software piracy- Scenario in India

[Shivam24]

hello everyone,
FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT I AM NOT GOING TO SUPPORT PIRACY HERE, I AM JUST TELLING PRACTICAL CONDITIONS IN INDIA AND ASKING YOUR VIEWS AND COMMENTS ON THEM.
I want here a clear discussion about the pirated softwares nd games.
As we all know that piracy is illegal everywhere nd so in India, but i would like to put my views on it, I want to ask,
1. How much percent of all Indian pockets that are using computers allow themselves to buy Genuine softwares?
i dont think more than 20%,
2. we all talk about anti piracy, but we should atleast tale a look at prices of genuine softwares from Indian poverty point of view,
Today, India produces lakhs of computer engineers every year, they are capable to do research, experiment, analysis, study, solve, think about the technology, and the queries,
but if my question here is, no Indian would have allowed to use even a single pirated software. How many Engineers will then be produced in India.
the question is Do the pockets of our dad nd ourselves really allow to buy a windows worth 20k, ms office worth 10k, and other sw/gamesworth 1k each.

i ask you, if you were not allowed to use even a single pirated thing, would you be here today, would you have this much knowledge today, how many of you would have bought genuine in ur home/ personally for use?

AN APPLE IPHONE IS COSTING THERE 20K, HERE 40K, AND WE DO WHAT? JAILBREAK IT. I ASK TO PUT THE PRICE OF IPHONE 40K IN AMERICA, THEN DEFINETELY THE QUANTITIES SOLD WILL BE LESS THAN NOW.

SO ACCORDING TO ME, WE ARE MANY HUNDRED YEARS BEHIND FROM EAST, AND WE( MANY OF US) ARE BOUND TO USE PIRATED, TO GET KNOWLEDGE, TO ENJOY GAMES, AND OTHERS.

I WANT TO KNOW YOUR VIEWS ON IT. WAITING FOR COMMENTS.

[Garbage]

Originally Posted by Shivam24

1. How much percent of all Indian pockets that are using computers allow themselves to buy Genuine softwares?
i dont think more than 20%,

I would count less than that.

Originally Posted by Shivam24

2. we all talk about anti piracy, but we should atleast tale a look at prices of genuine softwares from Indian poverty point of view,
Today, India produces lakhs of computer engineers every year, they are capable to do research, experiment, analysis, study, solve, think about the technology, and the queries,
but if my question here is, no Indian would have allowed to use even a single pirated software. How many Engineers will then be produced in India.

1) Not all engineers are capable of doing research, solve problems, etc.
2) Even if no Indian is allowed to use a single pirated software, still there will be plenty of engineers out there. I think you must have heard of "Free and Open Source Softwares".

Originally Posted by Shivam24

the question is Do the pockets of our dad nd ourselves really allow to buy a windows worth 20k, ms office worth 10k, and other sw/gamesworth 1k each.

Depends! Ask yourself, if those softwares are worth that price. If yes, go ahead and buy, if no, then leave it.

Originally Posted by Shivam24

i ask you, if you were not allowed to use even a single pirated thing, would you be here today, would you have this much knowledge today, how many of you would have bought genuine in ur home/ personally for use?

If I were not allowed to use pirated software (ex. Windows), I would have been more talented, because I might have started using FOSS (ex. Linux) very early days of my computer literacy.

Originally Posted by Shivam24

AN APPLE IPHONE IS COSTING THERE 20K, HERE 40K, AND WE DO WHAT? JAILBREAK IT. I ASK TO PUT THE PRICE OF IPHONE 40K IN AMERICA, THEN DEFINETELY THE QUANTITIES SOLD WILL BE LESS THAN NOW.

Okay, what's the point?

Originally Posted by Shivam24

SO ACCORDING TO ME, WE ARE MANY HUNDRED YEARS BEHIND FROM EAST, AND WE( MANY OF US) ARE BOUND TO USE PIRATED, TO GET KNOWLEDGE, TO ENJOY GAMES, AND OTHERS.

NO! WE ARE NOT!
We are not HUNDRED years behind east. And we are DEFINITELY NOT bound to use pirated softwares. You will always have choices in Open world.

