Warez - What's a developer to do?

[BS[214]]

fzammetti - trust me, I'm not trying to make it look like Spam's is a helpful service to developers. Like I said in the thread about copy protection, I am a developer (PC, not PPC) and a 3 marginaly popular programs out. 2 I released as freeware, and 1 is a pay program where I released an uncrippled demo that was identical in every way except it had a 5 second nag screen (believe it or not someone cracked it anyway...) And believe me, if someone was looking for a free copy of my program I would rather they run into a site like Spam's than some of the other sites (especialy since I am there to encorage them to purchase all the software they use). It's not a matter of black and white, it's just the lesser of two evils.

Dave - yes there is a flaw in that logic, that was the point. it's called sarcasm.

[BS[214]]

Before someone claims i am contradicting myself about the developer status, I have co-authored numerous business applications for the PC so i consiter myself a PC author, the three I titles I was discribing above are my sorry attempts at PPC releases.

[Dan East]

From one of my earlier posts (regarding discussion about changing the passwords for some FTP servers), it is obvious that Spam's site is used in the adminstration and maintainance of the FTP sites containing warez.

In addition the site promotes and advertises the the illegal servers (again, as has been stated many times by those responsible, as they admit they punish people that don't follow their rules by not providing the valuable service of listing the server).

Basically the argument comes down to which is the lesser evil; "organized crime" or free-lance (irc). I claim the latter. Spam's site offers the crucial communication link that ties everything together. People seeking warez do not have to go out on irc and dig and hunt, and never know exactly what they're going to get (ie a Trojan, etc). They get it formatted all nice and shiny, with reviews, discussion forums, the works.

I would rather them get their hands dirty and dig, not knowing if the warez they end up with is a version 2 years old that half works, or a trojan that hard resets their device, or a PC Installer that reports their IP and personal info before wiping out their HDD.

Seen in that light, it is quite obvious how large a service the site does the warez community, as opposed to somehow benefiting the legitimate community or developers as has been claimed over and over.

Also, as you can see, those of us with a) the highly-sought after products, and b) the programming expertise, have not yet decided to get down and dirty.

Dan East

[Michael Y]

[Dave]

[golan_trevize_x]

[Hosed]

Exactly! What people need to realize is that what a developer does with his software is HIS decision, NOT yours. It's HIS work, he can decide to do what he wants with it. If he doesn't want to give a demo out then he doesn't have to and noone has the right to say otherwise. If you don't like the fact that there's no demo then you just don't buy that piece of software.

You do not have an intrinsic right to try any piece of software ever written just because you want to. That's like saying you have the right to open every bag of chips in the supermarket to see which one you want. Doesn't work that way.

[Spam]

[golan_trevize_x]

[Ieg]

[TechMage]

[refractor]

[Spam]

[Spam]

[Pocket Pc eXpert]