Plaza Low Yatt

[luke]

For all the "software enthusiast", the police raided the shops that were offering pirated software at plaza low yatt .

Kinda "sad"..because........................................

[xweird]

Woohoo!!! I'm soooo happy,... no more pirated software worr!! Now we can all spend hundreds/thousands to buy software! What a nice situation!

Seriously though... do you think it will be feasible to lease software instead of purchasing it? I mean... if the software is only going to last around 2-3 years before a newer version comes out, then purchasing it will be a waste of resources..

Leasing seems to be popular with corporate users,,but is it accessible to the home consumer?

[luke]

It's good news that the porno disc are slowly being destroyed..
but software!!...aisey...

[CH]

xweird, I think you really have a point here.

ASP model may be the way to go, but I think it is still targeting the corp users - volume counts ma.

Home users always be the sacrifies here because you only have one and thus you need to pay the most.

Can we set up an association and all the home users actually license their software under this association? Say, USJ Home User community?

but the address will be a problem, because all licenses actually license to one address, and not an area - site licensing also play the same game - to only one building ...

any ideas?

[jericho]

They can shut all the shops that sell pirated VCD, CD, and etc.

But since CD writer is so cheap now. A lot of people will start cetak rompak project among themselves. Just share the cost of the original copy and the best is it came with proper documentation and manuals as well!

[empress_julz]

pirated software is just as bad as daylight robbery. worse than the people who provide it are those who buy it. they provide the demand, they provide the means.

i noticed a lot of people would not want to part with their wallets, or have their cars, mobile phones, personal belongings, etc. stolen. but when some guy copies years worth of development and research and reproduces it cheaply, people buy it without thinking twice.

why software costs a lot.... because of the millions spent on the research. if one does not want to pay for the privilege of using a piece of technology that took effort to develop, get freeware. if not you're no different from the guy who steals the mercedes because he can only afford a proton, but wants better.

///ej

[empress_julz]

pirated software has been here for donkey years.... and they can finish it off in a week? wish them all the best.

///ej

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp...lic&sec=latest

IGP: Police confident of crippling illegal and pornographic VCD operators by Sunday

PUTRAJAYA: The remaining manufacturers and distributors of illegal and pornographic VCDs days are numbered, as the police are confident of crippling their operations by Sunday.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Norian Mai said police operations to wipe out this menace were on track and almost all raids carried out thus far had been successful.

"I am confident, based on the information that I have, and the fact that all raids that we have carried out had produced results, we can achieve our target in the next two days.

[jericho]

Maybe this is the solution we require. All is about facing the reality instead of promoting some kind of idealism.

Promote rental of films and games to kill piracy

I REFER to the letter, “Citizens without conscience”, (The Star, May 4), in which Steve Oh highlighted many sad instances of exploitative Malaysians.

While I agree with him fully on the illegality of these acts, I refuse to subscribe to his thinking that the way to solve these problems is for the public to learn and exercise self-discipline.

It is idealism like this, bereft of any real pragmatism, that is sending our nation, and the world, in circles.

Do not cloud our eyes with naive thinking on the topic of pirated goods. One can hardly blame Malaysians for turning to pirated goods in the current economic situation.

Ask yourself, does all this moralising matter to the average Malaysian who has to choose between spending nearly RM30 for an original movie or a mere RM10 for a pirated movie?

Does it matter to the children who have to choose between buying original computer games costing at least RM100 each or pirated copies for at least a tenth of the price?

Those who buy the illegal tapes will not realise, and frankly care not, that they are abetting the stealing of intellectual property because they are real people in a real world, not the angelic actors in a man’s idealistic fantasies.

You can argue all you like, but it ultimately boils down to the fact that real people have real expenditures, and if they can find some cheap entertainment, even if it is completely sub par from the original and completely immoral, they will take it.

Not once does a thought of the creators of the art and material they are essentially stealing cross their minds and probably never will.

Extolling the virtues of self-discipline is simply folly and a waste of time. Like terrorism, a real solution is always found at the root of the problem, and the real solution to the piracy problem is for the original products to compete with the much lower prices of their pirated siblings.

I am not saying producers and publishers should commit suicide by selling their products at pirated prices and taking zero profit.

I am saying that it is time we start the industry and culture of movie and game rentals that has so far rendered piracy powerless in the United States.