[Shivam24]

thnks for d reply. but my point is and why hv i called us hundred years behind is because the same things are more cheaper in america according to their economy, but when they convert the prices in inr, i know they reduce that price very much. eg a game thr is $59, here is 999inr.
but our economy is so weak that most of us cant even afford this 999inr., thts why i've called us hundred years behind.
and definetly my friend thr are so many options like linux nd other open source but u tell me, can you do all the things exactly the same way with those open source freewares.
can u play all such games, or can u hv experience of working on the awesome windows 7,
and my friend, freewares are not always thr to solve our problem. eg. no other software i've found till date like adobe photoshop, nd its not freeware.
are the freeware antiviruses really strong enough?
The point to put the example of apple iphone is to show how weak our economy really is to enjoy such gadgets and electronics.
and not in electronics but all else also, u knw petrol price in pakistan and bangladesh is around 45inr. and in usa its equivalent to 42inr. and do u knw we are one of the most costly consumers of petrol. now can u clarify this?
bangladesh dude? can u imagine?

[gopi_vbboy]

Hi dude imagine this for a moment

You are lost in forest.A beautiful girl was also lost like you and you find her.Now what happens depends on you attitude.

Piracy= You are ra*ing the girl taking advantage of the situation.As you dont have the ability to interact with her or money or whatever.(Illegal)

Licenses soft /Genuine= You start Flirting with her.Entertain her.You have a relation with her with her consent .and do whatever you want.
(Legal)

The consequences depend on the action and attitude.Same is the situation in India.

No offense.Just giving example.

[Zangetsu]

u posted it in wrong section...post in community discussions..


I agree we are behind in economy...but not so far behind...

Originally Posted by Shivam24

can you do all the things exactly the same way with those open source freewares.

not all but most of them..

Originally Posted by Shivam24

can u play all such games, or can u hv experience of working on the awesome windows 7,

we have emulator in Linux to play windows games..

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and my friend, freewares are not always thr to solve our problem. eg. no other software i've found till date like adobe photoshop, nd its not freeware.
are the freeware antiviruses really strong enough?

there are very good free softwares
GIMP & Avira Free Antivirus

Originally Posted by Shivam24

The point to put the example of apple iphone is to show how weak our economy really is to enjoy such gadgets and electronics.

if we can't afford iphone then we afford ipod touch (just like what I did )

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and not in electronics but all else also, u knw petrol price in pakistan and bangladesh is around 45inr. and in usa its equivalent to 42inr. and do u knw we are one of the most costly consumers of petrol. now can u clarify this?
bangladesh dude? can u imagine?

this one is the current issue in India now

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Originally Posted by gopi_vbboy

Hi dude imagine this for a moment

You are lost in forest.A beautiful girl was also lost like you and you find her.Now what happens depends on you attitude.

Piracy= You are ra*ing the girl taking advantage of the situation.As you dont have the ability to interact with her or money or whatever.(Illegal)

Licenses soft /Genuine= You start Flirting with her.Entertain her.You have a relation with her with her consent .and do whatever you want.
(Legal)

The consequences depend on the action and attitude.Same is the situation in India.

No offense.Just giving example.

Less hassle in first analogy.

[Shivam24]

whoa!!! whoa whoa!!!!
@ gopi_vbboy, u r callin our country a forest, calling the softwares as girl... u r not considering the situation here...
@ zangetsu: i am new here, i didnt knew tht discussion topics are to be posted in community..., and dude, i pod touch and iphone 4s are two different things....
i agree with all ur points, but u cant deny to whts truth, how many games from xbox and ps3 do we play on pc by emulator? except tekken 3.
can you play gears of war series, or tekken 5, on ur windows 7 pc, through emulator or else? jus as the same wd linux.
emulators to play these games doesn't exist.
and finally do tell me, are the freewares linux, sw, etc. are really provide the ease of use like we get in windows 7.
and u knw wt? the day when all the indians will start using only freewares/ linux or genuine, tht day, price of linux will also be high enough to buy....

[Zangetsu]

^^Dude check this out (Read it thoroughly from start to end)
Linux vs Windows 7 | TuxRadar Linux

Originally Posted by Shivam24

whoa!!! whoa whoa!!!!
dude, i pod touch and iphone 4s are two different things....

