Some personal thoughts on piracy (warning - long post)

[mattwestwick]

I don't think it's as clear cut as that.

Looking for a simple answer won't solve anything when it is really a complex one that is right.

You can't end piracy but it can be significantly reduced. And trust me compared to just a few years ago it has been. But this was mainly because the potential for an online market place had not yet been fully explored. As the few remaining consumers who don't trust online stores come around to modern methods, the act of piracy will diminsh until it is too risky for pirates to operate without the cover of the masses who download their hacks.

It used to be the case that "Everybody does it", as there was little alternative without moving your fat arse down to a game store. With new online payments theres less excuse to pirate and so illegal downloads will become more taboo and come with higher risk and less anonymity. Remember direct file-sharing sites like limewire sending out bills to people for thousands of bucks? Torrents will eventually go the same way.

The problem with amnesia is that it was delivered with a model that would have been suitable say ten years ago, when all you had to do to pirate a game was get a no-cd crack. The fact that it doesn't even come with a cd just suckered them completely. It just made it too easy to steal. And was devoured by pirates who were shocked to see such an easy prey.

Sure you can still pirate almost any game or any console but it is becoming an increasingly niche "market" as counter-methods and public acceptances change. Pirating will be history soon but we still have an aging generation that accepts it. Soon the new kids won't even have a concept of owning a cd for software. Hopefully the media will blank out such a vast history of ripping games.