i mean why would you pay 100 gulden, sorry 50 dollars?, for a game if you can get it copied for less then 7 dollars? SigwarthSoft sigwarthsoft@hotmail.com icq#: 62538030 Maastricht, Netherlands Stefan Sigwarth

I''m sure everyone will have a different opionion on this, and mine will DEFFINATELY not be the most common. But for me, it''s simple. The only reason I purchase a game that I CAN copy for $1 US (current CDR price) is enlightend self-interest.
I am a software developer by trade (gambling games mostly), which usually means either ridgid adhearence to the licensing rules, or major abuse of warez and crack sites. for me, it is niether. I quite simply do not believe that there is anything inheriently wrong in software copying, and I will plainly admit that I have quite recently used pirated software. But in general, I purchase the software I use, because I want there to be more of it. The only way Starcraft 2 is ever written is if Starcraft sells big. The only way Borland survives to fight the good fight another day is if I purchase my copies of Borland C++, or Builder, or whatever. So even though my personal moral/ethical system is WAY off from the norm (I don''t even acknowledge the right of ownership), I do understand the world enough to know that purchasing good software makes the system produce more good software. Simple positive feedback loop.
Note: I have never had any qualms about trying out a piece of software, and upon realizing it was trash, delete it (without ever having purchased said copy). Nor, when I was poor and in college, did I own eveything I used. But even then I owned the things that were important to me ... my compilers, my favorite games, etc...
I know my ideas will both some people, and all I have to say to that is, get over it. If anyone wants to debate the fine points of various economic philosophies (not shout about who''s right). Feel free to continue the thread, or start another. I''m on quite frequently.