Id Software boss says that PC hardware biz thinks piracy brings a "hidden benefit" - by EvaUnit02
Muzman on 21/8/2008 at 22:29
Pretty much everyone in hardware to some extent. If somehow software copying were impossible so few people would be able to afford software and games, everyone would be pretty happy with their brand new Pentium 1s right about now. (on the bright side the quality of code in the world would be awesome)
addink on 21/8/2008 at 23:03
And don't forget the broadband providers.
The_Raven on 22/8/2008 at 01:54
Quote Posted by Todd Hollenshead
When it comes into debates about whether peer-to-peer file-sharing networks that by-and-large have the vast majority, I'm talking 99 per cent of the content is illicitly trading copyrighted property, they'll come out on the side of the 1 per cent of the user doing it for legitimate benefit. You can make philosophical arguments that are difficult to debate, but at the same time you're just sort of ignoring the enormity of the problem.
*Sighs*
I don't know, I can't say I've been too impressed with some of the stuff coming out of Hollenshead's mouth these past few years. He comes across to me as a guy who tries to say two completely different things out of either side of his mouth at the same time. When people start talking about piracy, he'll go on about how heavily pirated Doom 3 was at release and how it hurt them big time. When people ask him about Doom 3 doing poorly, he'll go on about how Doom 3 was actually iD's most successful game to date. The guy has a point, but his argument reminds me of Microsoft trying to pass off the false positives with Windows Genuine Advantage by saying that it only occurs around 5-10% of the time. 10% of 90% of the market is still a huge amount of people getting locked out of content. Ultimately, I think the "1%" of people using stuff like BitTorrent for legitimate purposes should have the right to use a protocol without being locked out or hassled. Even if hardware manufacturers hopped on board and started placing blocks to these things, you're still not combating the core issue. Software and hardware DRM solutions are just bound to fail in one way or another.
Volca on 22/8/2008 at 06:58
I'm done with the crybabies saying they are hurt with piracy. It went so far that here in Czech Republic (could be the whole EU, don't know) we pay some amount of money per recordable media to a private firm (OSA - RIAA clone, I'd say). No way to get the money back if I use the media to store my personal data, for backups, etc. So much for "Presumption of innocence".
What is payed for:
* Copy machines
* Printers
* Video cassettes
* Tapes
* Optical media
* Hard Disks
* memory cards
* USB memory sticks
... Anything that could be recorded on
:mad:
Edit: And it does not grant you the right to actually use the media to store illegal content anyway, which I forgot to mention.
Malf on 22/8/2008 at 08:15
No matter what you think of Hollenshead and his hypocrisy, what he's saying isn't wrong.
The biggest example is of course the CD/DVD writer, but one can take it to its logical conclusions and proove that quite a high percentage of all home PC hardware sales are driven by piracy.
However, what developers should be looking at is how to take advantage of this situation.
If hardware relies to some extent on piracy, this is because software manufacturers are constantly making a more demanding product. So surely it's in the hardware manufacturer's best interests to fund software development?
In extreme circumstances one could envisage free to play games funded purely by the advertising revenue of hardware manufacturers. Indeed, a lot of developers, id included, are already taking this approach (see Quake Live, Battlefield Heroes, etc.).
The tricky part in providing your software for free while being entirely funded by the sponsorship of hardware vendors is balancing creativity versus the demands of the hardware manufacturer that you create something that requires their latest new "Thing™".
Piracy is somewhat advocated when we see a lot of developers taking advertising money even when selling boxed copies to the consumer.
Customers are already aware that some software developers are receiving money from hardware manufacturers thanks to all the "Best Played On...", non-skippable splash screens.
"They've already been paid, why should they get my money as well?".
Not necessarily morally correct (or indeed legal), but a compelling argument all the same.
Interesting times.
june gloom on 22/8/2008 at 09:15
Holy shit, Volca. That's fucked up.
Jason Moyer on 22/8/2008 at 11:45
Quote Posted by dethtoll
Holy shit, Volca. That's fucked up.
Don't we do the same thing in the US? Maybe we don't anymore, but I seem to remember that we were doing that in the 80's at least with VHS tapes and audio cassettes.
The_Raven on 22/8/2008 at 13:13
Yeah, we have a copyright levy on blank media here in Canada as well.
Renault on 22/8/2008 at 14:18
Quote:
While acclaimed studios such as Doom creator id, Unreal Tournament developer Epic and Crysis veterans Crytek have cited widespread piracy of PC games as the impetus to pursue console development, id CEO Todd Hollenshead has accused PC makers of viewing piracy as a "hidden benefit" for consumers.
Is piracy really the reason companies are pursuing consoles? I kind of doubt it. You can pirate just about anything on the 360 and Wii these days, and I'm sure the PS3 isn't that far behind. I don't see how PC piracy is any more accessible than console piracy.
