I never realised it before, but now I understand that ’software piracy claims’ are basically a load of bunk.
For example… imagine I was using a bootleg copy of Microsoft Office 2007 Professional. The package costs £420. Therefore Microsoft claim they are being robbed of £420. The fact is though, no matter how much I love the MS Office 2007 Pro software, I would never pay such an extortionate price tag. So actually, Microsoft would not be missing out on anything as I would not buy it anyway.
In fact, from my perspective, there are only winners. Hypothetically, with me using the pirated software I am getting a great software package. There is only a small trade-off of guilt, ingrained into me by spurious ‘piracy-is-evil campaigns’. Microsoft is still laughing because I’m perpetuating the use of their proprietary format, which I would not have otherwise done.
