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Piracy redresses the balance

Expect to see cheap software to match

If s/w publishers didn't try to recoup all their development costs with the £1000 products they sell, then maybe consumers would be more inclined to go legal. £1000 a copy for programs like Quark Xpress is ridiculous. (I know, Autocad etc cost more but it's just an example) Add to this the fact that core technologies and code get repackaged and sold again and again, (and again in the case of MSWindows) leads users to feel ripped off and a bit of pirating redresses the balance for a lot of users. I don't think anyone seriously expects commercially useful or entertaining software to be free, but as the industry matures it would be to everyone's advantage if s/w was less than £100, with access to previous versions for £10-25. Not everyone -- in fact, in global terms hardly anyone --can afford the PIIIs and G4s with 100s of MB of RAM that the latest software requires. The rise of the low spec, cheap set-top box and games consoles WILL spill over into business computing quite soon and who can justify paying more for the software than the computer it runs on? Expect to see cheap software to match. ® Related stories MS piracy losses claims don't stack up -Graham Lea Right of Reply: MS says stealing is wrong Register readers weigh in Y does not mean X : decoding the MS reply Software piracy stops software development? MS anti-piracy tactics snare innocent dealers How would Graham Lea like having his IP infringed? Phillpott calls piracy kettle black

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