10% of pirates buy something as opposed to the 100% that would have, if piracy did not exist. Just as the early music producers found out, 10% of MILLIONS of people is much more than 100% of mere thousands. The more people you expose to your product, the greater the return. So even if 90% of your 'customers' are ripping you off, that 10% of the many is still larger than the 100% of the few. When you make media easy to get, more people are going to get it, and there is more money to be made. I wholeheartedly believe that if SONY/BMG/Universal/VIACOM had its own website, and hosted all its media for free, and made us all watch some advertisments, they would make far more money than they make now. Do you know what hulu's bottom line is? I dont, but I can guarantee they aren't going bankrupt...
The problem is most of these entertainment execs are used to the old ways. The internet is rocking their boat and they don't like it. All of the skills they have learned in their careers are slowly becoming useless and it is scaring the living **** out of them. You can't put up posters and go on Johnny Carson and expect to print free money. What you make has to be GOOD and you have to find new ways to distribute it, and here is the real kicker, make it more appealing than the pirated goods. As notch put it, “If you just make your game and keep adding to it, the people who copyright infringed would buy it the next week,”. It is a new way of doing business and it is changing entertainment, and that is downright scary. But there IS money to be made doing things the new way, and as their predecessors learned when fighting radio, they too will learn that you cannot make money by hurting peoples rights.
But the industry IS doing well, and it will continue to, in lieu of the horrible immoral monsters like me.
Yes your right - exposure sells; and that is what piracy does.
i wouldn't say lazy, as someone who has been there done that many times, i find it is a hell of alot easier to buy a program, game etc...
when you pirate you can get viruses on your computer and not know it till it's to late. i got alot that way, computer even got nuked once as well. honestly i find buying a game on steam to be far easier and less of a damn headache then trying to get it free.
there have been things i have downloaded many times to find it defective or what not far more then the ones that worked. my skyrim game is like that, but i was paying for it twice, bought the ps3 version and got more stress then i asked for. if i would have got it on steam i could have avoided the headache, now i can patch the game through only one source. the site that made the torrent to begin with. but i did pay for it once.
but getting stuff for free is not easy, and for the more obscure programs, songs, etc you have to go to the ends of the net itself and half the time come up empty handed. there are many things you can't find or get.
Now here is my lecture part on Piracy.
piracy can bring free good advertising but can also hurt a company however most time it will end up as free advertising and chain buying/ chain advertising. This style of buying and advertising can be acompanied by "generalized exchange" as seen in the movie "paying it forward" for the one person he helps that person has to help three others and thos three others have to help another three and so on. In the case of pirating if the pirate(Arrgh)
injoys the product he will most likly share the word to his or her fellow friends and priate were they will ither enjoy the game or dislike the game this will lead to some of them buying it and causing others to want it. they will all then tell there friends and the concept of "generalized exchange" is shown.
tl;dr
It can hurt a company expeccialy a starting company such as a indie game company however most of the time its free advertising and will only florish into baught copies.
the problem is : 1. Playerbase is 10-15 years old
2. Minecraft can be bought using paypal and credit cards
they just simply can't buy it because of the method of buying it. not because they don't want