Piracy
It is high time that I write a blog about piracy as I have had countless discussions with my friends and family regarding this topic and it is definitely worth sharing with the world. The word ‘piracy’ really does not mean much to most people around unless they are directly involved in selling any product that can be pirated!
To begin with I have to say that being a chess grand master I am quite ashamed that most of the chess programs that I used up until last year were pirated. I downloaded them from wherever possible and it seemed pretty harmless to me personally. Comparing my action here to match fixing in any other sport would be rather exaggerating, but however it is an act that thoroughly has been disrespectful to the sport that I have loved and cherished all my life. The sport that has given me everything, including education, a roof and my food deserves a little more I guess. In normal comparison it equates to someone who can afford to buy books, but decided to steal it from a different place say X, irrelevant of the fact if the place X has that book in abundance or not, it is just that act that feels so wrong.
Really? How can something be bad if the whole world does it? When every single song that comes out and every single movie that is released is available in the internet, sometimes even before they hit the theaters! It cannot be wrong to just watch them, can it? So many things that we do in today’s world are what I like to call “mechanical”. Yeah, more like a machine than a man. Lot of our actions are based on pre-existing “norms” and sometimes we do not use our logics to determine what is right or wrong and just flow with the crowd. Think of it this way,
If you were born in an Arab country, restricting women from driving could be normal;
If you were born in India arranged marriage would be totally logical;
If you were born in America, leaving the lights on when leaving a room would not even feel like wasting electricity, because it is available in abundance.
All these practices have evolved over a long period of time for various reasons and even though I know a lot of very reasonable people who believe these activities are normal, the above mentioned points do not seem logical to me. Hence I should not be practicing these ideas even if they were taught to me by my parents or my social surrounding. Hold on! I am not saying I am perfect, I am NO SAINT, I make a lot of mistakes, but I would just like to be aware of all the reasons behind my actions. My point here is to stress that we should not always believe what we are taught to believe by our ancestors or by our social environment, but think on our own and see what would make sense?
Piracy is one huge threat to our community today because it is just common practice. No one who downloads a song from the internet feels like robbing a store, but in reality that is what they are doing. When I walk by a Crocodile showroom and I see a T-Shirts prized for over 200 Euros and I also know that I can get a reasonable one from the store around the corner for 30 bucks, I do not seem to walk into the store with a golf club and smash the glass door into pieces and take them away for free? Over the internet someone has already smashed that glass door open, so we are not bothered to just walk in and pick up some free stuff.
If we are the educated, if we are the literate and if we are the people who have the exposure to the world and we indulge in stealing aka piracy what would those poor uneducated people from rural areas teach their kids? Then again they may not be corrupted by the concrete jungles we live in and they might still have some moral values left in them.
Law enforcement cannot stop crime, it can only control it to a certain extent. Crime can be stopped only when those who want to commit crimes change their mind. Every time you are downloading from the internet you are directly affecting someone’s business. Now the person you are stealing from maybe a millionaire already, but you are no Robin Hood! Watching a movie or listening to a new song is still a luxury in this life, it is not a necessity. So if you do not have the money or if you feel wronged by the prize of the product, just boycott it, get it when you feel it is worth it, but do not download it, please buy it. Be courteous on the web and be patient, good things will always come back to you.
Last but not the least, I am not suggesting that everyone live by the rules all the time. Rules are meant to be broken, that is what makes our lives interesting. Ofcourse if your friend calls up and says there is this new hot pic of a British babe on the net, you may have no other choice to put aside your principles and download it!!! but keep that as a rarity rather than as a practice. Just living by rules will make you a Robot, and your life would become too predictable and boring… Break them once in a while to stay sexy!
“Be the change that you want to see in this world”
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
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B Ramesh
Sundararajan Kidambi
Magesh Chandran
ok nice blog:) but a little too much to expect from normal ppl like us dont u think so?
i agree abt the chess bks part , but do u know many of the original chess bks are not even available in india..i tried to find a few bks but dint get them so since i want to buy the original ones i have to wait till my next foreign tmt..but others who dont even have tht choice have to buy the readily available xerox copies..
& well music – its definately NOT a luxury..who can live without entertainment in 2days times??