I know that but inner hardware is same only difference is calling & sms...
overall I can explore & enjoy the mighty iOS...

Originally Posted by Shivam24

i agree with all ur points, but u cant deny to whts truth, how many games from xbox and ps3 do we play on pc by emulator? except tekken 3.
can you play gears of war series, or tekken 5, on ur windows 7 pc, through emulator or else? jus as the same wd linux.
emulators to play these games doesn't exist.

I was talking abt Windows Emulator in Linux which runs windows games in Linux & not abt console emulators

Q:if u don't support piracy then why u discuss abt other people playing with piracy?

[Garbage]

Originally Posted by Shivam24

thnks for d reply. but my point is and why hv i called us hundred years behind is because the same things are more cheaper in america according to their economy, but when they convert the prices in inr, i know they reduce that price very much. eg a game thr is $59, here is 999inr.
but our economy is so weak that most of us cant even afford this 999inr., thts why i've called us hundred years behind.

If you consider only "technology", then yes, you are right. Gadgets cost more here then eastern countries.
Now consider News Papers. The average price of newspaper in US is $ 0.99, which roughly converts to Rs. 49/-. Now tell me, how much money do you pay for your newspaper in India?

All things will NEVER be same in whole world. Learn!

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and definetly my friend thr are so many options like linux nd other open source but u tell me, can you do all the things exactly the same way with those open source freewares.

Might not be the same way, but may be the better way most of the times.
Considering how you are talking about this whole thing, I am starting to think that you really don't know much about Free and Open Source Softwares.

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and my friend, freewares are not always thr to solve our problem.

You know what? Most of the softwares I consider "consider work done" are (atleast) free if not open source.
For example:
Media players: VLC media player (free), Media Player Classic (free). Programming: Eclipse (free), NetBeans (free), hell XCode (for Apple) is also free.
Office Suits: LibreOffice / OpenOffice.Org (free). I agree they don't compete MS Office head to head, but considering they are free and they get your work done, they are best for me.

How many more examples you want?

Originally Posted by Shivam24

The point to put the example of apple iphone is to show how weak our economy really is to enjoy such gadgets and electronics.

As I already mentioned, you can't compare economy just by gadgets.

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and not in electronics but all else also, u knw petrol price in pakistan and bangladesh is around 45inr. and in usa its equivalent to 42inr. and do u knw we are one of the most costly consumers of petrol. now can u clarify this?
bangladesh dude? can u imagine?

Agree!

The points I skipped are already answered by Zangetsu.

[Zangetsu]

@Shivam24: this don't change anything about piracy & also it leads to no where so further discussion is just a verbal debate...lets stop it here

what do u say Garbage?Am I right?

[Garbage]

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and finally do tell me, are the freewares linux, sw, etc. are really provide the ease of use like we get in windows 7.

HOLD ON! Before anything, please tell me how many Linux distros have you used? And for how much time you have used Linux?

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and u knw wt? the day when all the indians will start using only freewares/ linux or genuine, tht day, price of linux will also be high enough to buy....

For god's sake, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get yourself familiar with what Free and Open Source Software means. Then come back and make your arguments.

Originally Posted by Zangetsu

@Shivam24: this don't change anything about piracy & also it leads to no where so further discussion is just a verbal debate...lets stop it here

what do u say Garbage?Am I right?

hmm... You are right. But I am enjoying it!

[Zangetsu]

@Shivam24:we had this type of discussion on piracy before so same discussion is pointless...that too in wrong section.

[Shivam24]

i wud like to add that the prices of newspapers, nd other things r high thr cuz people thr can afford it.
and so the prices r low in india.
but wt i wanna say that prices in case of sw/games are low here compared to east. but not in that ratio, not in exactly that way,
people here still find windows, ms office, games, costly too much to buy...
and talking economy, i wanna add that people in india are economically nothing compared to americans.
even the farmers there earn an income more than a bank manger gets here, and indian farmer gets what? commits suicide due to poverty.

[ico]

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and finally do tell me, are the freewares linux, sw, etc. are really provide the ease of use like we get in windows 7.

