Buying software

[JPMeaney]

ok...my brother's in town and one of his friends gave him a list of SW that they want...I'm not too into buying pirated SW, but I admit that I'm curious to see the process and be in on the experience...
Any suggestions on where to take him?
Are these listed above still valid?

[KnowItAll]

Golden Arcade in Sham Shui Po and 298 Hennessey Road are good bets.

[Max]

With all this talk about software piracy, has anyone really bothered to find out why the original software is sooooo expensive in the first place?? I don't condone software or media piracy but the main objective of companies providing software and other media have to realize that they have to make their products more affordable to the mass market. It's clear that they have only one thing on their minds.....PROFITS, BOTTOMLINES, etc.., and not public interest. It may seem that corporations have no real sense of social justice and responsibility. They continuously rely on old methods to clamp down on piracy without knowing what opportunities they present. If only they had the foresight to price their products more competitively and make them more readily available, then people would have NO REASON to purchase pirate products. A few examples come to mind, i.e., the various Open Source software projects (like Mozilla, Linux, OpenOffice, etc...), and Apple's I-Tunes music download service. Look at what happened to the pharmaceutical industry for HIV drugs. Corporations that manufacture them sold them at astronomical prices, far far beyond the reach of many sufferers in Africa. It took a consortium of Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers, several lobby groups, and a former US president, to introduce and offer generic alternatives at a fraction of the price of the "originals". What happens? The "original" drug manufacturers cry foul and seek to challenge/block this process. As for the pirates, at least they are providing a decent public service. I say, SOCK IT TO THEM! Its about high time money-grabbing corporations knew their responsibility to the public.

[KnowItAll]

Didn't know you had signs of being a commie-hippie-freak...

[Indi_glow]

Neither do I condone software piracy but if Microsoft ends up paying only 613 million then going by the same standard these guys at Sham Shui Po should be fined 1 HKD every month & we could continue buying their software without having to feel guilty about it.

[fly]

Hi Max,

This is a common argument that comes up every time and again in HK, and I'd be genuinely interested to hear your view on this:

With all this talk about software piracy, has anyone really bothered to find out why the original software is sooooo expensive in the first place??

Of course, depending on which country your're in, they are called customs and excise, fair trade commission, etc. but they're courts and governments nonetheless whose obective is to present a level-playing field to do business. This isn't just isolated to piracy and intellectual property, its also related to monopolies, dumping, etc. How successful or independent they are is another matter however.

I don't condone software or media piracy but the main objective of companies providing software and other media have to realize that they have to make their products more affordable to the mass market. It's clear that they have only one thing on their minds.....PROFITS, BOTTOMLINES, etc.., and not public interest. It may seem that corporations have no real sense of social justice and responsibility.

Well sure, they are businesses run to make profits! That is their whole reason for being, isn't it? However most mature companies (let's not say Enron or the odd indicted CEO here and there) realize they need to be socially responsible at the least to maintain a public image if nothing else. Heck even the HK Jockey Club donates to charity. But I don't think it's reasonable to expect them to drop their product's prices just for public interest, since there's other ways to do that (community programs, r&d, etc.)

They continuously rely on old methods to clamp down on piracy without knowing what opportunities they present. If only they had the foresight to price their products more competitively and make them more readily available, then people would have NO REASON to purchase pirate products.

Yes, it takes a hard slap in their face before they will conisder any options which may directly affect the bottom line. The current system of 1/4'ly results, positive forecasts, and increasing profits doesn't leave much room for foresight that may help sustain long-term profits at the cost of short-term pain. It's a hard recipe to get right and shareholders are often too quick to punish any company that doesnt' promise increasing profits.

A few examples come to mind, i.e., the various Open Source software projects (like Mozilla, Linux, OpenOffice, etc...), and Apple's I-Tunes music download service.

That's the difference, OS software didn't start out as a business, its main reason for being is to be available to the masses in the 1st place. Alternatively there is freeware from individual developers or shareware which may be bundled with ads or what have you. But neither of these models are ready yet applicable to (for instance) music or movies, that rely upon distribution, marketing, promotion, not to mention talent of course. i-tunes charges a price/song; and that particular model only came about because the corporations couldn't come up with a better model themselves when they were losing $ hand over fist from Napster and the like.

Look at what happened to the pharmaceutical industry for HIV drugs. Corporations that manufacture them sold them at astronomical prices, far far beyond the reach of many sufferers in Africa. It took a consortium of Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers, several lobby groups, and a former US president, to introduce and offer generic alternatives at a fraction of the price of the "originals". What happens? The "original" drug manufacturers cry foul and seek to challenge/block this process.

Somthing similar is happening to Windows and their "universal" pricing model, where they've dropped prices in Thailand in order to retain customers who would otherwise use pirate copies, or OS. It's slow, but it's happening.

As for the pirates, at least they are providing a decent public service. I say, SOCK IT TO THEM! Its about high time money-grabbing corporations knew their responsibility to the public.

Just curious, do you work for a non-profit? Or are you a student? (This isn't a knock or anything, a genuine question)

[Paragon]

Em...how about this

Don't buy; download.

(hope it helps heh)


BTW, I think the problem of pirated software is due to their extreme low price and availablity. They are simply too easy and cheap to get.

Well..by now I think we can even save the transportation fee and the $10 to buy the actual CD-ROM...
Just download through BT...=.=

[fly]

The rapid pace of technological developments are dictating the market, so if corporations are refusing to adapt, they're going to find themselves out of business soon. Of course eventually, that will benefit none of us since there won't be any decent products to pirate. The secret recipe is for a sustainable model to be devised that will satisfy both producers/manufacturers with enough profits that will allow them to remain in business, while maximizing the range of paying customers and at the same time keep the pirate market low as possible.

Right now Apple's i-tunes is the closest they have come to a working model, and a number of subscription services are in development now for downloading movies (From Real, I believe), but for applications it's another ballgame since the developers are so spread out and each has their own agenda.

[max477]

I recently installed a chinese computer game (bought legit online from yesasia.com) on my computer and the game refused to run due to the copy protection software (Star-Force) not working properly. I ended up having to google the net for a crack file which "fixed" the problem. Bootleg software obviously don't have such copy protection headaches, as they are already pre-cracked. What a way to thank paying customers ...

[CamaronKazi]

Interesting thread. You could visit this site if you want to find more pirate software locations;

http://www.info.gov.hk/cgi-bin/customs/dir.cgi?528;eng

Gives you a general indication of where to look ;-)