....I might have a different view on this if not for the fact that I have to hack my own PSP to put my old PS1 games onto it....

---

I once had a dream about God. In it, he was looking down upon the planet and the havoc we recked and he said unto us, "Damn Kids get off my lawn!"

Once again, Gallagher demonstrates that he and the organization he helms are part of the problem. His inflammatory mislabeling of copyright infringement, irrationally inflated claims of damages, and insistence on treating all customers as thieves only make a reasonable rapprochement between the sides of the debate more difficult. If anything, such an abusive attitude is likely to make more people inclined to download unlicensed media, rather than paying money that will go to fund deliberate disinformation screeds like this.

Is filesharing causing actual lost revenues to publishers? Probably in some cases, but not to anything near the outrageous extent claimed by media companies. If any of them believe those figures, it's because they've allowed visions of wealth beyond the dreams of avarice to lure them into self-deception. Most, I suspect, just want big, impressive numbers with which to impress legislators--and, perhaps more importantly, investors. "If only we can use this horribly invasive DRM...if only we can make it illegal to crack it...if only we can get the death sentence mandated for copyright infringement...if...if...if...we will suddenly begin raking in profits such as have never before been seen by mortal eyes!"

No, they won't. The sales they're chasing are phantasms. Moreover, the harder they push, the more they will alienate their real customers.

Ah, he's still pulling out those fabricated numbers about lost sales eh? Someone downloading 300 dollars worth of music is not a loss of 300 dollars to the industry. As an example I went on over to the Adobe website.

Let's see, Adobe Photoshop CS4 costs 700 USD. According to Mr. Gallagher, every time someone pirates a copy of Photoshop, Adobe has lost 700 USD. Except for the fact that most people who pirate Photoshop would NEVER EVER actually buy it. The majority of people using it are teenagers experimenting with image editing to make avatars, banners, whatever. These are not the sort of people who are going to be spending $700 on a product.

Also, in regards to:

Piracy is theft, plain and simple, of the intellectual property and the creativity and the energy of the investors in this industry and the artists who make the great games. Period. Okay?

1. (Law) The act of stealing; specifically, the felonious taking and removing of personal property, with an intent to deprive the rightful owner of the same; larceny.

Why glory be! This doesn't sound at all like copyright infringement! I'm sure it's just an honest mistake right guys?

I wish someone at these things would call him out on the real reason for DRM. These companies and organizations are not run by idiots (generally). They KNOW that DRM does nothing to stop piracy. The reasons for DRM are twofold. First, to appease shareholders, because they don't have the same knowledge about the actual cost of piracy and effectiveness of DRM that we do. Second, and this is the real reason, is to stop resale of games. Anything you buy digitally can't be lent to a friend, or resold once you're finished with it. Any copies of a game that is solely digitally distributed will have to be bought direct from the publisher. Which obviously makes them more money.

With all due respect, the posters chomping at the bit to criticize people like Gallagher make me a little sick.

While his examples and conclusions may be inaccurate, and the methods of combatting it are deplorable, he is correct. Regardless of how you wish to interpet various activities, it is blatant "stealing". Whether you want to argue over whether it's property loss, theoretical monetary loss, loss of respect, loss of time, sticking it to the publishers, loss of unicorns etc... is really beside the point.

The point he is making is that people are taking something they did not compensate the other party for providing. All the excuses for such action that are out there can be argued down to: "don't play it". Don't buy it, don't steal it.

You want to hurt their wallet so they lower prices or improve quality? Ignore their products entirely. You want to kill DRM? Stop giving them excuses for it.

No matter what, "stealing" benefits almost no one but the person "stealing". (Yes there is the occasional exception, but they are just that, exceptions.) "Stealing" makes publishers nervous. It gives them the excuse for DRM, it makes them raise prices to cover percieved losses. Yes, they can't accurately judge the loss of sales, but that cuts both ways. They know their are losses, just not how large or small they may be. From a buisness standpoint they only have two options, adapt or attack. While some media revenues can adapt, I have yet to see a scheme that works well with games.

While I do not agree with publishers on a lot of things, probable most things, I do agree with them that pirates are "stealing", and it does nothing but hurt us as gamers.

the music industry is doing bad? i thought that was because they challenged the consumers and began ousting them all as thieves and pirates. not because of the real pirates, but because legit customers were being accused and treated as such.

hmmm

One last thing.  Piracy is WRONG.  There is no defense for piracy.  People's arguments about it not being actual "property" is stupid.  Think of it this way... if you pirate, you're getting something that many people (often hundreds) of people worked on for years, for free.  Think about how you would feel if you worked on it and tell me it's not theft.