Distributions like Ubuntu and Mint are 10x easier to use than Windows 7.

Originally Posted by Shivam24

and u knw wt? the day when all the indians will start using only freewares/ linux or genuine, tht day, price of linux will also be high enough to buy....

don't talk about things you are not aware of.

Originally Posted by Shivam24

the question is Do the pockets of our dad nd ourselves really allow to buy a windows worth 20k, ms office worth 10k, and other sw/gamesworth 1k each.

Windows 7 Home Premium = Rs. 4800

Microsoft Office 2010 = Rs. 3400

Originally Posted by Shivam24

AN APPLE IPHONE IS COSTING THERE 20K, HERE 40K, AND WE DO WHAT? JAILBREAK IT. I ASK TO PUT THE PRICE OF IPHONE 40K IN AMERICA, THEN DEFINETELY THE QUANTITIES SOLD WILL BE LESS THAN NOW.

Unlocked iPhone 4 32 GB? $649 i.e. Rs. 32500.

Unlocked iPhone 4S launching this month will be expensive. Prices are same over there and in India as far as unlocked phones are concerned.

[Liverpool_fan]

Originally Posted by gopi_vbboy

Hi dude imagine this for a moment

You are lost in forest.A beautiful girl was also lost like you and you find her.Now what happens depends on you attitude.

Piracy= You are ra*ing the girl taking advantage of the situation.As you dont have the ability to interact with her or money or whatever.(Illegal)

Licenses soft /Genuine= You start Flirting with her.Entertain her.You have a relation with her with her consent .and do whatever you want.
(Legal)

The consequences depend on the action and attitude.Same is the situation in India.

No offense.Just giving example.

lol..

Originally Posted by Shivam24

Today, India produces lakhs of computer engineers every year, they are capable to do research, experiment, analysis, study, solve, think about the technology, and the queries,

ORLY?

[Shivam24]

luks like d discussion is shifted to linux, while i was tryin to discuss the piracy about other costly softwares.
GUYS, ACCORDING TO YOU, LINUX AND FREEWARES IS A SOLUTION.
BUT THAT DOESNT STOP PIRACY, PEOPLE WD BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF COMPUTER USE WINDOWS, GAMERS USE WINDOWS AND ELSE,
I WANT TO DISCUSS THAT ACCORDING TO CURRENT PRICES AND SCENARIO OF PRICES OF SW/GAMES IN INDIA, WHAT CAN BE DONE TO AVOID PIRACY, AND HOW TO CONVINCE THOSE TO BUY ORIGINAL who used pirated?
is there anyway?
cuz prices of genuine ones r too high,
u suggested to use linux nd else,
but will they shift themselves to linux for the sake of anti-piracy
is there any other way, so that the one who uses windows doesnt hv to shift himself to linux while avoiding piracy?

this is the most active forum in india for computer hardware related tech discussions.

i see people buying computers worth from 40,000 to all the way to 1 lakh. spending 17 thousand on a processor...25 thousand on a graphic card.

but they still dont spend 8k on two vital softwares.

[Zangetsu]

Originally Posted by Shivam24

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO AVOID PIRACY, AND HOW TO CONVINCE THOSE TO BUY ORIGINAL who used pirated?
is there anyway?

only 2 things can stop piracy
1) Money
2) Support for Original

[Liverpool_fan]

Please, even if you forget Linux. A Windows license costs less than ₹4k, and an Office Home and Student Edition comes for under ₹4k. That makes the price less than ₹8k for Windows and Office combined. A price to pay over 3-4 years, since you can use your software for a LONG time and it's supposed to be bought once. Since people use their computers for over 3 years, this is like < ₹250 per month in average. Please don't tell me you can't afford less than ₹250 for two piece of software which you depend so much to do work.

Aside from Windows and MSO, you don't have to buy any other software if you're short on cash. Microsoft themselves provide Microsoft Security Essentials, the best AV IMHO. As for Image Editing/Management, you can use Irfanview and GIMP for advanced image editing. There's Paint.NET to do the job.

For students, you get most development tools for free. Netbeans, Eclipse, MonoDevlelop, Microsoft VIsual Studio Express, MySQL, what not.