& just look at the cost of those original cds!! i mean ok since mosear baer has been kind enough to understand tht original cds are just too expensive they have come out with some affordable versions of the original kind..but they dont have a similar option for music..& who will pay Rs.200 for just 1 cd which does nothing but occupy more space in the already overflowing shelves:)
oh & i forgot to mention : 1 CBM magazine : Rs.1000!
I guess its all a matter of perspective. Think of it as a democratic regulatory mechanism. Without piracy we couldnt have imagined songs for 99 cents from itunes or movies for 30 bucks from moser baer.If people could download petrol off of the internet it will probably start selling at Rs.10. The buyer will start being honest when the seller starts being reasonable.
not everyone has the resources to buy the cds or books etc…I am not part of the market the businessman is looking for….i am not going to buy his cds or books anyway,I am actually only taking something from him that he does not have… U really cant compare it with stealing from a store. I think .if i were to sell a product that could be pirated i would rather that they download it illegally than not be able to use it all because of the price.U really cannot automatically conclude that piracy is right or wrong,it changes from person to person.
one more thing i feel playing good games is a more appropriate way to give back to the game than buying original stuff
@Soumya
It is not very difficult to expect normal people to be normal right
The problem is that ‘normal’ is a term that has been defined by the people around you. You did not get up one day and say I am going to try to get the CBM on the internet because it is too expensive, you did it because someone else did it, it looked easy and it is free 
The reply to the chess software question is one thing, do you seriously believe that you cannot compete in the highest level without pirating CD’s and book’s because u cannot afford them? How does it feel ok for us to buy a Roger Federer Tshirt for 50 euros??? they have created a brand value for it, so we are happy to pay for it… because when we talk to our friends we want to say I am wearing Roger’s r shirt, not just some random 10 dollar one…
And lastly you have said on your own that music is very valuable in ones life, then why cant you spend 200 Rs for something that fills your soul???? and please dont tell me you cannot afford that
@Jack Sparrow
Very interesting way to look at it. I agree there always needs to be some cotrol mechanism, some checks and balances in our society, but is this the way to get it done? The market will take care of itself in the form of competitors, if someone charges a product for too much prize and there is agitation among the buyers, they will opt for someone cheaper and better eventually. Ya if petrol was downloaded the prize indeed would go down… but if that is not the case and you feel it is unfare you cannot resolve to looting petrol to control the market.
Gandhi used the famous ‘Hartal’ to act against unfareness… Boycott a store, or a product if you feel they are looting you. There is always a way to resolve conflicts before taking things into our own hands…. but nice point of view nevertheless…
@ The black pirate
Not affordable is really not the case. We do spend our money in clothing, movies, recreationg, travel and a lot more, so if we want to make amendments to change our lifestyle to pay for the products we want, it is just that we think it is too much of a hazzle.
And by the way anyone who is interested in a product is a potential buyer. You may not want to pay for it now, but the fact that you are interested in that can make you a buyer at any time if you did not pirate it. I am not sure if you would still say the same if you owned a product which people were pirating that you are happy atleast they are using it, and you are not getting paid for it….
@ the black pirate
also paying respect to a game is of many forms. If you play good quality games, but do not respect your opponent, that is bad…. similarly if you play good games, but do not respect the reading material that helps you play those good games, then that is in some frm disrespect too….
Nice post. Though life might seem to be boring, it can be made interesting by playing within the norms.
Consider this, if you were to have fun, would you want to play cricket within the norms of your home and have fun or would want to play in the streets and break the windows of your neighbors? Well, our actions always has an effect on others, it has to be a positive effect. That is all.
People who claim to NOT afford music/books and if they begin to resort to stealing/piracy can be equated to people who are poor. They do not afford to even have 1 meal a day. Would it be OKAY for them to come and steal to make a living? Then why punish the thieves? Why point fingers at politicians? Why blame India for being corrupt?
Some might say this next example might be over board, but let me go ahead and mention it anyway. A few men can’t afford to find women to marry them. Would it be OKAY for them to pick and molest women against their will?
One can use the same example for breaking the rules. It would certainly affect someone. As long as people don’t affect other’s lives and have fun, anything would be okay.
