tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069003509993211331.post6727685904889889684..comments2023-08-06T05:21:10.740-05:00Comments on Intellectual Detritus: Activision Suing Filesharers a la the RIAA?Paul Wiedelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08689322002502187400noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069003509993211331.post-46171634564446599352008-09-25T07:17:00.000-05:002008-09-25T07:17:00.000-05:00Excellent work on those articles Bruce. It's inter...Excellent work on those articles Bruce. It's interesting to get a marketer's perspective on the issue. As a technical guy who tries to understand human tendencies I believe that there isn't a simple solution to make piracy go away.<BR/><BR/>From a technical standpoint I think that game publishers are putting themselves in a bad position to compete with pirates by introducing invasive and undisclosed DRM, see http://www.intellectualdetritus.com/search/label/DRM<BR/><BR/>My proposal to fight piracy is to compete directly with the game pirates. That is, to create a better gaming experience through legitimate purchases than one could get through piracy. This can be achieved by providing a rich online experience, free downloadable content to customers, providing a way for customers to demo and purchase the games through platforms like Microsoft Live or Steam, making it so that the online experience only works, or works the easiest, for people who buy the game.<BR/><BR/>I say catch the flies with honey. Improve the product and the experience and the increase in sales will reward you.<BR/><BR/>A destructive approach, in my opinion, is to try and intimidate and bully people. People in your situation may relish the thought of seeing a game pirate get their just dessert. I probably would too if I saw and felt the effects of poor sales and believed that people like these guys are responsible for them. <BR/><BR/>From the perspective of a consumer, swinging a legal sledgehammer paints a different picture. That picture is of a bully, and people don't like bullies.<BR/><BR/>I will try to follow up my proposal to fight the effects of content piracy later today.Paul Wiedelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08689322002502187400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5069003509993211331.post-36217357197865167322008-09-25T06:18:00.000-05:002008-09-25T06:18:00.000-05:00Activision are not enforcing the settlements in th...Activision are not enforcing the settlements in their favour. They are making these people sign NDAs about this. But the software thieves are still telling the press anonymously, which isn't very clever of them.<BR/><BR/>One told the press “I wasn’t doing anything more than an average college student does with torrents or MP3s, so it’s surprising companies like this are wasting time on people with little money.”<BR/><BR/>So it is OK to steal if other people are stealing or if you have little money!<BR/><BR/>Shawn Guse, one of the pirates caught, is actively going round the internet trying to stifle mentions of his name. I received this from him: "My name is Shawn Guse and you have my name posted on your web site without my permission and I want it removed or changed to "A Washington man", and I also want the link to the settlement removed if you have one. Please don't contribute to the crucifixion of my name. If you are so kind as to remove the whole article that would be great. I have contacted many other web sites that are posting this and they are gladly removing it due to my request." My reply was to write yet another article about him on my blog.<BR/><BR/>I think Activision are just trying to draw attention to the fact that software theft is wrong and that it is serious. If everyone gets their games for free then who is going to pay the wages for game development?<BR/><BR/>I have written many articles on this subject.<BR/>Here is the big one on game piracy: http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/04/23/game-piracy/<BR/>And the latest Shawn Guse article: http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/09/25/shawn-guse-software-thief/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com