BUT, just because something is wrong, doesn't mean that anything you do to counter it is right.

 So Mike Gallagher, can you run me down an average day for you at E3?

No Doubt. I'm the boss.

Talk to gamers (like a boss)

Diss on pirates (like a boss)

Inflate losses (like a boss)

Promote bad DRM (like a boss)

Troll the net (like a boss)

Upset consumers (like a boss)

Get fired (like a boss)

So am I to believe that everyday at E3 you say something to upset consumers?

No Doubt. I'm the boss.

Ya ya I got that you said it like 400 times.

All I see is a old man... a blind, old, man.

No more, no less. I pirate, I pirate because decent demos are hard to find, and its nice to see if the purchased product would actually play on my system. But, I also buy what I pirated, sometimes... BioShock, I will never buy, even if it was gifted to me, it'd join Spore on my shelf. I do not WANT those blantant excuses for rentagames on my computer.

Mass Effect though, another story, it was compelling, intrigine, captive, and was fine being unable to talk to mom. (It seems... suckurom uses a specific port each time it wants to call home. I love my routers ability to lock those ports.)

And I pirate, what I lost myself. Over time discs get lost, and need replacement. Sometimes games are hard to find, especially when you want a cold, hard physical proof you have it :P

Here's a copy of something I wrote to numerous companies about their approach to DRM.

Well I think most of the companies making PC games are hurting PC gaming period. First off its all too common that gaming companies are making console games than doing a half assed job porting them over to the PC and naturally PC gamers are naturally pissed off. Then companies wonder why PC games don’t sell too well. All I can say is you get what you put in: crap. To top it off this DRM thing that is almost completely useless fighting piracy but damn good at screwing over legit customers. Any business practice that inconveniences legit customers to such a high extent in my opinion should be labeled a failure. We also don’t appreciate being generalized as thieves for the damage a few pirates cause, Most honest PC gamers are not denying that piracy is a problem and that game companies have the right to protect their products from piracy. But once again it’s the honest customers feeling the blunt force of this while the illegal pirates get away with it. You’re making these customers do back flips through hoop after hoop just to play a game they legally own. If this whole thing is a ruse just to convince people to buy consoles, fine I can accept that. But if you plan on making a PC game or porting it than it deserves all the attention to detail that you would give any console. Simply make or port the game properly or don’t do it at all. Now if this whole thing is just to prevent the resale of games, shame on you. Once I buy the product and legally own it, if I want to sell it and trade it in I should have every right to. That's a matter that companies have no business getting involved in. If this is indeeed true, I imagine its a matter of time before console games are "protected" like PC games are.

Back to DRM if DRM actually made a big difference in stopping piracy, I think maybe people would be a little more understanding on the decision to use it. But it isn't effective. Accept it. Those who defend DRM as being successful against piracy needs to puill their heads outta the clouds and back to reality. I’ll be honest: I have a gaming PC and all the consoles and I have certain game preferences for each platform. I do believe that some parts of DRM I think people are getting a bit carried away. Some of the aspects of DRM I can actually suck it up because I actually haven’t had any DRM related problems as of yet. (KNOCKS ON WOOD). My main beef against DRM is limited activations/installs, especially under the conditions that Dark Athena works under. I bought the game and there was nothing stating there was DRM in the program. That is wrong. The customer has the right to know if his/her product has DRM or not. Anyway the activation limit is actually my main pet peeve on DRM. Three activations: well that’s assuming everything works perfectly when the game is installed if it doesn’t you’ll probably need to reinstall it BAM that’s 2 installations down. You get the idea. And if you run out of activations, you got to jump through hoop after hoop to contact the company and cross your fingers that you get more installs. That is wrong. I bought the damn game I shouldn’t have to go through all that for my legal purchase. And again the pirates who stole: they bypass all this inconvenience. Also in case you haven’t been paying attention, we are in the middle of a recession. Companies are going out of business left and right. So if any company that has DRM and requires us to go through hoops to get more activations goes out of business, PC gamers are screwed with a useless product.

