Reply #54: Actually, I know of a case of just that. [View All]

The software was on computer disk-packs in a remote transmitter location in the rocky mountains. A former employee hired a contractor, gave him a key to the place and a plane ticket, and sent him off to fetch back that disk, telling him the lie that it was at a site his company was renting. Now, that disk (unwisely) was the only copy of that software. Fortunately for the rightful owners, this deal stank to the contractor and he went to his boss who figured out what was really happening. And the police were then summoned. Had the theft gone on, though, the original owner would have been deprived of his software.

Now, as for the canard that these profits were wishful thinking; I know of a popular and reasonably priced shareware offering that had to be dripped because nobody was paying for it. I knew of nobody who didn't have a copy of this thing, and, except for myself, knew of nobody else who had paid for it. I think these people would have paid the $14.95 for it if it had been a copy-protected retail product, but as it was on the honor system, they didn't see the harm of not paying. Now the product is gone, and the features are frozen. And what applies to shareware must apply doubly to pirated software. If you want worthwhile and reasonably priced software available, don't pirate software.