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…

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.

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….

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…