All of these can be done with staying with Windows and Microsoft's office formats. And you always have the option of FOSS to replace any of them.

[Shivam24]

Originally Posted by ico

Distributions like Ubuntu and Mint are 10x easier to use than Windows 7.


don't talk about things you are not aware of.


Windows 7 Home Premium = Rs. 4800

Microsoft Office 2010 = Rs. 3400


Unlocked iPhone 4 32 GB? $649 i.e. Rs. 32500.

Unlocked iPhone 4S launching this month will be expensive. Prices are same over there and in India as far as unlocked phones are concerned.

chk this out: Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 7, Buy Windows 7 Online at Microsoft Store


and this is the current price of windows, when it was launched the prices were around 20k, thts y i mentioned above. ok?
you'll not buy battlefield3 after a year for 299inr cuz it is rt nw costing 1499inr, do you?

[ico]

Originally Posted by Shivam24

chk this out: Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 7, Buy Windows 7 Online at Microsoft Store


and this is the current price of windows, when it was launched the prices were around 20k, thts y i mentioned above. ok?
you'll not buy battlefield3 after a year for 299inr cuz it is rt nw costing 1499inr, do you?

Flipkart gives you a cheaper price. Nehru Place retailers quote a cheaper price. Buy from them.

Regarding Battlefield 3.

[Shivam24]

Originally Posted by Liverpool_fan

Please, even if you forget Linux. A Windows license costs less than ₹4k, and an Office Home and Student Edition comes for under ₹4k. That makes the price less than ₹8k for Windows and Office combined. A price to pay over 3-4 years, since you can use your software for a LONG time and it's supposed to be bought once. Since people use their computers for over 3 years, this is like < ₹250 per month in average. Please don't tell me you can't afford less than ₹250 for two piece of software which you depend so much to do work.

Aside from Windows and MSO, you don't have to buy any other software if you're short on cash. Microsoft themselves provide Microsoft Security Essentials, the best AV IMHO. As for Image Editing/Management, you can use Irfanview and GIMP for advanced image editing. There's Paint.NET to do the job.

For students, you get most development tools for free. Netbeans, Eclipse, MonoDevlelop, Microsoft VIsual Studio Express, MySQL, what not.

All of these can be done with staying with Windows and Microsoft's office formats. And you always have the option of FOSS to replace any of them.

finally u did sm meaningful talking here, I COMPLETELY AGREE WD YOU, we can buy them for 8k.
but do tell me two things, as i've asked it earlier also, first, in 8k, u'll just get basic editions, 2nd, why any1 would go for basic editions in 8k, when he can get all these in pirated @ very less price.

the point is:
LETS TAKE AN EXAMPLE, GTA4 WAS LAUNCHED FOR 499INR on the launch date in India, and i personally confirm, by talking to those who do piracy, that the genuine copy was sold out in a huge quantity than any other game costing 999inr,
you know why?
cuz, pirated comes at 250inr, people think its worth to buy genuine while adding 250 more, than to buy pirated,
but when taking same case in other games , say battlefield 3, or cod mw3, costing 1499inr, people will think to buy genuine one as this gap becomes higher.
thats what m trying to say here...
ACCORDING TO ME, ONLY THIS GAP CAN REDUCE PIRACY, NO OTHER WAY EXISTS, CUZ THOSE WHO USE WINDOWS WILL NVR TURN TO LINUX FOR SAKE OF ANTI-PIRACY.
AND THIS STATEMENT I HAVE REPEATED IN ABOVE POSTS BY GIVING EXAMPLES OF VARIOUS THINGS....
TOPIC OVER....

[ico]

Why not use LibreOffice rather. It is free and works well.

[Shivam24]

Originally Posted by ico

Flipkart gives you a cheaper price. Nehru Place retailers quote a cheaper price. Buy from them.

Regarding Battlefield 3.

I AGREE WITH OTHER GAMES PRICE, BUT

CHK OUT THIS LINK BELOW:

Flipkart.com: Battlefield 3 (Limited Edition): Game: PC

[Liverpool_fan]

Don't use caps.

