PSO: Stop Hating on the Pirate

So, I'm sitting in my Trends in New Media class one day and we're talking about piracy, copyright laws and the idea of a free culture that had me thinking about episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Gwyan was spitting hot fire that day. It was a good lecture and one thing he said really stuck out for me. While discussing Adobe he talked about the companies philosophy for dealing with the piracy of its products. It was pretty simple:

If you're a student then you have more time than money so you find the time to get Adobe for free. If you're employed then you probably have less time and more money so you'll pay the 600 beans for their Master Collective. Adobe makes their money off of those guys.

However, that might change soon if the Stop Online Piracy Act receives the seal of approval. Yes, this is another public service announcement.

My first few weeks of Web Design was a pain in the ass. I had no idea how to design a website so walking into the class, I was pretty intimidated. But, that wasn't what was so bad about it. What sucked was that I didn't have Dreamweaver. Sure, I was using the program on the lab computer but that strategy wasn't very useful. It wasn't until I got the "bootleg" versions of CS3 and CS5 that I started learning since I was able to tinker away during long night hours.

It's as clear as a crystal ball. If I had to throw down for these computer programs I would be in some serious trouble, so I was mighty glad that I could down my Jack Sparrow pirate cap and grab a free copy, something I almost never do. Generally, I believe in making sure people get their money. When I was working six days a week I wouldn't hesitate to pay for something like this. Hell, I'd tip if I could -- take my dough -- but, desperate times, y'know.

Back to the bad news. Apparently, Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Intel and ton of other companies are backing the "That Sucks for Multimedia Students" campaign. Its defense sounds pretty straight forward. They own the product. They want you to pay if you want to use it but, here's some great commentary against SOPA:

The internet has exploded because of these seemingly trivial freedoms—the freedom to mess around and create interesting stuff. Experimentation without fear of federal imprisonment leads to some pretty awesome stuff. Stuff that's then used with the very software and equipment these SOPA backers sell. So it's not just that they're supporting an awful censorship law—these BSA [Business Software Association] cronies are biting our hands that feed them [Giz].

In the remix age, the age of finding something in just a few clicks, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to charge people for something they'll eventually pay for once their working because, y'know, now they're hooked on your product.