PS: My friend’s friend was a web developer who was differently abled(can’t walk). He sold his code at $40 per download. A reasonable amount. Some idiot stole it and put a pirated version. Imagine how disheartened the guy would feel? Does he deserve it?
As long as the educated mass feel it is okay to cheat/steal and live a life affecting others around them, one really can’t change the world.
I can’t know how this blog is related to chess.
I have original chess base.Do you think after seeing this everyone will stop buying pirated softwares ?and other things?
Do u mean to say not to buy pirated things?The basic things for chess fritz12 costs 2500-3,000and chess base costs 8000-9000 but who can afford those much and who will buy it?
Please reply for above two comments…….
I understood the reason for this post after asking GM Ramesh sir
lot of people download chess books and databases from internet which is not right
I found time to see this post.Nice and interesting when i became a im i used to use pirated versions and after 1990.I stopped buying pirated ones and now i trust only original ones for my computer.I congratulate you for making the audience and the public aware at the earliest after doing general discussion.
Nice job Magesh. Your blog was really an eye-opener. If everyone keeps downloading the pirated stuff, I dont think that its a profitable business for the original seller. If the original seller is able to sell the stuff cheap and make a profit out of it, why wouldn’t he! If he feels that he can make a profit only by selling it at a much higher price, we cant blame him! If everyone uses the pirated stuff, the original seller wont get a profit at all and soon he would be forced into some other business and we wont have any of these softwares or books at all! Imagine, You spends hours and days and weeks and lots of money to create a software or book. And someone just downloads that from the internet without even spending a single buck. How much pain and agony would you feel?? To eradicate all these piracy and stuff, self discipline is required. Unless everyone realizes its a sin and that we are robbing someone of their rightful wealth, i dont see a stop to piracy! and for those of you who complained that the cost of the original stuff is too high, pls dont buy it or download it. You can still live without it!
@ Evil twin
Definitely true when it comes to having fun, you cannot have fun at the cost of other’s feelings, ofcousre everything has a limit, I was just saying that my point is not too much rigidity. A world with people who never make mistakes is quite impossible… i do not even want to hope for that, but a world full of self conscious people would be nice and may even be possible someday – definitely not before I see the end of the tunnel
And very sorry to hear about your web developer friend…
@ Siddarth
This is not only a chess blog site, but this is also ches player’s blog site, so I am just sharing my thoughts and ideas here. However I am pretty sure pirating chess products would definitely come under “Chess” category – it is for the wellfare of the game too…
And to your second question my friend Siddharth R has given a good reply, please do not tell me you cannot afford something as an excuse to take something away from someone else…. We do not live in a communist era, we still have to differentiate people who work hard and go to the top from people who do not…. If you really feel those chess products are worth it, you will stop paying for other extra things that you spend and buy Fritz, or otherwise if you are really cannot afford Fritz, being a Grandmaster I can guarantee you that you still work very hard in areas that can take you to the top without the help of these chess softwares. Fortuantely Chess is a compartively less expensive game, all you need is a set of board and coins to work on it… Anyways thanks for your questions, I am not trying to change anyone here, I would just like to create more awareness and stirr your thought process….
@ Anand.V
Thanks a lot for taking your time and giving your valuable comments here. We all look up to you, not just the way you treat yourself inside those 64 squares, but also the way you have carried yourself outside the board for the past several years.. Coming from you it would definitely mean a lot to most of the players today who believe piracy is just a normal practice. Thanks again….
@Siddharth R
Thanks for your comments, I am glad I can be an “eye-opener”
And your last line is very true, people can live without some things and achieve their goals…
highly debatable topic no doubt!
i am not saying piracy is ethical but putting such high prices to products is also not ethical so piracy is just a way to counter it. the pt is to not make the prices affordable but to actually pay the product’s ‘real worth’ which in most cases is not up to the mark.