If you need more features, you should be ready to pay for them, no? I mean if you want a faster processor, you'll pay for it. Faster GPU, you'll pay. More RAM you'll pay. Why not do the same for software, pay more for extra features?
For ₹10k you'll get Windows 7 Home Premium + Microsoft Office Home and Student. More than sufficient for most people. Pay more to do any more. And I don't think people require more than that. 99% at least don't.
Secondly why should people buy for lesser software when they can pirate a better software, well the difference is you'll not break the law in former.

Pricing is important yeah. Games should be priced logically. For instance Portal 2 was priced ₹650, excellent work there. On the other hand, MW3 is priced ₹2500, way too much. In those cases, I suggest Boycotting them. BF3 is actually ₹1k (not the Premium version). That's fine for me.

[ico]

Originally Posted by Shivam24

Flipkart.com: Battlefield 3 (Limited Edition): Game: PC

Battlefield 3 is a good game. I'm not buying it for playing single player. Might play the multi-player probably for more than 200 hours (when I get time). Money well spent.

The normal Battlefield 3 is Rs. 999. Price is okay. As far as I know, only Activision prices their games high in India.

Portal 2. Rs. 650 in India. $60 in USA at the time of release.
Battlefield 3. Rs. 999/1499 in India. $60 in USA.

[Krow]

Shivam24, kindly stop typing in capital letters. We can read very well otherwise.

Don't use poverty as an excuse for not buying original software. The poor people of India can't dream of buying software. Food would make more sense to them. Even the cheapest of laptops come bundled with some version of Windows. It is original and a lot of people use these. Free and Open Source alternatives do things as well as their proprietary counterparts. You need to do some research before talking.

Also if you want a certain level of performance, then you pay for that kind of hardware. So why not pay for the same software if you want that kind of experience (which free alternatives can't give, according to you)?

[gopi_vbboy]

@shivam ..I am thinking of another fitting analogy for u to understand the situation.He could not understand the indian problem still.

And piracy is not a legal problem in many countries

[Shivam24]

Originally Posted by Krow

Shivam24, kindly stop typing in capital letters. We can read very well otherwise.

Don't use poverty as an excuse for not buying original software. The poor people of India can't dream of buying software. Food would make more sense to them. Even the cheapest of laptops come bundled with some version of Windows. It is original and a lot of people use these. Free and Open Source alternatives do things as well as their proprietary counterparts. You need to do some research before talking.

Also if you want a certain level of performance, then you pay for that kind of hardware. So why not pay for the same software if you want that kind of experience (which free alternatives can't give, according to you)?

well ok, i was just putting my views thr, and all i concluded is what i have wrote above, pricing should be logically correct so that it fits for rich as well as medium level gamers, poverty doesnt meant thr like food hunger poverty, it was like the "average pocket money of a teenager in India, does it afford buying genuine games if he/she is a gamer".... u took it wrong.
and at one place, i told about farmers, well that was correct,
i know it cuz i hv seen it, feeding their family nad themselves is a higher priority than other things, but this sentence was just to specify the economical condition of India in comparison to Americans, or western countries.

and yes u r right, we buy hardware, and spend money, but its a one time investment, buying games is not a one time, as in this month, a gamer will have to spend for bf3 + cod mw3 + nfs the run + assassin's creed + batman arkham city + l.a. noire + others = a few thousand, >5k...

every month is launched a game or two, so evry month spend= 2-3k,

cuz on an average , almost all games are priced at 999inr.

[Charan]

I had a discussion with some of my colleagues, One person had vista preinstalled, currently using Win7 non genuine, another person had bought Windows XP, and not willing to pay for Win7, but he can pay for games.

No one in my office is willing to pay 6-7K for Windows 7

I work in a reputed software company and we all have healthy salary. This is the current situation in India.

I myself don't own a copy of Win7. But apart form that all other software's I use in Win7 is FOSS based or Free Editions(OOo, 7Zip, Paint.NET, VS Express 2010 etc). I use Win7 mostly for games and for rest of the tasks I use Ubuntu.

Possible solution.

1. If companies start suing customers for using pirated software/movies/games/MP3 then people will buy it.

2. The source of the Piracy should be stopped. i.e., the guys releasing the pirated software. If there is no way to get pirated stuff then people will buy it or just carry on with their life.