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I will start by showing you the necessary steps one would have to go here in Venezuela in order to get a pc game.

-1 Go to your local pc store! The latest game they carry is Forsaken a 1998 game that still sell for like 29 us$ other new tittles they have: crusader no remorse. Magic carpet, time commando…! So local pc shop is out of question…

-2 order online! Sure that’s if you manage to get you quota of dollars there is an strict policy of who and why us currency is given on this country. And still most American companies don’t ship to Venezuela so y need to get a us P.O BOX and let me show you how much I had to pay lets say y I wish to get prey (not out yet, I know).that’s 49.99 in amazon .com, plus what I have o pay for the PO BOX, here in Venezuela (almost 40 us$) that’s 84.99 that’s almost minimum wage her in Venezuela, so once more its really difficult.

-3walk up to the university ground (yes the illegal software is sold in plain sight on the university grounds, as well as many other places) and pay the equivalent of 2 us$ for the latest piece of code you want! Sure there are cracks and other stuff to deal with, but almost evedy cd/dvd come with instructions of how to use it. Bingo! That’s the one most of my country man including myself use! (not to mention that there are websites that allow you to shop online and have the software delivered!!)

So do you want to know the percentage of illegal software used in Venezuelan pc, 80% !!! That includes windows, and office as well as anti virus software, this does sound like and apology, but I must say I don’t think software piracy is ok, as a matter of fact on mi last trip to the us I got 4 pc titles that I loved and have already from an illegal source, ( FEAR, CIiv4 Fable, and HL2 also audio and movies I buy the original ones…) so as you can see here piracy is not the cheapest option, but almost the only option we have…..


Any ideas or comments…

(I hope this post doesn’t get me any troubles….)


Cheers.

Miguel

Thats kinda messed up. It is easier to "steal" what you want than buy it. Well it is always easier to steal something, but even for the people who want to be honest and buy it they can't.

yes let me tel you, it feel bad to HAVE to buy piracy... specially cause I was always proud of my game colection... ( y still have original copies of dark reing shadow warrior, quake duke nukem 3d, doom)


hopy this get better over time. its also big pain to get decent pc hardware...

umm... things are changing...

online you can purcahse the games for download....legaly.

Yes, but as I said in my post, here the goverment controls the amount of us $ you can buy, and that aplies to credit cards as well ( i tried to get HL2 trough STEA but to no use) and the travelers and over seas students have priority....

Quote: Originally Posted by THRiLL KiLL umm... things are changing... online you can purcahse the games for download....legaly.

Thats assuming that he/she has access to a high speed connection. I would hate to think of how many months it would take to download a 700 or 800 meg game on dialup. Our dialup at work takes close to 30 minutes for a 250kb pdf file.

Quote: Originally Posted by THRiLL KiLL umm... things are changing... online you can purcahse the games for download....legaly.

If they have or can afford broadband. I live in Florida and until a
year ago I had to deal with dial-up. My advise is to make a good
online friend from the US or Canada and get them to buy games
for you. I have a European buddy I buy hardware for. It's a hassle
but it works :-)

Thats actually and exelent idea! thanks Slaymate

I don't feel one way or the other about people pirating. BUT, I do hate it when people try and justify it. It IS stealing. If I were to download a song from some unmentioned way, I am not "Getting back at the RIAA" or "Telling Lars to suck it" or "Perpetuating the way things SHOULD be". No, I am stealing.

Quote: Originally Posted by mmaturen Thats actually and exelent idea! thanks Slaymate

Your Welcome. Just glad to help out :-)

I think they could take care of a lot of piracy with softer licence terms.

Easily available, affordable, site licences are a good start. I think it's just going to be too hard of a sell to explain to people why they need to buy a seperate copy of an app or OS for the kids' PC, and businesses would simply love to not have to worry about counting licence certificates and having to inventory what's installed and where.

For games, I think a network-play-only client for free, or a free copy which self-destructs after 48 hours might be a good approach, as it would allow people to have a LAN party without making sure everyone has a copy of each game being offered.

But I think there's a deluded belief that every unauthorised copy can be converted to a sale with strong enough coercive tactics (DRM, audits, lawsuits)

Most business applications have a site license option, though it may be ridiculously expensive.

Most games have free demos that you can play, which eliminates the need to time-bombed software. I do not purchase any game without first playing the demo.

But the problem our friend from Venezuela faces is not the cost of the license, he is willing to pay for the software. It is getting it. As Gzim said, stealing is stealing and there is no true justification for it. And he is right. But I think when the actions of a government prevent you from legally purchasing something simply because they want to limit currency flow, people have very little other choice. I personally would not hold it against you for using pirated software in your situation.

However, as SLaymate pointed out, where there is a will, there is a way. You need to either get a friend in the US, or another country where they can get the software, who can purchase it for you and then mail it to you. Or, even better, try to get a credit card that has a US address (again, at a friends house) and you simply send them cash (or barrels of gas since it is so cheap down there ) and they send you the software.

I think that is a good option.

(or barrels of gas since it is so cheap down there )

omg ^^^made me chuckle so hard!!!

Its Just Like the prohibition of Alchol. Get rid of the prohibition, end the Piracy.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nerdz Its Just Like the prohibition of Alchol. Get rid of the prohibition, end the Piracy.

likewaise, if you wanna make something popular, ban it