& coming to bks, originals are much better no doubt, not only becase of their quality but also because so much effort goes into it & as far as possible people should buy originals but at the same time i dont blame those who opt for pirated ones only because they cant afford the original ones or the originals are not readily available – because u cant deny urself education, school fees nahi pay kar sakte toh uniform kharidke school toh ja sakte ho:)
“school fees nahi pay kar sakte toh uniform kharidke school toh ja sakte ho:)”
100% true…. i am a believer in the principle of “means to ends”. As long as the end you are trying to reach is justified, the means can be flexed, if you steal a book to study as you genuinely do not have the money to buy it, i definitely would not think that is a bad crime (technically it might still be, but personally NO),
but the real question is if you belong to that category of “”school fees nahi pay kar sakte toh”….. and the answer i think i know
most ppl i know do not fall into that category, but they still indulge in piracy… we should understand what we do to begin with, we pirate because it is convenient , easy and free… tats about it….
Arre but I am not counting myself in tht school fees wala thing..& its not only abt affording, its abt feeling tht the product is really worth its price.. dont u think buying ‘overpriced but original’ stuff also has a flip side – we will just encourage inflation & monetary divide..
At the end of the day its just a point of view..some think its wrong to cheat & others think its wrong to be cheated:)
hi magesh,
i am soumya’s brother and was referred to this particular blog by her and asked an opinion(albeit personal), though nothing personal in this set of queries i pose:
1> our exchange rate is cranked due to IMF/WORLD BANK etc policies directed to enrich the mnc’s making it totally out of reach to buy the best global products.
2> piracy is practiced on large corporations around the world, who have been selling products at exorbitant prices and can well afford the losses(eg: windows- xp,vista,7 …)
3> in matters of chess, yes i agree that piracy is bad.(niche thing also most writers are players who try to make a living out of writing).
4> in case of movies and music too you have a point about it being a luxury, but i do not agree that books be included in luxury list.
5> many of the books we download are simply not available legally in india(some banned,some out of stock, some simply not printed etc)
so end of the day,my philosophy is nothing wrong in cheating the crooks and those out to cheat us but spare the innocent.
Nice post and some observations from me now.
1 -I am a Playchess freak (chessbase) and from past 8 years (upto Fritz9) have purchased the originals.
At one point of time I was penalized for padding (which means losing games by agreement with a friend to boost his rating) and that was in 2006-2007.
Till date I have not been set free from this penalty (which was a Rank-lock) due to the high handedness of a particular sysop (H.L), even after repeated requests and self-flagellation. I think that when these GmBh’s grow beyond limits they care two-hoots for the users… Just ask google for playchess sysop’s high handedness and I think you’ll accept my point.
2- Whenever Chessbase release a new program, they make some improvements- accepted. But what is the point to sell different engines bundled with the same GUIs, separately ? (For eg- you have to buy Fritz 12, to have the fritz 12 engine,you have to buy Shredder 12 for the S12 engine and so on. Can they not sell GUIs and engines separately? That shows that all they care is to fill their pockets and not think of customers.Come to think of it their engines are not high lords anymore …
3- The worst customer care is that of CB . Don’t please tell me that I am wrong.
4- Of late Citadel is bringing good quality chess books in India at affordable rates.Do you think people are photocopying their books? Hmmm … you agree my point … that’s good.
5- There are somethings that cannot be understood and one of them is human psychology.
Normal human reactions for these scenarios would be ? (please contemplate)
When I treat you kindly will you back-stab me ?
When You treat me kindly, will I hurt you by stealing your house (when the doors are open for me) ?
When you look friendly (but are not so inside) do you think you’ll have lots of friends over a period of time?
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What is needed is not a one-sided approach (which is OK if you are a Zen Monk), but a practical approach based on social responses and general acceptations.
Such as – You scratch my back I scratch yours, never trust anyone blindly, don’t get fooled by the appearances etc…
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If you cannot afford it don’t buy it;
BUT…
If you have bought it and feel you HAVE been taken for a beeeg loooong ride and you are not supported by the product makers, do what you think is good for you… pirate it, boycott it, degrade it in public (like how I am doing it right now lol ), lift you finger at it ( you know which one, don’t you?)…
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On the other side imagine this – We have a good product for say Rs- 1000 and the seller/programmer/author is very responsive to your grouses … What would you do ? Get it for free (aka pirate it) or buy it and support the authors?
Your opinion counts…
Thx for hearing me out…