For prices only slightly more than those of pirated versions, consumers can rent these products over the weekend to watch or play.

It will work. The rentals will be competitive with pirated prices, so they will not be beyond the range of average Malaysians.

The quality is a whole lot better than pirated products and in the case of games, there will be no nasty surprises waiting to pop up upon installation of the software.

Factor in the fact that many movies end up on the shelf anyway after one or two rounds and rentals become a very attractive option.

The consumer loses nothing by siding with the original in this case. The publisher loses nothing because they still profit from sales to these rental stores.

The nation loses nothing because piracy will die out on its own when people turn to rentals for entertainment.

Remember: Real pragmatic action solves problems.



PRAGMATISM TROUT,

Kuching.

Source : Star Online

[saml]

Jericho has a point there or rather the article that he posted. Most of us buy pirated vcd/dvd simply because the cost of a original is like 6 to 7 times the cost of a pirated copy. No one doubts the expenditure that was incurred in creating the product but if the owners of the copyright would just sit back and think. Would it be better for them to have price differentials between markets rather than selling their products at a standard price across the world. 20 us may not be very much in usa but 80 ringgit in malaysia for a original dvd is a lot and not all that we buy are collectibles. We may view them only once and i have bought some that i have not seen even after a few months. With all the pirating going on, the originals are able to sell at 59.90 for 3 pieces in speedy. In the first place if they had sold it at that price the pirates would not take the trouble to copy the dvd and try to sell it for 15 a piece. If they can sell at 20 ringgit a piece now why can't they sell it at that price earlier? So it all boils down to greed on the part of the licence holders and they encourage the growth of the pirate industry themselves, if you ask me.

I was working in indonesia some time back and they had a 2 tier system. Those cds that are produced in indonesia but they are original are sold at a cheaper price than those that are imported, also original. One has a choice whether to buy a cheaper locally pressed original or a more expensive imported product which is exactly the same in terms of packaging, only thing different is that the local product has a made in indonesia stamp/sticker. I would say the local product's quality is acceptable but not on par with the imported one but at least it is legal and the quality guaranteed albeit a slightly lower but acceptable quality. And they certainly do not have a piracy problem like ours even though they are a much more poorer country than ours. Of course there is also a risk of buyers buying it and selling it overseas but it is not widescale and it does not particularly bother them. I was able to buy originals of malaysian artistes at a lower price than in malaysia.

I haven't been there for a number of years and i do not know the actual situation now but i do know that it worked during the period when i was there.

[sinleong]

I admit being a thief and criminal because I buy pirated material. Does it make sense for me to pay RM40 for a music CD when I can enjoy the same for less than RM10? Malaysians have been doing this for ages. We see a beautiful dress from Armani - price tag RM15,000..... what do we do? We buy a piece of cloth from Kamdar and go to our favourite tailor... result: almost the same dress for less than RM300!

No doubt millions have been spent into work, research and design of softwares, movies and music. Hence I agree that the creators deserve credit and royalty for their excellent work.

Despite the rampant piracy that exists not only in Malaysia, but in SEA, China, Taiwan, Middle East etc, the singers, actors, record companies, software houses still make millions if not billions. We can't help but imagine that the original merchandise that they peddle comes with a huge mark-up or royalty.

This practice obviously gives excuses for their work to be pirated because there are millions of people out there who either simply cannot afford paying the price of original merchandise or find that cost a major chunk of their income.

In a way, piracy has contributed to our nation building. Without it, thousands of teenagers, college students and junior executives would never have had the means to explore IT. Now with this clamp down, the one greatest benefactor are the foreign IT companies because their one greatest competitor has been removed. If they do not return these savings to the joe-consumer in terms of cheaper merchandise, who is going to suffer most?

With the threat of cheap pirated merchandise removed, these fat corporations might take advantage and increase prices.

If we want to stamp out piracy once and for all, these people have to come up with more realistic pricing. I agree very well with smal and jericho on this point.

