Respect is generated by quality, quantity, timeliness and interaction.
I largely suspect people don't care about piracy vs Microstupid because that's exactly how they feel about the company - it's a giant corporation that, while putting out one or two good products, sucks. It sucks addressing complaints, it sucks at not repeatedly being the best that's out there, it sucks because it overcharges you for everything, and it sucks because it tries to rail smaller people out of business. Therefore, a lot of people don't care if they're running a pirated version of Windows or handing them out because Microsoft doesn't need any more money for being a bad egg in the market. And they'll tell regular Joe who works at Microsoft to make a living that they suck for working there (or that they feel sorry for them working there, but that's not their problem). That's the public opinion.
No one respects Microsoft.
The small businesses we respect are lesser targets because we know them and they know us. They try hard to please us and earn our respect. Guilt also arises from respect for the person who is running the business. Linux has been gaining this respect for years. The product is good, and the price is respectable to NIL.
I'll give you another example - Blizzard.
Blizzard, up until 2002, could claim that they suffered the least amount of software piracy in the US. I don't think that was because they had decent anti-piracy (I know that for a fact I can overcome their silly user code block and get it to run on Battlenet), or that people didn't want their product. People spent their money on Blizzard games because they liked the games and respected the company. I have a PC Gamer magazine right here where they ask a well-known former hacker why he or his friends didn't pirate StarCraft and make a killing. He says, in a lot of words, that they wanted more games like StarCraft and to pirate the game would have killed the company. They had some respect for Blizzard.
Today, I know three guys who make a killing hacking WoW and pirating stuff for the MMORPG. I know why they do it - they think Blizzard went from good to suck because they basically overcharge you for everything, ruin good game lines, and Blizzard "doesn't need more money." They have absolutely no respect for Blizzard. Nor do I, for that matter, after the quality of their products went downhill. I don't hack them, but I don't play WoW either. But I could care less if these three people hack WoW, because my respect for Blizzard is so low.
I work for a giant software/credit card company. I care about all you little people and try to protect you, but I hardly care about IT companies or software companies anymore. If a big company goes down the crapper due to piracy, it's because they did little to keep the respect of their clients. Clients make your company. They'll report the piracy when they see it IF they care about you. They won't do a darn thing if they don't. You have to have respect of the people to make them care about what their doing with your products.
As my boss says, "You cannot educate or teach anyone anything if you don't have the respect of the people you're trying to teach. They just won't listen, no matter what is at stake."
[EDIT]
Robby, I'm not arguing that educating the public isn't a good way to stop piracy. It's a core fundamental in that regard. But it's also up to the companies to do the right thing and keep the respect of the clients and outsiders to keep them from doing things that hurt their business. Too many companies try to claim that piracy has nothing to do with THEM and everything to do with EVERYONE ELSE. That's a very shallow viewpoint of the issue. IT people seem to always feel that it's not their problem, it's the world outside of IT that messes everything up.
If the IT world actually did something to boost the confidence of our end-users, we'd have less piracy, I guarantee it. There is honor among thieves at various levels, and respect is what keeps that honor. Of course, yeah, they validate an excuse in their minds, but respect is the boundary that stops them from hurting each other. Pirates don't attack people who do things cheaply, respectfully and put effort into quality, because they don't feel the need to. They do, however, feel the compulsion to go after companies who need to be "taught a lesson" or "don't deserve any respect." People will react if they feel like they respect the company being pirated.
Putting a face of who's affected is just one step. Not the only step, but the first one. Now, build your reputation and get the respect of your clients and the rest of the people out there.
Denny will suffer less piracy as long as he keeps up the respect of his clients. I will report any piracy I see of WWG products because I like the quality and the hard work done by the employees, and I respect their patience and their candor when listening to me rant for 8000 paragraphs.
I also respect everyone on this forum who reads my terribly long and boring posts, too.
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