Poll Results - Aaaaagh!

I just wonder if they're taking IPs . . . *g*

......the saga continues. Actually I chose freeware, but haven't downloaded wallpapers now since Windowblinds came along and I started skinning.

Think I better clarify - I'm an Object Desktop subscriber now, started out with the freeware.

curently 4 voted for pirated version

I thought it was funny to put on there--and I wonder if any that put it there was an honest answer?

Actually, if there are only 4 out of 161, it's really pretty good. The poll is anonymous, so I applaude their honesty.

It doesn't take a lot of courage to admit anonymously that you are breaking the law, no risk involved. Seems to me that anonymity would be the cowards way out.

/me thought that this was an IQ test

can you vote without an account?

i suspected it goes:
1. create account
2. tell wincustomize you are pirating stardock programs
3. see if account still works

I didn't say courage, I said honesty.

/me wonders if this thread would be here if the poll instead read:

What music support do you use:
1- Legitimatelly bought new CDs
2- Cds bought in used-CD stores
3- MP3's ripped from albums I actually own
4- MP3's bought online
5- MP3's illegally downloaded from the Internet
6- Copied Tapes

I'm sure there would be far more than 3 people answering #5 or #6

But anyway. Piracy is bad, yes. But I am convinced a lot of people are not completely honest about piracy. As I've said before, I don't know anybody (nobody AT ALL) in real life who has never used a crack, copied a CD-Rom from a friend, downloaded some MP3s from the Internet or copied a record on tape from a friend's album. I find it hard to believe that the people using this site are so different than people in real life.
Yes, piracy is bad, but lying is bad too.

Everything on my machine is pirated... except the customisation software. Probably because I only run freeware skin stuff. Oh and there's my legit copy of HoverDesk ofcourse.

paxx - probably a POV thing but honesty is no big deal if one has anonymity. In response to your poll, I'd answer 3 and 5. Most of what I download illegally are songs from LP's (remember those) that I already own or songs I can't find otherwise (althought that is not a complete description of my MP3 collection). BTW, 3 is not illegal, though the record companies would like you to believe it is, just ask TV network guys.

paxx,

Yes, I have downloaded MP3s off the 'net. But you know what? If I really like the music, I THEN go out and buy the CD. If I don't, well, guess what - since I don't like it, I'm not going to listen to it, and so I delete it off my machine - no sense in having something I'll never listen to take up space on my hard drive.

The same with copied tapes or burned CDs. Often I'll have a friend burn or tape something for me, so that I can see if I like it. If I do like it, 99% of the time I'll go out and buy the CD in question.

I like to 'try before I buy', and this allows me to do so.

Similarly, I used the shareware version of WindowBlinds for a good six months before buying the program. I needed to have time to try it out, and use it, before I actually spent money on it. Once I decided that I liked it, and that it was going to stay on my computer, I bought it.

Most people I know use downloaded MP3s in the same way that I do - to try out music before spending $20 or so on a CD. I only know of one person who just downloads stuff with no intention of ever paying for it.

Only mp3's I've got from the net were from Weird Al Yankovic's site...I 'assumed' they were there legally...

So, I'd answer 1, 3, and 6.
Bought 'em all, but copied to hard drive as mp3s for convenience....listening as I work...

My answer would 1, 2 and 3. It is not that I have a lot of money or so, it is just that I am working in the software industry and I feel that pirating softare is stealing. What goes for the software industry is also true for the music industry. I won't steal from that either. That is probably an uncommon thing to do and not very fashionable. So be it.

Amen MadIce. But a lot of people don't feel that way.

But do you mean tha as a teen you never taped music from friend's LPs?
I di it all the time, and a lot of people did it, and nobody thought anything of it. Today's teens (and also a lot of adults, sadly) are no different than we were. Except today it's MP3s and pirated versions of their favorite games and software.

Paxxy's list: number one only. I have this bad habit of buying cd's and this notion that I support the artist with it. Seeing I only buy obscure stuff, there might be a point in that.

First record I ever bought was Janis Joplin...'Pearl'....still got it....nobody bought ME a Mercedes Benz....

As far as the original poll goes...........There needs to be one more choice. For those people too broke to buy the software, and too moral to pirate it. I suggest the following:

7. Applying finger paints directly to the monitor screen.

Don't forget option '8'...
"What's 'customization'?"

No mention of non-Stardock programs in the poll. Why is that /me wonders......