[empress_julz]

sinleong, sorry to disagree, but whether you want to justify it by saying that it's cheaper to buy pirated "so it doesn't make sense", it's still wrong. stealing is stealing, however you want to put it.

you can justify it that the record companies make a lot of money, but anyone who makes something is entitled to sell it at a price. if you don't want to pay for it, don't buy it. but to steal for something you cant afford is as good as the man who robs the woman for his nokia because he can't afford his own. you said, that man deserved to die because he "asked for it". but i do feel that he should have to face prosecution and jail, just like the users of pirated software.

in fact, i think people who buy pirated are worse than men who steal bread to feed their families. pirated software, dvds, vcds,etc. exist for the purpose of entertainment, and not livelihood. so who is worse?

as for "contributing to nation building", i have never heard of the black market ever chipping in to the GDP of any economy worldwide. it is a "black economy" precisely because it cannot be tracked, funds criminal activity of all sorts, money laundering, black trade and anything else deplorable. the GDP or the reserves of the nation do not go up if more illegal software, vcds, dvds, etc are sold, it goes down because currency is lost to the black market.

if on the other hand, we only bought originals, the economy would go up and more legitimate jobs would be created. that is because demand from consumers would push supply. more factories which housed more workers would be built. there would be jobs from having to build those factories. and even in other sectors, IT and other companies would have no problems investing in malaysia because they will have the confidence their intellectual property is protected.

for the people who want realistic pricing, try itunes, a new software offered by apple that allows people to download songs for 99cents USD a piece.

and downloading songs from winmx, kazaa, napster, etc. is also stealing.

///ej

[joker2107]

ahem, the rights and wrongs of highlty priced "originals".

reflection time, ej.

how much of the cost u pay goes to the intellectual property owenr or artiste?

how much goes to the cost of production and distribution?

how much goes to the middleman who's yelling his head off at pirates? who's demanding royalty for music produced by people long dead and gone, for music of unknown origin?

piracy is a form of non-accountability. its a crime. so is the global claim for royalty thats not accounted for.

this is not an endorsement of any sort.

[kwchang]

You guys are really hilarious. We know you understand that piracy means theft. But some of you keep pushing the point that the fault lies with greedy licence holders.

Well, someone should look at the number of people employed in the entertainment industry, the capital costs involved in acquiring and maintaining the hardware plus software and the financial risks if the production bombed in the market. If you can see the number of real employees and the amount of financial commitments that make the single entertainment medium appear in the marketplace, one would realise the reason for the cost factor.

The other side of the coin is that people will always be reluctant to part with their mullah. If the present price of RM40-RM60 per original gets halved, you know very well that a lot of people will still buy the pirated version for RM10. But I do admit that a halving of prices for a start will be most welcomed.

By the way, Empress, I understand that iTunes only work if you have a credit-card account in the USA. So it really isn't available to any of us here in Malaysia. I checked - please refer to http://www.apple.com/music/store/
At the bottom of the page, you will see this

Getting started

The iTunes Music Store is only available in the U.S. To get running all you need is a Mac with Mac OS X (version 10.2.5 or later recommended), and an Internet connection

However, Steve Jobs, the visionary, has touched on the perfect solution and we hope it will become available world-wide as well as for non-Mac users.

[lady-o-leisure]

I'm not one to buy pirated stuff, not because i can always afford the originals, but instead coz i 'try' my best to stay away from the illegal stuff. The problem is, not everyone can afford to get the real thing all the time. Just think of all the lower income people, who want to get software for their kids to use, you want them to be deprived of all the latest info/tech and be left out? The gap between the rich and poor will be pulled further apart.

I say, the best solution would be to reduce the prices of all original items, so that more people can afford it. That way, people would be paying a lil more than pirated goods but get perfect quality all the time. Would you buy laundry detergent from Sogo or carrefour? Of course you want to pay less for the same thing, and that doesnt mean Carrefour is making lesser money. They concentrate on a huge number of sales. That same method can applied here to reduce the sales of pirated items.

[xweird]

Hmm.. maybe by going to the root of the problem: eliminating (or at least curbing) our desire and craving... that way, we won't have the urge to buy pirated stuff because we don't have any craving for it... hmm... just a point-to-ponder...

As for software (which is tons more expensive than movies/music), I guess that the home user would not have many options to purchase, for example, AUTOCAD or some multi-thousand-dollar software, simply because the money spent on original copies would be better spent as investments in bonds/public stocks. So what happens to the average home-user who's trying to get some work done at home?

Well... well... the culture of buying original stuff is not one that's common in our country.. yet... in the US, ppl expect to pay for original games, software, music, and movies; whereas here, ppl expect to pay for pirated stuff and demand for the same kind of quality we find in originals.

I would still like to see the leasing of software made possible for home users.