This is my suggestion as a possible compromise between protecting your product and trying not to screw over honest customers. First I think the amount of activations should not be less than five. Second these installations should be refundable: if you install the game and uninstall it later you get that installation/activation back. EA and Ubisoft have started doing this and I definitely see this as a step in the right direction. I think with five activations and not losing activations for uninstalling the game properly odds are most users won’t need to contact the company for more activations for a long time if at all. Third if the company wants limited activations, then it should be prepared to handle the customers wanting and needing activations. I understand that you’d still need to make sure that there are legal and legit requests but it should definitely be done as quick and orderly as possible. Last but not least customers should have the option to remove DRM ob their PC. At the very least DRM should be removed when that product is uninstalled. There is NO reason why a customer should have to deal with DRM if the frigging game its supposed to protect isn’t even installed. Maybe even consider allowing the removal the DRM while the game is installed but not let the game be played until it is installed, just in case there is hardware conflicts because of DRM but at the very least, no reason why DRM should be in a PC when that game isn’t. It seems internet is commonplace these days so I have no objection to a 1 time online activation for the game. Also if a game does have DRM it should definitely say so on the box and not be a nasty surprise once the box is opened.

Now I know many people will see this both pro and anti DRM and say no deal, but people got to realize the solution to most problems is compromise. In my opinion this seems like a reasonable compromise that should make honest customers feel somewhat less restricted and at the same time companies can have protection over their products. I wrote quite a bit about this issue but I’d like to leave one last question: for those who feel making console games are safer and less likely to be stolen and pirated, with the constant advances in technology I believe it is a matter of time before console games are pirated just heavy as PC games if not more. Look at the piracy regarding the PSP! Almost every big game that comes on consoles I hear it being leaked online a week or two before release. All I got to ask is what are you all going to do when the inevitable happens and console games are pirated just as badly as pc games are? That day will occur sooner or later. If you’re going to try the same BS restrictions with the consoles that you do with PC, kiss the gaming industry good bye.

For those who are offedned by everything they see and hear....The most effective form of protest is: DON'T WATCH! DON'T LISTEN!

How about they stop trying to 'protect their rights' and start catering to the group paying for their products, instead of spending time and money on the group not paying a dime? It's a useless losing uphill battle that they'll never completely win. Even now, the federal ban on modchips is ineffective because people are motivated enough to make their own.

As a computer guru, I have to say that I was shocked when a completely computer oblivious friend came to me asking where to purchase their own PCB and soldering equipment to make their own modchip. They'd already nailed down the other components on it (I.E. the EEPROM itself).

Because this deserves caps lock:

THE FACT IS, MR. GALLAGHER, THAT YOUR INDUSTRY AND OTHER ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES ARE TREATING THEIR CUSTOMERS SO POORLY, CHARGING SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE, THAT YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE MOTIVATED ENOUGH TO SPEND MANY HOURS OF THEIR TIME FINDING WAYS TO ACQUIRE THE GOODS WITHOUT PAYING YOU. YOUR PRODUCTS HAVE DEMAND, THAT MUCH IS OBVIOUS. WHAT IS APPARENTLY NOT OBVIOUS TO YOU IS THAT THE AVERSIVES (COST, DRM, POOR QUALITY) OUT-WEIGH THE BENEFITS (GOOD TIMES, FUN, ETC) OF YOUR PRODUCT. MAKE THE AVERSIVES SMALLER, AND THE BENEFITS LARGER.

Fighting piracy involves adding aversives. Pirates are typically 10% of the install base, when the piracy problem is not inflamed and aggrivated by STUPID DRM tactics and CRAPPY products not worth the HIGH PRICE tag.

Serving the consumer involves adding benefits. This includes HIGH quality, LOW COST of ownership and operation, and FUN TIMES.

Businesses have no rights that aren't reflected in my price tag. If they insist on taking their 'rights', I'll insist on taking my money elsewhere. For the money I used to spend on games, movies, and music, I can afford many other things. FFS, I can afford caviar as a regular snack with the savings from games, and I'm in a landlocked state. (Though I spend my money elsewhere).

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

It's an entertainment product, a luxury and not a need. If you aren't willing to pay the monetary price set by the people that make it, you have no right at all to play it. Period.

There is no inherent right to play game X, none. Nothing granted by the law or constitution.

If you pirate games you ARE the problem and the cause of the problems you see as an injustice to the consumer. If it wasn't for pirates we wouldn't need cd keys, DRM or any other copy protection that inconvieniences the consumer.

There is no arguement or logic that supports pirating over buying a game, movie, book or song. These are not needs and regardless of your circumstances you have no viable ground to stand on to defend yourself as a pirate.

Piracy may not be theft by legal or textbook definitions, but at the end of the day a pirate is no better then a common thief. To think otherwise just makes you stupid to boot.